Elements of the Preservation Plan
We are in the process of writing a formal Preservation Plan for review & approval by the state’s Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), a requirement for properties on the National Register. With all the attachments and appendices, it will probably run to more than 50 pages. That plan will eventually be posted here. In the meantime, we solicit suggestions and opinions from the public as to how the Roseberry house might be used five years from now, when the preservation and restoration process is (probably) complete.
We began our thinking about the Plan many months ago—certainly by last May. Here are the major assumptions we’ve made going into the planning process:
- The site must be available for educational tours and programs for students in the region’s schools
- The site may be used for workshops, lectures, concerts and other history-themed events
- The site should eventually be open regular hours to the general public
- Certain rooms and features (especially the wall paintings) should be available for study by preservation students and scholars
- The site should be an active venue (not merely a house museum) for programs & events during all seasons
- Consideration should be given to space for exhibitions, a library, a colonial garden, and perhaps other functions
- The primary interpretive focus should be the late colonial-early Revolutionary period of American history
We expect to submit the Preservation Plan to SHPO before the end of the month, and hope to begin the initial tasks of investigation and analysis by mid-winter.
At last night’s meeting, Frank did a fine presentation on the project and brought us all up to speed. Although I am a new member, I question one of the proposals made by Frank. If I heard correctly, a portion of the structure (the basement) would be converted into a “modern” area where groups may meet and children may color flags …
When Morristown was renovating the Ford Mansion and museum, they wrestled with the same thoughts. They did decide to go ahead and make the ballroom into a modern auditorium. The Washington Society (to which I also belong) just spent a few million dollars correcting this mistake in judgment. Perhaps we should rethink this? i agree that we need a space for groups to meet, but question the idea of “modern” area. I think that groups that would come to the homestead would want to be immersed in the historical setting and not isolated from it – even for “comfort”. There are ways to make the area appear historically accurate while using “modern” decor. Just some food for thought.
Joe
Good Point, Joe. I should not have used the term “modernized,” as we have no intention to cover the old stone walls or the hand-hewn timbers of the ceiling. Eventually, we’ll probably take out the cement floor (which was put in about 1948) and install paving stones instead of what was likely a dirt floor. But we will need modern lighting down there instead of candles or whale-oil lamps, and there will probably be other fixtures that will not be eighteenth century, but modern.
Thanks for your close attention—that’s exactly the kind of feedback and suggestions we are looking for.
Frank