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TITLE 13CULTURAL RESOURCES
PART 2TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
CHAPTER 17STATE ARCHITECTURAL PROGRAMS
RULE §17.2Review of Work on County Courthouses

        (VIII) Archeological resources shall be protected and preserved in place to the extent possible. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

      (iii) Specific standards for historic preservation projects. In conjunction with the eight general standards listed in clause (ii)(I) - (VIII) of this subparagraph, specific standards are to be used for each treatment type.

        (I) Standards for rehabilitation.

          (-a-) A property shall be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships.

          (-b-) The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property shall be avoided.

          (-c-) Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements from other historic properties, shall not be undertaken.

          (-d-) Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.

          (-e-) Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved.

          (-f-) Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and where possible, materials, replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence.

          (-g-) Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used.

          (-h-) Archeological resources shall be protected and preserved in place to the extent possible. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

          (-i-) New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.

          (-j-) New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.

        (II) Standards for restoration.

          (-a-) A property shall be used as it was historically or be given a new use which reflects the property's restoration period.

          (-b-) Materials and features from the restoration period shall be retained and preserved. The removal of materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize the period shall not be undertaken.

          (-c-) Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place and use. Work needed to stabilize, consolidate and conserve materials and features, from the restoration shall be physically and visually compatible, identifiable upon close inspection, and properly documented for future research.

          (-d-) Materials, features, spaces, and finishes that characterize other historical periods shall be documented prior to their alteration or removal.

          (-e-) Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize the restoration period shall be preserved.

          (-f-) Deteriorated features from the restoration period shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials.

          (-g-) Replacement of missing features from the restoration period shall be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence. A false sense of history shall not be created by adding conjectural features, features from other properties, or by combining features that never existed together historically.

          (-h-) Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used.

          (-i-) Archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved in place to the extent possible. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

          (-j-) Designs that were never executed historically shall not be constructed.

        (III) Standards for reconstruction

          (-a-) Reconstruction shall be used to depict vanished or non-surviving portions of a property when documentary and physical evidence is available to permit accurate reconstruction with minimal conjecture, and such reconstruction is essential to the public understanding of the property.

          (-b-) Reconstruction of a landscape, building, structure, or object in its historic location shall be preceded by a thorough archeological investigation to identify and evaluate those features and artifacts which are essential to an accurate reconstruction. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

          (-c-) Reconstruction shall include measures to preserve any remaining historic materials, features, and spatial relationships.

          (-d-) Reconstruction shall be based on the accurate duplication of historic features and elements substantiated by documentary or physical evidence rather than on conjectural designs or the availability of different features from other historic properties. A reconstructed property shall re-create the appearance of the non-surviving historic property in materials, design, color, and texture.

          (-e-) A reconstruction shall be clearly identified as a contemporary re-creation.

          (-f-) Designs that were never executed historically shall not be constructed.


Source Note: The provisions of this §17.2 adopted to be effective July 9, 1996, 21 TexReg 5973; amended to be effective September 3, 2013, 38 TexReg 5711; amended to be effective November 23, 2016, 41 TexReg 9108; amended to be effective February 24, 2021, 46 TexReg 1238

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