And Then What?: Cultural Significance and the Local Landmark Design Review

There are challenges to the regulation of many culturally significant sites lacking in physical or architectural presence, particularly in the controls available to the city or county for the management of change that is fundamental to the preservation of these properties. Some of the barriers that they face can be linked to the tendency of preservation practice to fall on arguments based on integrity. As more of these types of landmarks become accepted into local registers today, cities are now confronting the problem of how to allow and manage change for places that did not have much physical integrity to begin with, or whose significance relies more in its continuous and evolving function or use by the owners or affected communities. The purpose of this research is to examine historic preservation policy at a local level in the United States of America, specifically as it bears upon the process of design review for places designated for their cultural significance, recognizing the concept of integrity and its influence in restricting heritage management for underrepresented communities. The research is based on a review of related literature, case studies and interviews of staff from local historic preservation offices at various municipalities, to identify emerging best practices so as to insure better representation of local histories through designation and the subsequent appropriate design review.