Georgia Tech Historic Preservation Plan

The Georgia Institute of Technology engaged Lord Aeck Sargent’s Historic Preservation Studio to prepare its Campus Historic Preservation Plan in 2002 and 2009, and LAS is currently updating the plan. Designed with three primary objectives, the plan outlines the Institute’s existing cultural resource policies with recommendations to ensure compliance with the seven standards of the Stewardship Program; serves as a manual for Institute personnel by detailing both general and specific operating procedures to guide responsible treatment and management of cultural resources; and presents the Institute’s intentions regarding its cultural resources for review by the Board of Regents and the Historic Preservation Division.

The study is broken down according to the standards of the Stewardship Program, providing policy and procedural guidelines for complying with these standards. As part of the plan, an inventory was assembled of all of the school’s architectural resources. They were then evaluated according to the National Register Criteria and recommendations made for both individual and district nominations. Each resource was surveyed according to Georgia Department of Natural Resources Historic Preservation Division Guidelines and plotted on campus maps. The identification process also included the development of an archaeological sensitivity map or predictive model for the campus, which identified locations that possessed the potential for discovery of significant archaeological deposits. Once completed, the maps were overlaid with existing master planning studies to identify potential conflicts between proposed new construction and significant historic resources. The identification of these resources assists campus planners in minimizing any impact on resources on a project-by-project basis and also helps the planners avoid resources when considering the long-term development of the campus.