When Contemporary Becomes Historic: Preservation Maintenance to Mission 66 Architecture at El Morro National Monument

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Vanishing Treasures Program: Celebrating 20 Years of National Park Service Historic Preservation" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

El Morro National Monument’s Mission 66 maintenance\utility complex is a distinctive Cecil Doty design uncharacteristic of Mission 66 program utilitarian buildings. Extending from the maintenance building is a service yard enclosed by a fence with battered stone masonry piers and vertical wood plank fence sections. A double-leafed gateway accesses the large trapezoidal yard. Because the maintenance/utility building was attached to the facade of the overall visitor center complex, the design required architectural distinction that is unusual for Mission 66 program maintenance buildings. The stone pier supported fence is a prominent feature of this design. After more than 50 years of use, expedient repairs and weathering, the now historic fence was ready for a preservation maintenance project. The funding goal to improve the condition and appearance of the fence included replacement of all original wood fabric and repointing of the piers. Improvement to the condition and appearance was achieved by El Morro’s VT program in 2018 while retaining most of the original fabric. Clever refitting techniques and careful assessment and conservation of original materials resulted in a VT project that exceeded funding goals and restored the appearance of this unique architectural element integral to El Morro’s Visitor Center\Maintenance complex façade.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Vanishing Treasures Program: Celebrating 20 Years of National Park Service Historic Preservation   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23232