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Feb OG 04 10:08a The Westerly Group, Inc. 812-273-8826 p.2 THE WESTERLY GROUP, Mc. HISTORIC PRESERVATION CONSULTANTS February 4, 2004 To: Karen Hammond -Nash Director, South Bend -St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Commission From: Camille B. Fife and Thomas W. Salmon rl, ASLA Re: noughts ort the WPA masonry at Leeper Park Although we have not revisited the WPA walls at Leeper Park since we completed the Cultural Landscape Report in 1998, and never conducted a detailed condition assessment of this important feature, the following are a few suggestions from our experience with Cultural Landscapes and Leeper Park in particular. General PracticeandProcedure. We have assumed that Pre-ervation is the treatment selected for the WPA sea walls at Leeper Park, especially those around the island. This would be a logical treatment, since it is defined as the "act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity and materials of an historic property." I This treatment is appropriate for ongoing maintenance and repair of historic materials and features. It is also appropriate where a historic feature (the walls) will be used for its historic purpose, and where no large scale additions or replacement of features is required for an adaptive use (to make a dock or marina , for example). Since these are the conditions as we understand them, it might be useful to review the methodology which has been developed for this treatment and try to apply it to the present situation. Somekey components of the Preservation treatment include the following: 0 The historic use will be retained. 0 The historic character will be retained and preserved. 0 The property will be recognized as a record of its time, place and use. a Changes which have acquired historic significance will be retained and preserved. 0 Distinctive materials, features, finishes, construction techniques and craftsmanship will be retained and preserved. Existing conditions will be evaluated to determine the appropriate level of intervention. - Where the severity of deterioration requires repair or firnited replacement of a distinctive feature, the new material will rnatch the old ire composition, design, color and texture (our italics).2 I Chttrlc% Birnbaum, Christine Capella, Peters, E*d.. M(,Sevrelary qf1lic Inferitir'sSlandardvfitir the Treatincril qC Historic Properties with Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural ,Landscapes, U. S. Dept of the Interior, NPS. Historic Landscape Initiative. Washington DC, 1996, P. IS. 2 Ibid. 11. 19