Historic Preservation Services

Cultural Resources Management and Cultural Institutions Planning

Our practice of historic preservation and planning has helped a number of projects for cultural institutions. We have worked on a wide variety of endeavors, including:

project visioning and strategic plans
community and stakeholder engagement and facilitation
historic structure reports and site surveys
local landmark and State/National Register nominations
Section 106 Cultural Resource Surveys
site management plans
restoration design and construction documents
design and construction management
collections management plans

Historic Structures Reports

Historic structures reports (HSRs) are valuable documents for planning and decision-making for the preservation, rehabilitation, restoration and reconstruction of significant buildings and structures. The report is often the first phase of a project and provides valuable information about history and existing conditions for design, construction, and project funding. As trained practitioners in historic preservation, Hone Strategic has completed several HSRs ranging from Gothic churches to naval air base structures.

Local Landmark & National Register Nominations

Hone Strategic provides National Register of Historic Places and local landmark nomination and certification services for businesses and homeowners. Landmark designation honors the history of beloved buildings while helping to ensure that these community assets survive for generations to come. It also provides businesses and homeowners access to historic rehabilitation tax credits and grant funding.

Tax Credits for Historic Rehabilitation

Hone Strategic works with building owners to help determine whether the project is eligible and to navigate the process of certification, as well as the approval of design and construction documents with the SHPO and local landmarks officials. This process can be a significant help to property owners and communities in making their projects financially feasible.

Preservation Planning & Adaptive Reuse

Preservation planning is a process that communities undertake to strengthen the stewardship of their historic and cultural resources by establishing a course of action that can ensure their preservation. The process can include area-level and individual structure surveys, community and stakeholder involvement, policy development and adoption (such as "Certified Local Government" status), and public education. Hone Strategic combines extensive experience in urban planning and historic preservation to provide comprehensive preservation planning services to communities.

Section 106 Cultural Resources Surveys

Hone Strategic's expertise in planning and historic preservation is uniquely suited for Section 106 Cultural Resource Surveys. The National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 outlined the "Section 106" procedure that requires federal agencies to account for historic resources before proceeding with any project. Federal or federally-assisted or licensed projects must conduct Section 106 surveys. New York, like many states, has its own set of requirements based on the federal Section 106 Law. Projects on larger sites and urban areas are well-matched with our capabilities.

Project Management

Prior to launching her consulting career urban planning and historic preservation, Jennifer was a design and construction project manager in her native New York City. She oversaw the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of numerous major public cultural facilities and commercial structures. She brings this detailed knowledge of the design and construction process to her work at Hone Strategic.

See our Development Advising page for a portfolio overview of our design and construction projects.

Historic Preservation Portfolio

Persen House Heritage Center

Jennifer conducted a feasibility study of the Matthewis Persen house, a structure with additions spanning 350 years of Kingston, NY's history. Her recommendations for the facility as a heritage interpretive center were implemented in the adaptive reuse program. She also procured the award of the prestigious American Alliance of Museums' Museum Assessment Program peer review for the interpretive scheme of the facility.

The Burger-Matthews House

Jennifer purchased this local landmark property in 2005 for $1 from the City of Kingston to prevent its demolition and donated it to TRANSART, the region’s only African-American cultural organization. She nominated it for designation on the State and National Registers as an unusually elaborate example of vernacular Victorian architecture and retained a $240,000 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The entire structure has been fully stabilized and is beginning an exterior rehabilitation process in the Fall of 2017.

The Depuy Canal House

In 2014, Hone Strategic successfully secured $500,000 from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, along with $1-to-$1 matching funds from the Open Space Institute, for the D&H Canal Historical Society and Museum to acquire the Depuy Canal House in High Falls, NY as the new site of the museum. Hone also led the visioning process to create the program of the building as a regional hub for tourism, with an emphasis on its history of trade, transportation, and farm-to-table cuisine.

Pine Hill, NY Main Street Plan and National Historic District

Pine Hill’s Historic District is a cohesive collection of late 19th century and early 20th century buildings that represent the heydey of summer tourism in the Catskill Mountains. Jennifer led the community in creating a program for streetscape and trail improvements, downtown revitalization, and the successful nomination of the Main Street area as a National Historic District.

Church of St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Historic Structures Report

Jennifer wrote an historic structure report (HSR) as a consultant to the World Monuments Fund for this National Historic Landmark church in Brooklyn Heights, NY. Her work was credited with discovering the essential historical background for the building that allowed for a faithful restoration and helped the project obtain significant funding for the work.

World Bank: Cultural Heritage Planning

Jennifer was the lead researcher of the World Bank's first comprehensive cultural policy evaluation. It reviewed projects in all sectors to determine the impact on cultural heritage, including urban, transport, energy, environment, and tourism. Led study missions to Brazil, Georgia, Jordan, and West Bank and oversaw project and program evaluations.

Jennifer also conducted a study of the role of cultural activities in economic development The study developed a framework for evaluating cultural investments in 25 projects worldwide including historic sites and structures, protected areas, historic centers and urban areas, museums and galleries, public art and public space, cultural industries, and cultural tourism, and cultural institutions.

Calverton Naval Air Base

Jennifer wrote the Section 106 Cultural Resources Survey for the Environmental Impact Statement of the Calverton Naval Air Base, in Riverhead, Long Island, NY. The base was run by the Grumman Corporation for the testing of advanced naval aviation equipment, including the Tomcat F14 jets as well as the Lunar Module, thereby making significant contributions to the Cold War and the Space Race. Several buildings there were preserved as the base was decommissioned by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and became the site of the Grumman Memorial Park.

Petra National Park, Jordan

As part of her work at the World Bank, Jennifer worked with the Petra National Park in Jordan on site planning and stakeholder engagement. A group of approximately 30 international leaders in cultural resources management came together to contribute to the park's management plan.

Cinque Terre National Park, Italy

Jennifer served as the U.S. Advisory Council for Historic Preservation delegate to ICCROM, a UNESCO program focused on integrated and territorial conservation of the Ligurian coastal region of the Cinque Terre, a UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape. This work contributed to the Cinque Terre National Park's inclusion on the World Monument Watch’s 100 most endangered sites and a sustainable economic development plan for the region.