overview

In 1997, while working with the NJ State Historic Preservation Office, Dominique Hawkins recognized the need for a guide that would describes the requirements for creating the appropriate preservation planning documents for the treatment of historic resources. Based on her recommendations, she was asked to prepare the current Guide for the preparation of Historic Structure Reports and Preservation Plans.

The document was completed in 1998 and has been used not only throughout the State of New Jersey, but in several parts of the country by a wide range of preservation and planning agencies. It is, to this day, one of the very few documents of this type that offers clear, concise and practical information to property owners and design professionals regarding the preparation and content of these preservation planning tools.

Through her work at PDP, Ms. Hawkins was engaged by a number of municipalities to review preservation projects. One of these entities was the Morris County, New Jersey Historic Preservation Trust Fund. For 12 years, as the official preservation reviewer for the Trust, Ms. Hawkins was able to test the efficacy of the Guide and how it works in the "real world".

Through her interactions with the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, the New Jersey Historic Trust, preservation professionals and site administrators, she assembled a white paper that contained "lessons-learned", some of which included:

1. Needed Improvements in format and clarity

2. Required support illustrations and photography

3. Provi sions for new requirements driven by new building codes, energy conservation, and disa ster preparedness

4. Results from the on-going dialogue on how HSRs and PPs should be organized, a dialogue that continues on a regular basis through the several venues, i.e. NPS, APT, etc.

5. New technologies available in the assessment and documentation of historic properties

6. Contemporary performance expectations and sustainability

In 2015, with funding assistance provided by the National Park Service, the New Jersey Historic Trust retained Ms. Hawkins and PDP to update the Guide with particular focus on addressing vulnerabilities and hazards for historic properties.

status

Second Edition of the Guide was completed in September 2015.