CP&Y Cultural Resources Team Preserves Historic Sidewalks
Being an engineering and consulting firm, you might think that CP&Y only focuses on new engineering practices and designs – but that’s not always true! Our Cultural Resources team
focuses on preserving American history and culture while continuing to implement necessary infrastructure projects to improve communities. For National Preservation Month, we wanted to highlight one of our rather unique preservation projects in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
CP&Y architectural historians are working with ODOT to prepare a Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) for portions of historic brick sidewalks within the Guthrie National Register of Historic Places Historic District. This documentation occurs when a historically significant resource that represents an important or unique engineering practice is proposed to be demolished or altered in some way.
The goal is to capture as much information about the resources (like a historic roadway, sidewalk, or bridge) before it is lost, to preserve the resource through photographs and narrative history for time immemorial. This particular HAER documentation in Guthrie is one of Oklahoma’s earliest designated National Register of Historic Places historic districts. A portion of Guthrie’s downtown is also designated as a National Historic Landmark, with iconic Victorian and Romanesque architecture.
Due to much-needed ADA improvements within portions of the Guthrie Historic District, a HAER documentation is being prepared to fully document any historic brick sidewalks that might be damaged or destroyed through the improvement process and construction.
Our communities are rich with history and innovative engineering. We want to properly preserve and document those unique designs from the past before we improve access and quality of life for all. Projects like this are why we have a dedicated Cultural Resources team. If you are interested in learning more about our Cultural Resources services, please contact Tori Raines.
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