Preservation Project Treatments

The following definitions are provided by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, for treatments that may be properly undertaken on historic properties listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Choosing an appropriate treatment for an historic property is critical. This choice always depends on a variety of factors, including the property's historical significance, physical condition, proposed use, and intended interpretation. For more information about Standards go to the NPS website for: Rehabilitation Standards and Guidelines and Interactive Course on Rehabilitation Standards. 

Is defined as the act or process of applying measures to sustain the existing form, integrity, and material of building or structure, and the existing form and vegetative cover of a site. Work, including preliminary measures to protect and stabilize the property, generally focuses upon the ongoing maintenance and repair of historic materials and features rather than extensive replacement and new construction. New exterior additions are not within the scope of this treatment; however, the limited and sensitive upgrading of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and other code-required work to make properties functional is appropriate within a preservation project.

Is defined as the act or process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural, or architectural values. Typically, any project that will benefit from state historic preservation incentives and/or federal rehabilitation investment tax credits is considered a rehabilitation project and should follow the recommended approaches of The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings.

Is defined as the act or process of accurately depicting the form, features, and character of a property as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of features from other periods in its history and reconstruction of missing features from the restoration period. The limited and sensitive upgrading of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and other code-required work to make properties functional is appropriate within a restoration project. Restoration treatment is almost never required by State Historical Society of Iowa.

Is defined as the act or process of depicting, by means of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific period of time and in its historic location.