DEALING WITH ARCHITECTURE AND INTRUSIVE ELEMENTS

Standing architectural sites are dealt with a little differently in the compliance process.  Often the amount of historic documentation is limited and sites are evaluated using National Register Criterion C, focusing on the site’s "distinctive characteristics." Key to this concept is the issue of integrity. This means that the property needs to have retained, essentially intact, its physical identity from the historic period.

Particular attention is often given to the integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. Design includes the organization of space, proportion, scale, technology, ornamentation, and materials. As  one National Register bulletin observes, "Recognizability of a property, or the ability of a property to convey its significance, depends largely upon the degree to which the design of the property is intact."  Workmanship is evidence of the artisan’s labor and skill and can apply to either the entire property or to specific features of the property. Finally, materials — the physical items used on and in the property — are also very important. Integrity here is reflected by maintenance of the original material and avoidance of replacement materials.

Perhaps more complex than assessing the eligibility of the architectural sites is evaluating the affect of the proposed undertaking. The affect on archaeological resources is relatively clear since we have traditionally focused on primary or direct affects — either the archaeological site will be within the project area and will be damaged or it isn’t. In the case of historic resources such as buildings and cemeteries, often the more significant issue is whether there will be some level of visual intrusion.

As one organization has noted, transmission towers may be opposed because they loom over streets, homes, and landscapes. Other projects may be opposed since they are thought to detract from the experience of nearby historic sites or properties. As a result, for eligible properties it is often necessary to determine if the viewshed will be affected.

For example, using a transmission line corridor as an example, its affect on National Register or register-eligible properties is evaluated by conducting a careful assessment.

Clearly quantification of this visual intrusion, regardless of the questions asked, is far from precise — what seeming "looming" to one person can be entirely undisturbing to another and vice versa. Nevertheless, we believe that this begins to provide some quantification to an otherwise difficult issue.