Sustainable Preservation of Collections and Architectural Assets at Historic Huguenot Street

FAIN: PF-249722-16

Huguenot Historical Society (New Paltz, NY 12561-1415)
Josephine Bloodgood (Project Director: December 2015 to June 2019)

A one-year planning project to assess the environmental conditions in 12 historic structures containing over 14,000 artifacts and archival materials providing a history of everyday life in the New Paltz region from pre- and early colonial periods through the first half of the 20th century and to recommend strategies for passive and sustainable measures for maintaining collections environments, while preserving the character of these historically and culturally important buildings.

Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) seeks an NEH Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Planning Grant to fund a team of experts in collections preservation and environmental management to comprehensively review twelve historic structures containing collections and recommend sustainable strategies for maintaining environmental conditions. The over-arching aim of this project is to explore ways to improve the quality of the environment for the historic buildings and the collections within through passive and other sustainable means that will also reduce the institution's reliance on fossil fuels and cut associated costs. To accomplish this,the consulting team will monitor the exteriors, interior conditions, and mechanical systems and meet with staff to discuss strategies to manage humidity and temperature in the houses. The resulting Environmental Improvement Report will serve as an important guide for Historic Huguenot Street's long-term collections management and preservation policies.