For Historic Building Preservation
For property owners who love the old, vintage look and feel of their historic building and want to keep it around for the next generation, The Tower Heritage Center is here to help.
We are deeply interested in assisting in the conservation of historic buildings and offer a full range of preservation consulting services to assist.
Building Preservation Plans
Our building conservation consultant visits your place to investigate specific parts of your building(s). Our subsequent report details the current condition of materials, causes of issues such as deterioration, and proposed approaches and prioritization for remediating these issues. Our recommendations for building conservation techniques follow professional standards set forth by the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and are aligned with the Code of Ethics for the American Institute for Conservation.
Historic Building Condition Assessments
We come to you to investigate specific parts of your building(s) and generate a brief summary of current conditions and causes of issues such as deterioration.
Our building conservation experience has been utilized far and wide, from iconic places such as George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate to assisting owners of 20th century bungalows. Between assessments, project planning, and specification to materials analysis and treatment implementation, our experiences provide a unique perspective to help you achieve your preservation goals.
Historic Structure Reports
We integrate elements of our Preservation Plans, Historic Building Condition Assessments, and Property Research in this robust report. Historic structure reports consist of at least:
- Analysis of a building in greater detail utilizing archival research into the property.
- Field investigations to determine condition of existing materials and any changes or evolution to the footprint or interior layout of the building.
- Analysis of historic materials for material composition and approximate dating.
- Recommendations for maintenance, rehabilitation, or remediation of issues.
Preservation Project Recommendations
We understand that when it comes to physically doing the preservation work, not everyone feels comfortable with selecting contractors or defining a scope of work. The Tower Heritage Center’s building conservation consultants can provide pre-project guidance and recommendations on repairing, restoring, or rehabilitating your building.
Grant Writing for Preservation Projects
Your project may qualify for federal and state tax credits for rehabilitating historic buildings or preservation grants for historic buildings. We can provide assistance in identifying funding for historic building preservation as well as pursuing these funds through writing and submitting applications for preservation-related grants.
Photo Credit: Richfield Historical Society
Historic Building Material Analysis
Understanding your building sometimes requires a closer look at its materials. We can analyze paint chips, mortar and plaster fragments, wood slivers, and metal pieces to help identify approximate age, ingredients used, general characterization, and colors present.