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Preservation Case Studies Planning for Exterior Work on the First Parish Church Portland, Maine Using Photographs as Project Documentation Preservation Case Studies Planning for Exterior Work on the First Parish Church Portland, Maine Using Photographs as Project Documentation A Preliminary Survey of the Building By John C. Hecker, AIA Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities Boston, Massachusetts Architect's Specifications for Project Work By Sylvanus W. Doughty, Architect Maineform Architecture Augusta, Maine Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Technical Preservation Services U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. 20243 1979 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20102 Stock Number 021-016-00120-6 Contents Introduction 1 Brief History of the Building 5 Part 1 A Preliminary Survey of the Building 9 Part 2 Architect's Specifications for Project Work 27 Appendix A The Secretary of the Interior's 51 Standards for Historic Preservation Projects As the Nation's principal conser­ The Heritage Conservation and vation agency, the Department of Recreation Service, a non-land the Interior has basic responsibili­ managing agency within the De­ ties to protect and conserve our partment, is responsible for assur­ land and water, energy and miner­ ing the identification, protection, als, fish and wildlife, parks and and beneficial use of our important recreation areas, and to insure the cultural, natural, and recreational wise use of all these resources. The resources. The Service offers grant Department also has the major assistance, technical information, responsibility for American Indian and guidance to those in the public reservation communities and for and private sectors involved in people who live in Island Territo­ conservation or recreation ries under U.S. Administration. projects. U.S. Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Cecil D. Andrus, Secretary Chris T. Delaporte, Director Robert L. Herbst, Assistant Secretary HCRS Publication No. 20 Introduction The Heritage Conservation and ic Preservation Projects (Appen­ Recreation Service (HCRS) His­ dix A). The division also provides toric Preservation Grant-in-Aid technical assistance to the States Program is jointly administered through onsite monitoring and with the States and Territories, the inspects proposed, ongoing, and District of Columbia, and the completed project work. National Trust for Historic Preser­ vation for survey and planning and The project completion reports for the acquisition, protection, required of all grant recipients stabilization, preservation, reha­ demonstrate how HCRS funds bilitation, restoration, and recon­ have been used, from the planning struction of properties listed in the component through the recording National Register of Historic of each area of project work. Tech­ Places. nical Preservation Services is com­ mitted to publishing and distribu­ Matching grants of up to 50 ting to the States representative percent are provided by HCRS for completion reports that illustrate the preparation of comprehensive the specific processes used to docu­ statewide surveys and for the ment eligible project work treat­ acquisition and development of ments as defined in the Secretary's registered properties. States and Standards. Additionally, one of our Territories may transfer funds to goals is to illustrate each of the local governments, private organi­ seven treatments: acquisition, pro­ zations, and individuals. When tection, stabilization, preservation, funds are transferred, the public rehabilitation, restoration, and re­ interest must be protected for a construction. limited period of time. This is ac­ complished through provisions In general we find there is a simi­ which guarantee continued main­ larity between successful projects tenance of the property and public of varying complexity: the thorough­ access. The administration of ness of planning for actual project individual grant projects and work and the organization and supervision of project work are clarity of the planning documents themselves. A well-thought-out responsibilities of the State plan for project work demon­ Historic Preservation Officer who strates that (1) a reasonable scope is appointed by the Governor. of work has been established to Technical Preservation Services, a best utilize often limited grant division of HCRS, reviews and funds; (2) a responsible approach evaluates all grant-assisted acquisi­ to the project work has been tion and development projects created through careful historical, submitted by the State Historic architectural, and archeological Preservation offices to assure documentation; and (3) a clear conformance with the Secretary of communication framework has the Interior's Standards for Histor­ been developed through the archi- 1 tect's drawings and specifications that for each area of project work so that those people carrying out recommended by Mr. Hecker (Part the work items may be specifically 1), Mr. Doughty has responded by directed. Finally, a coherent report providing clearly-written, addressing both project planning technically-sound architectural and actual project work accom­ specifications (Part 2). plished with grant funds is essen­ tial so that others may be able to The use of photographs for histor­ adequately assess the future con­ ic preservation project documenta­ struction and/or maintenance tion is an effective method of needs of the historic property. describing in detail and communi­ cating to others the existing The preliminary survey of the First conditions of a structure. Whereas Parish Church, Portland, Maine, even the inexperienced eye is represents such a carefully organ­ capable of observing the overall ized, well-presented plan for pro­ deterioration of a building, when posed project work and it is this properly used, the camera is an responsible planning process we extension of the professional wish to emphasize with the publi­ investigator's eye, scrutinizing and cation of this case study. selectively focusing upon those specific problems needing correc­ In the following two-part planning tion (it must be assumed that the component, John C. Hecker, AIA, quality of the photographs is formerly an architect for the critical to the success of this Society for the Preservation of method of documentation). New England Antiquities and currently employed by David M. After the architect's onsite inves­ Hart & Associates, Boston, Massa­ tigation and photographing of chusetts, has selected "annotated potential project work areas, any photographs" as the most appro­ written notes or tape-recorded priate method of documenting comments are polished into clear, several problem areas requiring evaluative statements that become restoration and stabilization work captions for the photographs— for use in his report, "A Prelimi­ thus the term "annotated photo­ nary Survey of the Building." His graphs." Often, items in the photographic documentation has narrative that need to be further provided a basis for Sylvanus W identified are keyed to the photo­ Doughty, Architect, Maineform graph, repeating terms from the Architecture—together with his narrative itself or using letters, own independent investigation of numbers, or purely graphic devices the instructure—to write specifica­ such as arrows. tions that serve to corroborate the determination of work item priori­ It should be noted that, although ties in Mr. Hecker's photographic annotated photographs are used in survey. It will be seen in the report the First Parish Church survey 2 partly as a means of communica­ Technical Preservation Services tion between two professionals staff members Kay D. Weeks, who share responsibility in the Technical Writer/Editor, and planning process, photographs of James A. Caufield and William D. existing conditions are an invalu­ Brookover, Historical Architects, able aid to the architect who contributed to the development of conducts the preliminary investi­ the original grant-in-aid project gation and also prepares the materials into their published drawings and specifications. form. Lee H. Nelson, AIA Acting Chief, Technical Preservation Services 3 4 Brief History of the Building The First Parish Church, located at 425 Congress Street, Portland, Maine, is the lineal descendant of the first religious activity that took place in 1674 under the Reverend George Burroughs in the commu­ nity then known as Falmouth. As a result of Indian raids during King William's War in 1690, Falmouth suffered a serious population loss and, 2 years later, Burroughs was hanged, a tragic victim of the Salem witchcraft delusion. Although resettlement of Fal­ mouth began in 1707, it was not until the 1720's that sufficient prosperity made possible the construction of the first church in the community at the corner of Middle and India Streets. By 1740, the need for more space resulted in the construction of a large wooden meetinghouse on the site of the present building (Fig. A). Nineteen years later, further enlargement was needed and the building was sawed through and its length increased by 12 feet. This structure, known as "Old Jerusa­ lem," was the scene of the Maine Constitutional Convention of 1819. In 1824, owing to Old Jerusa­ Fig. A. Etching of the old wooden First Parish Meeting House (1740- lem's poor condition, the mem­ 1825), known as "Old Jerusalem." Courtesy of the First Parish Church. bers selected a committee to plan for a new building.

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