The following projects are expected to receive federal financial assistance through the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) program administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology.
These are FY2021 projects that are anticipated to begin in the spring of 2021 and be completed by June 30, 2022. Official grant offers have not yet been made; however, these are the projects that were recommended for funding and for which the DHPA anticipates having sufficient HPF funds to award.
The HPF subgrant program assists publicly owned or private not-for-profit properties that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places with grant money to undertake preservation and rehabilitation activities. The purpose of these projects is to repair, preserve, and rehabilitate the property in ways that are historically appropriate and sensitive, and that maintain or enhance the viability and integrity of the resource.
The investment of HPF money means the projects are considered a federal undertaking, and therefore consulting parties have the opportunity to comment on the project under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. § 306108) and 36 C.F.R. Part 800. The proposed scope of work has been reviewed by DHPA staff and determined to meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Historic properties. Therefore, we believe that the projects will have no adverse effect on historic properties.
If you would like to be a consulting party or provide public comments for any of the projects listed, please contact us by May 10, 2021. Make sure to specify the project(s) for which you are requesting to be a consulting party, and we will provide scope of work, maps, and photographs for the project(s) you are interested in for your review and comment. To contact us: send a request to Indiana DHPA, Attn: HPF Grant Staff, 402 W. Washington St., Room W274, Indianapolis, IN 46204, or mvanaman@dnr.IN.gov.
Rehabilitation Projects
Indianapolis (Marion County): A grant to the Athenaeum Foundation will assist with the masonry rehabilitation on the main (north) façade of the Athenaeum building in Indianapolis. The Athenaeum opened as a German-American club, Das Deutsche Haus, in 1894. Designed by the Vonnegut and Bohn firm in the German Renaissance Revival style, it is an impressive structure at the intersection of New Jersey St., Michigan St., and Massachusetts Ave. This organization has received several HPF grants over the years to clean and rehabilitate the masonry on parts of the south, west, and north elevations. This grant will continue and complete the work on the north façade to clean the limestone and masonry, repair movement cracks, remove and replace any spalled or damaged brick units, and carefully cut and repoint masonry joints. The building is integral to the cultural arts district of Mass Ave. and is located directly on the city’s Cultural Trail. The Athenaeum has long served as a stabilizing force to the vicinity’s residential and commercial neighborhood, and benefits the community through development, education, recreation, arts, and culture.
Indianapolis (Marion County): A grant to the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site will assist with certain rehabilitation priorities for the President Benjamin Harrison home National Historic Landmark. This house was built by Benjamin Harrison and his wife, and was one of the primary places associated with his 1888 presidential campaign. In 2018, an HPF grant helped produce a Historic Structures Report for the house and grounds. Several immediate preservation priorities were identified in the HSR, including repairing and replacing failed joints in the front limestone steps and porch, repairing chimney caps, repointing the brick exterior as needed, and addressing deterioration of 16 large windows. The historic wood windows are character-defining features. The HSR prioritized repair of cracks in the exterior walls, as well as the limestone steps, sealant joints, and repointing a number of locations around the bay windows on the south side of the home. Brick and mortar debris has been observed on the hearth of the first-floor fireplace, although the chimney is no longer used. The chimney cap needs to be repaired to ensure that no further debris will threaten to dislodge.
Indianapolis (Marion County): A grant to The Children’s Museum will assist with rehabilitation of 27 historic wood windows on the first floor of the Schnull-Rauch House in Indianapolis. The house was built in 1904 and is currently owned by The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and used as a venue for special events. The project will help protect the historic character as well as make the house more energy efficient. The large historic windows are important character-defining features but are suffering from moisture and lack of maintenance. The main concern is with the exterior window sashes. Paint is peeling and exposing the wood to the elements, allowing water infiltration and creating conditions for rot. The scope of work includes removing and cleaning the wooden storm panels, repairing all window units, and repainting where necessary. Glazing compound that has deteriorated will be removed and replaced, and the window sashes, frames, sills, and brick molds will be scraped and sanded. Caulk will be used on the perimeter wood and masonry intersections. Any deteriorated wooden elements will be repaired or replaced. Original hardware will be retained, cleaned, and reinstalled.
Lafayette (Tippecanoe County): A grant to the St. James Lutheran Church and School will assist with exterior rehabilitation and preservation of the St. James Lutheran School, which has been in continuous operation since 1914. The main goal is to prevent moisture and water infiltration and preserve the historic character of the building. The most critical activities are repairing the deteriorated seams in the existing built-in gutters, replacing the damaged and leaking downspouts, and reconnecting the downspouts to existing cast iron boots. The leaking gutters and downspouts have caused deterioration to the soffits, fascia, and masonry. The sheet metal fascia and trim with beaded wood soffit will be repaired, scraped, sanded, and repainted. The potential for lead paint will be explored and mitigated safely. The limestone and brick masonry shows areas of missing mortar and caulking, which will be repointed and repaired. The project will help preserve this still-functioning historic school building.
Kokomo (Howard County): A grant to the Howard County Historical Society will assist a project to stabilize and rehabilitate the porte cochere at the Seiberling Mansion in Kokomo. The porte cochere is original to the grand home, which was completed in 1891 for industrialist Monroe Seiberling during the Indiana Gas Boom. In 1946 the house was purchased by Indiana University and used as a classroom building until 1964. The mansion sat vacant until 1971 and suffered damage from being unheated, vandalized, and neglected. The Howard County Historical Society leased the property in 1971 to restore it for use as the county museum and eventually purchased it in 1997. The proposed scope of work includes adding framing to the sagging roof structure; stabilization and reinforcement of support beams; replacement of deteriorated wood elements, gutters, and sheathing; disassembly and reconstruction of the failing northwest support pier; replacement of badly deteriorated sandstone wall caps; and repointing the masonry to mitigate water infiltration that has contributed to the damage. An engineering report and schematic plans have been created for the scope of work.
New Albany (Floyd County): A grant to the Arts Alliance of Southern Indiana and the City of New Albany will assist with rehabilitating the windows throughout 1852 two-story Crawford-Day-Moosmiller House, which now serves as home to the Arts Alliance. The windows currently are not operational and are in poor condition, allowing water infiltration that is causing interior damage. The project seeks to prevent any further deterioration and to make necessary repairs. The scope of work consists of tagging the windows by location, removing them in groups and transporting them to a workshop off site for disassembly, repairing or replacing damaged components, retaining as much historic material as possible, reassembly, and priming and painting before returning them for reinstallation. Sash pulleys will be serviced, and sash-weight cords will be replaced with copper chain. Parting beads will be replaced with treated clear poplar, and new spring bronze weather strip will be installed at rails and stiles. As an arts and cultural center for Floyd, Clark, and Harrison counties, this project will assist with maintaining the historic integrity of the house and providing for its continued use.
St. Mary-of-the-Woods College (Vigo County): A grant to the St. Mary-of-the-Woods College will assist with rehabilitation of the Conservatory of Music on the campus of St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Vigo County. Designed by the second generation of Bohlen and Son architects, the conservatory was constructed in 1911-1913 to support music and theater education and provide a performance venue. At the center is the Cecilian Auditorium, surrounded by three floors of classrooms, practice rooms, instrument storage, and faculty offices. The scope of work primarily consists of rehabilitating the seriously deteriorated limestone stairs and knee walls at the main entrance by replacing badly cracked and spalled limestone blocks and treads, patching smaller spalls, and repointing much of the masonry surrounding the main entry. Smaller work items include upgrading lighting under the balcony for increased public safety, restoring the original proscenium front wall of the stage, and minor repair and repainting of moisture-damaged plaster details in the auditorium and ground-floor hallways.
New Harmony (Posey County): A grant to the Working Men’s Institute will assist with replacing the current clay tile roof with a historically appropriate slate roof on the 1894 building in New Harmony. Founded in 1838 by geologist William Maclure, the WMI is Indiana’s oldest continually operating library; the second floor serves as a museum and is a popular attraction for visitors. The clay tile roof is not original to the building but was put on in the 1950s. Historic photographs show the original slate roof clearly enough to discern the body of square-butt slates with a decorative band of five rows of hexagonal slates, as well as the metal ridge caps and cresting. The tile roof is showing marked signs of age and deterioration, a number of tiles are cracked or broken, and some are missing altogether. Valley flashings and tile ridge caps are also damaged, and gutters and downspouts leak in multiple locations. The scope of work consists of removing the existing tiles, flashings, downspouts, and cornice linings; inspecting and replacing damaged decking; installing a layer of ice and water-shield underlayment over the entire roof; installing natural roofing slates that replicate the pattern and appearance shown in historic photos; fabricating and installing new copper valleys, saddles, and ridge caps; and replacing gutters and installing round copper downspouts. This work will be the final major project in the long-range plan for this National Historic Landmark.
South Bend (St. Joseph County): A grant to the City of South Bend will assist with needed repairs for the shelter at Walker Field Park. This structure was built in 1938 as a Work Progress Administration project. The shelter features an outdoor wading pool within a brick-paved courtyard surrounded by masonry arcades and a support building that housed comfort stations and fireplaces. The fieldstone and ashlar construction is typical of WPA buildings of the era. The shelter house has been closed to public use due to its deteriorating conditions. The walls and arcades surrounding the wading pool show evidence of masonry and foundation damage, which poses a threat to public safety. In addition, the roof and windows need rehabilitation. The project will focus on the urgent rehabilitation needs to stabilize the building, including stabilization of the arcade wall foundations, numerous masonry repairs to the arcade walls and arches, and replacement of some failed concrete capstones. Additional work items include repairs to roof and flashing, removal of non-original green paint from stonework, repair and repainting of all window openings, and infill of arcade openings with newly fabricated steel grates that will provide additional stability to the arcade openings as well as provide a means of securing the structure. Walker Field Park is located on the city’s near southside. This first phase will begin the process of returning the structure to a usable amenity for the community.
Archaeology Projects
Noble County: Ball State University will receive a grant to conduct an archaeological survey at Chain O’Lakes State Park by conducting a 60-acre Phase Ia shovel test pit (STP) investigation. This survey will be focused in the area of a presumed American Indian village north of Bowen Lake (approx. 45 acres) and surrounding the extant foundation of the historic era (c. 1910) Mulberry School (approx. 15 acres) with a 1-acre geophysical survey. The project area covers about 2% of the State Park property acreage and, based on site density of previous surveys in the area and past land use, approximately 20 sites are expected to be newly identified and recorded.
The primary research objective is to further document the historic and contact-era cultural resources within the park. Project goals are to investigate the location of the historic-era Mulberry School and the contact-era American Indian village north of Bowen Lake. The project will provide new research results in the themes of contact-era occupation and rural schoolhouses. A relatively low number of archaeological sites are documented in Noble County, and this project will help fill in gaps in the area and identify true site boundaries for two sites noted as requiring additional study.
All 60 acres are forested or overgrown with vegetation and will be surveyed using STPs. One acre around the school foundation will be surveyed with geophysical methods (ground-penetrating radar, gradiometry, resistivity). Based on the forested nature, STPs will be spaced systematically 15 meters apart. STPs will measure approximately 30 cm in diameter and be excavated to sterile subsoil. All excavated soil will be screened through 1/4'” wire mesh. A minimum of 1,080 STPs will be conducted with additional radials in cardinal directions as required by DHPA guidelines. If artifacts are discovered, the survey interval will be reduced to 5 meters to refine definition of site boundaries. All observed artifacts encountered in STPs will be collected and bagged. All positive STPs will be GPS recorded. In the area of geophysical survey, high vegetation will be flattened or mowed in the survey area.
Jay County: Ball State University will receive a grant to conduct an archaeological survey at the Loblolly Nature Preserve located in Limberlost Swamp Conservation Area and parts of White Oak Cemetery, also owned by the state. The primary research objective is to understand the use of Pleistocene marshland by pre-contact indigenous populations. The project goals include examining new archaeological evidence for historic White Oak, Indiana; increasing the SHAARD database; redefining the cultural chronology for Jay County; providing results to DNR for use in future resource management planning, and resolving any inconsistencies in the SHAARD data.
The project will conduct a Phase Ia survey of 60 acres, which is about 12% of the nature preserve and cemetery property. The applicant has permission to survey three parcels totaling about 109 acres and will survey 60 selected acres within those parcels. Based on site-density calculations, the project expects to document about 16 newly identified sites. Shovel test pits (STPs) will be spaced systematically at 15-meter intervals. STPs will measure approximately 30 cm in diameter and be excavated to sterile subsoil. All excavated soil will be screened through 1/4” wire mesh. Approximately 1,079 STPs will be conducted with additional radials in cardinal directions as required by DHPA guidelines. If artifacts are discovered, the survey interval will be reduced to 5 meters to refine definition of site boundaries. All observed artifacts encountered in STPs will be collected and bagged. All positive STPs will be GPS recorded.
The Pleistocene marsh extends beyond the boundary of Loblolly Nature Preserve, and in the vicinity are several sites identified during a 1985 Jay County survey. The project will survey the land parcel immediately adjacent to where those sites are located and will likely yield pre-contact material culture and possibly intact buried deposits. White Oak is an inactive town where there was a church, cemetery, and two houses. The project will enhance the understanding of the town and lifeways in east-central Indiana during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The survey is likely to yield historic material culture and possibly structures related to the town’s occupancy.