\, .-- -L~»~'--~-~ D-IA ' ' • '-T• - '- , . .. ~ ,:;~ '· .;i.:.:: ~--~ .._-~_- ~... ~~- ---- ;.;: •.=~'+- .. ~ - . _. · · '...;~:~ - " .suitability I feasibility study june 1992 . · ~ BENJAMIN HARRISON HOME •INDIANA UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR I NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DENVER SERVICE CENTER ' ,,, SUMMARY Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, the 1895~1901 appearance; the other would be Benjamin Harrison Home, owned by the developed with a visitor I administrative Arthur Jordan Foundation and operated center and parking. by the President Benjamin Harrison Foundation, offers historical and Alternative B: Joint Venture. Under this educational benefits to visitors. Since alternative the National Park Service operating this home for public benefit has would acquire the Harrison home and the 'brought an increasing financial burden on 2.1-acre grounds. The President Benjamin the. Arthur Jordan Foundation, the Harrison Foundation would manage the trustees of this group sought aid from site and retain ownership of the artwork, United States Representative Andrew furnishings, and library I archival material. Jacobs, Jr. and United States Senator As in alternative A, two land zones Richard G. Lugar for a National Park would be used, but administrative Service study of the property. functions would be located in the home's Consequently, the National Park Service basement. Development in the zone not initiated a suitability I feasibility study in historically owned by Benjamin Harrison February 1991. The national significance would include a visitor center and of the home was previously established parking. by its national historic landmark status. This study determined that this national Alternative C: Financialn'echnical historic landmark is suitable and feasible Assistance. In this alternative, ownership for inclusion in the national park system. and management of the home and grounds would be retained by the Arthur This final Suitability/Feasibility Study Jordan Foundation/President Benjamin presents four alternatives for ownership, Harrison Foundation, and there would be management, funding, development, and little development on the property. The interpretation of the property. The site National Park Service would provide boundary for each alternative is the 2.1 financial and technical assistance under a acres owned by the Arthur Jordan cooperative agreement. Foundation/President Benjamin Harrison Foundation. Alternative D: No Action. Under this alternative the status quo, or continuation Alternative A: National Park Service of existing conditions, would be retained. Owned and Operated. Under this There would be no NPS involvement. alternative the National Park Service would acquire and manage the Benjamin A brief analysis of impacts is also Harrison Home, its contents, and the 2.1 included following the alternatives section acres on which it is sited. The land would to aid decision makers in evaluating the be split into two zones-one, historically study alternatives. occupied by the Harrison home and grounds, would be restored to its iii CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 SUIT ABILITY /FEASIBILITY 3 Suitability 3 Feasibility 3 Compliance 4 Boundary 4 OVERVIEW /HISTORY 6 Benjamin Harrison 6 The Benjami~ Harrison Home 7 CURRENT CONDITIONS 12 Setting 12 Furnishings 13 Description of the Benjamin Harrison Home 14 Evaluation of the Home's Condition 15 Hazardous Materials 17 Site Development 17 Landscaping 18 .. SOCIOECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 23 Population and Economics 23 Access and Transportation 23 Recreation, Visitor Use, and Visitor Services 24 Projections of Potential Use 24 INTERPRETIVE THEMES 26 Law 26 Political Life 26 Military Career 26 Reformer 26 The Harrison Family 26 History of the Harrison Home 27 ALTERNATIVES/MANAGEMENT 28 Existing Management 28 Alternative A: National Park Service Owned And Operated 28 Ownership/Management/Funding 28 Development 29 Interpretation 29 Alternative B: Joint Venture (See Appendix C) 30 Ownership/Management/Funding 30 Development 30 Interpretation 31 v .--- --- 1 ! Alternative C: Financial/Technical Assistance 31 Ownership/Management/Funding 31 Development 31 Interpretation 32 't' Alternative D: No Action 32 IMPACTS 33 General Impacts 33 Socioeconomic Impacts 33 Environmental Impacts 35 DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATING COSTS 38 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED AND REJECTED 39 OTHER OWNERSHIP/MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS 40 APPENDIXES A: Existing Plant Species 41 B: President Benjamin Harrison Foundation, Inc. Proposed Budget - 1991 42 C: Requests by the President Benjamin Harrison Foundation, Inc. 44 BIBLIOGRAPHY 48 PARTICIPANTS 50 MAPS Location 2 Historic Districts 5 Harrison Neighborhood - 1900 11 Existing Conditions 21 PHOTOGRAPHS/DRAWINGS Benjamin Harrison 6 The Harrison Home in the 1880s 9 The Harrison Home With Its Early 20th Century Porch 9 The Harrison Home in the 1980s 13 TABLES 1: Visitation, 1981-1990 24 2: Potential Demand - Recreation Visits, 1991-2000 25 3: Estimated Staff Requirements 28 4: Alternatives Summary 32 5: Environmental Effects 36 vi ··- ·- ·-- ---------------------------------· INTRODUCTION Benjamin Harrison resided in suitability and feasibility of NPS Indianapolis, Indiana, for most of his life. involvement with the property. The It was there that he married, raised his trustees had never intended to operate a · family, conducted a successful career as a presidential home. That situation evolved lawyer, pursued a political career, was from their ownership and use of the elected to the presidency, and is buried. Harrison home. The foundation's purpose For much of his life Harrison made his is to support community projects, home at 1230 North Delaware Street. In especially those related to music. The 1937 the Arthur Jordan Foundation trustees hoped the NPS study would purchased the property to serve as a result in a means to operate the.home girls' dormitory for the Jordan Music and relieve them of continued financial Consezvatory. The house now functions hardship. To continue the status quo will as a museum where many of the not relieve the financial burden of the Harrison furnishings are displayed. The home on the Arthur Jordan Foundation home also provides historical and and could threaten the house with educational benefits to visitors. diminished maintenance, closure to public visitation, or sale to a private party. This Operating the Harrison home for public study will determine the suitability and benefit has placed a financial burden on feasibility of making this property a part the Arthur Jordan Foundation. To of the national park system, and suggest alleviate this, the trustees of the Arthur ways in which the major home of Jordan Foundation approached U.S. President Benjamin Harrison can be Representative Andrew Jacobs, Jr. and preserved for public enjoyment in a U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar, requesting manner befitting its significance. that a study be done to determine the 1 INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA 0 INDIANAPOLIS N 0 R T H LOCATION SCALE IN MILES Benjamin Harrison Home 0 2 Suitabilty/Feasibility Study f , Indianapolis, Indiana United States Department of the Interior National Park Service DSC • BEHA • 40,000 • JUNE 1991 ON MICROFILM · ···· -·- ·--- --·--·----------------------------- SUITABILITY/FEASIBILITY ... To qualify for addition to the national important public offices. A second park system, an area must first be building, ~ hunting and fishing retreat, nationally significant, and then meet was constructed on property located on criteria for suitability and feasibility. By Second Lake near the town of Old Forge, its status as a national historic landmark, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains. Benjamin Harrison Horne has been President Harrison occupied this structure determined to be nationally significant. for only brief periods in the summers between 1896 and 1900. This property is To be suitable for inclusion in the system, currently in private ownership. Harrison an area must represent a natural or and his first wife occupied two other cultural theme or type of recreational residences in Indianapolis, but these resource that is not already adequately houses have since been razed. represented in the national park system or is not comparably represented and The Benjamin Harrison Home at 1230 protected for public enjoyment by another North Delaware is the only site remaining land-managing entity. Adequacy of · that is both available for public use and representation is determined on a suitable for the interpretation of this case-by-case basis by comparing the ex-president. Benjamin Harrison is not proposed area to other units in the represented anywhere else in the national national park system for differences or park system, and the site is threatened by similarities in the character, quality, limited financial support. This could •. quantity, or combination of resources, and result in the closure of the facility, opportunity for public enjoyment. curtailment of its interpretive activities, or deterioration of the resources. The To be feasible as a new unit of the Harrison Home, therefore, meets the national park system, an area's natural suitability criteria for inclusion in the systems and/ or historic settings must be national park system. of sufficient size and appropriate configuration to ensure long-term FEASIBILITY protection of the resources and to accommodate public use. It must have Situated on 2.1 acres of ground, the potential for efficient administration at a Benjamin Harrison property is located at reasonable cost. Important feasibility the southwest edge