Cultural Landscape Report for Springwood, Vol. II, Treatment, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt NHS

Auwaerter, John; Curry, George

The purpose of treatment in a cultural landscape report is to direct management of a landscape based on the goal of preserving and enhancing its historic character within the context of other park management goals such as public access, natural resources conservation, recreation, and interpretation. Treatment is described through narrative and graphics at a conceptual level. Further planning and design may be required for implementation based on the complexity of the task. Treatment does not address routine and cyclical maintenance tasks, such as tree pruning and lawn mowing that are necessary to retain the historic character of the landscape. This report defines a framework for treatment of the Springwood landscape, provides general treatment recommendations, and describes specific guidelines and tasks to enhance historic character in keeping with applicable National Park Service legislation, policies, guidelines, and planning. The report constitutes the second volume of the Cultural Landscape Report for Springwood, building on the site history, existing conditions, and analysis and evaluation completed in 1999 for the first volume. The project area for the cultural landscape report comprises the original thirty-three acre national historic site surrounding the Roosevelt home (known as the Home) and the adjoining sixteen-acre library parcel, hereafter together referred to as the historic core Although under separate federal administration, the library is included within the project area because of its integral historic and existing relationship with the national historic site. The library has worked closely with the park in managing the landscape over the years and has expressed interest in the recommendations of this treatment plan. The methods used in this report are based on A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques (National Park Service, 1998). The general treatment framework and concepts were initially developed by landscape architecture students at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) through a studio held in spring 2006 under the direction of Distinguished Teaching Professor George W. Curry. The studio developed a treatment approach and identified the key treatment tasks necessary to enhance the historic character of the landscape. These findings were based on a meeting to discuss issues and opportunities held on February 14, 2006 and attended by staff from the park, library, and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. The studio findings were presented to park staff at SUNY ESF on April 25, 2006, and were followed by a printed report.6 These findings were subsequently presented to the team working on the General Management Plan for Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites.7 The report is organized into four chapters, with the first establishing a framework for treatment based on the park’s enabling legislation and purpose, National Park Service cultural resource guidelines, current park planning efforts, and the findings of Cultural Landscape Report Volume I. This framework articulates a treatment philosophy that describes the intended character of the landscape, establishes a primary treatment for the landscape, and sets a treatment date as a benchmark for assessing historic character. Based on this treatment philosophy, the second chapter describes general treatment recommendations that address issues impacting the landscape’s historic character. The third chapter provides guidelines and tasks necessary to retain, enhance, and reestablish the historic character of the landscape within the historic core, with preliminary recommendations for areas adjoining the historic core. The report concludes with a summary, table of treatment tasks that identifies priorities, and an appendix with source documents.

Cultural Landscape Report for Springwood, Vol. II, Treatment, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt NHS

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