ONLINE PRESERVATION RESOURCES

National Park Service, Department Interior
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps
This link provides online technical information for preserving, rehabilitating, restoring and reconstructing historic buildings . It should be helpful for all owners, contractors, architects, preservationists and real estate professionals who need more information when beginning such projects. Available on this link are Technical Preservation Briefs on a wide variety of topics, and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, which describe appropriate treatments. These guidelines are useful for landmark commissions to be familiar with in order to properly evaluate projects. Information is succinct, written clearly and illustrations are provided. Mistakes can be avoided and time and money saved by being familiar with the resources available through this link.

Preservation League of New York State
http://www.preservenys.org/publications.htm
The link contains a variety of publications which can be ordered through the League, dealing with the restoration of historic houses as well as other preservation topics. A recent study of value in historic districts statewide entitled Profiting through Preservation is available online in pdf format.

National Trust for Historic Preservation
http://www.nthp.org/historic_homeowner/index.html
Contains a limited number of online rehabilitation topics. Don’t overlook the resources in the National Trust’s Preservation Bookstore which has a search function enabling grouping of publications on specific topics, for example, typing in “rehabilitation” yielded a number of useful titles. These publications can be ordered online but are not available online.

New York State Historic Preservation Office Field Services Bureau
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/field/techpres
The SHPO offers Technical Preservation Guidance at the above URL. It includes detailed information concerning, building exteriors and interiors, historic landscapes, new construction/related demolition, historic barns, stained glass preservation, and graveyard preservation. Also, there are links to other helpful sites.

New York Landmarks Conservancy
http://www.nylandmarks.org/programs/techassist.html
This site offers a Technical Services Center which has several functions: Answering Building Questions, Preservation Services, Publications and Workshops, and a Hotline for Help. A professional staff of building conservators is available to address building problems and find qualified contractors. Examples of questions dealt with are those determining the significance of property and deciding how it should be preserved, specific conservation issues such as those dealing with masonry, and questions regarding energy efficiency and where it is appropriate to use modern materials. Available publications include those addressing the maintenance and rehabilitation of historic building facades and maintaining religious properties as well as the Conservancy’s Restoration Directory, a guide to preservation firms.