Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field, Vol. 1 Site History, Existing Conditions and Analysis

Cody, Sarah; Auwaerter, John

In the National Park Service, a Cultural Landscape Report is the principle treatment document for cultural landscapes and the primary tool for their long-term management. The park service defines a cultural landscape as a geographic area that includes both built and natural resources, and is associated with a historic event, activity, or person.1 A cultural landscape includes not only topography, circulation, and vegetation features, but also buildings and small-scale features such as light standards and fences. This report employs a landscape approach to research that provides comprehensive documentation of a property’s physical development and its associated historic contexts. This landscape approach addresses a breadth of cultural and natural resource types, and establishes relationships among history, architecture, landscape architecture, planning, and archeology, among other disciplines. In accordance with the project agreement, the scope of this report includes a site history, existing conditions, and analysis and evaluation (Cultural Landscape Report Part I) in support of five main objectives. The first is to document the physical evolution of the municipal and military landscape. Second, the report provides contextual documentation on the history of American airfield landscapes, both civilian and military, sufficient to evaluate the historical significance of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape. The third objective is to evaluate the changing historical appearance of the landscape’s characteristics and associated features to inform management decisions regarding the nature and appropriateness of proposed repair and replacement efforts. Fourth, the report provides documentation supporting park consultation responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, including the evaluation of the landscape outside the existing National Register historic district. The fifth objective is to recommend preliminary treatment strategies for the long-term management of the cultural landscape, as well as short-term recommendations particularly to address a proposed project to replace eight miles of primary electrical cables on the field and construct new entrances off Flatbush Avenue. The report does not include a full treatment plan (Cultural Landscape Report Part II). This report has been developed according to the methods in A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques (National Park Service, 1998). The first chapter, Site History, provides a narrative on the complex physical history of Floyd Bennett Field from pre-settlement through the present. The chapter is broken down into five periods, each representing a distinct time defined by changes in land use, development, and ownership. The subsequent chapters have been developed in a more technical style to meet park management needs. Chapter 2, Existing Conditions, provides an overview of the present character of the landscape and its administration and use, organized by landscape character areas. Chapter 3, Analysis and Evaluation, assesses the historic significance and integrity of the landscape based on the National Register Criteria, and evaluates the historic character of the landscape according to National Park Service cultural landscape methodology. The fourth chapter provides preliminary treatment recommendations that would be refined and expanded in completion of a full treatment plan (Cultural Landscape Report Part II). These recommendations identify current landscape treatment issues and propose preliminary tasks based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and the overall objective of enhancing the historic character of the landscape.

Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field, Vol. 1 Site History, Existing Conditions and Analysis

Series