Developing a Heritage Reinvestment Assessment Model

FAIN: PG-271734-20

Heurich House Museum (Washington, DC 20036-1531)
Allison Anne LaCroix (Project Director: January 2020 to January 2023)

The development of a model for a Heritage Building Reinvestment Assessment, using an established planning and accounting method for commercial buildings known as an Asset Lifecycle Model for Total Cost of Ownership Management. The project would enable an architect or building engineer to estimate the long-term cost needed to keep a cultural heritage building in an acceptable state. This approach to preserving historic sites adds a critical financial planning tool to more traditional building assessments, and the applicant would share its results with the public. The collection of the Heurich House Museum, one of the most intact historic homes in Washington, DC, contains 2,000 artifacts: furniture, nearly 30 Oriental and Persian rugs, numerous sculptures and vases, 200 textiles, and more than 1,000 objects related to the owner’s historic brewery. The archives hold more than 600 items that include letters, journals and diaries, expense ledgers, and more than 1,000 photographs.

The Heurich House Museum requests a $2,625 Preservation Assistance Grant, which it will use together with $2,700 in cost sharing from a National Trust for Historic Preservation grant award, to hire architect/engineer Michael Henry to develop a “model” for undertaking a Heritage Building Reinvestment Assessment. The model, which will serve as a blueprint for an architect or building engineer to perform a lifecycle cost analysis on a historic property, will provide the methodology, scope of work, and prototype templates. The Museum will provide the completed model to an architect or engineer so it can serve as their template to undertake an Assessment of our historic buildings and grounds. We will also disseminate the model to scholars and other historic sites that may want to undertake an Assessment.

Associated Products

Heritage Reinvestment Model for the Heurich House Museum (Report)
Title: Heritage Reinvestment Model for the Heurich House Museum
Author: Michael C. Henry
Abstract: A Heritage Reinvestment Plan provides the basis for budgeting reserve funds for capital projects needed for preservation of an historic building. A Heritage Reinvestment Plan is an important supplement for other documents that inform stewardship of an historic building, such as a Preservation Plan, an Historic Structures Report, and a Conservation Management Plan. The Heurich House Museum has received funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Trust Preservation Fund and from the National Endowment for the Humanities (grant number PG-271734-20) for Creating a Heritage Building Reinvestment Model. The Heritage Building Reinvestment Model provides guidance for preparing a Heritage Reinvestment Plan for the Heurich House Museum which will be done under a separate contract by historic preservation professionals. The Heritage Building Reinvestment Model provides also addresses the special considerations encountered in planning for future capital expenditures for the building including: -The possible categories of preservation work for the Heurich House Museum; -How to identify and organize the building components, assemblies, and systems for each category of work; -How to establish the service life and remaining service life of the building components of the Heurich House Museum, recognizing that maintaining historic fabric in good condition is the desired outcome; and, - How to approach estimating costs given the special considerations of undertaking projects and professional services for preventive conservation, preservation, and restoration of components of the Heurich House Museum. The Heritage Building Reinvestment Model does not include cash flow planning or assessment of the property steward’s capacity to fund work, as these issues are addressed as part of the Reserve Analysis.
Date: 04/26/2021
Access Model: Open Access

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