Balancing Historic Preservation Needs with the Operation of Highly Technical or Scientific Facilities

Advisory Council On Historic Preservation

In response to a joint request from the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands, and the House Committee on Science, Space,and Technology, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation under took an analysis of preservation issues concerning Federal support for highly scientific and technical facilities. The analysis considered the appropriate role of historic preservation in decision making about the operation and management of these facilities.When future generations reflect upon the mos.t significant historic resources of the late 20th century,the sites associated with man's first venture into space, with the splitting of the atom, with the development of computers and artificial intelligence, and with the first successful products of genetic engineering, may well be the first examples that spring to mind. America's scientific and technical facilities stand as monuments to the Nation's supreme ability to invent and exploit new technology and to advance scientific and engineering knowledge. Some facilities and structures significant in the early history of science and technology arc now inactive or have been deemed obsolete; they are in danger of being lost to future generations through lack of adequate maintenance or complete neglect. This analysis responds to concerns on the part of the scientific community that efforts to preserve or protect historic scientific and technological resources through Compliance with Federal historic preservation law might impede efforts to stay at the forefront of international research and achievement.