Louisiana Preservation Plan

Number of Pages: 99
Approved: October 19, 2001
Planning Cycle: 5 years

Contact Information:

Phil Boggan, Deputy SHPO
Division of Historic Preservation
Office of Cultural Development
P.O. Box 44247
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804
(225) 342-8160; fax (225) 342-8173
E-mail: pboggan@crt.state.la.us

Mission/Vision Statement:
To achieve the preservation of Louisiana objects, sites, structures, and districts deemed significant in the broad historical development of the United States, Louisiana, and sub-divisions thereof, through direct action and through influencing the action of others.

Table of Contents:

Part 1. Introduction
Part 2. Organizations and Other Entities in Louisiana
          That Impact Cultural Resources
Part 3. Prehistorical and Historical Development of Louisiana
Part 4. Cultural Resources of Louisiana
Part 5. Goals and Objectives
Part 6. Updating the Plan
Appendix A. Planning and Development Process
Appendix B. Public Questionnaire

• Public opinion questionnaire circulated in newsletter, Preservation in Print;
• Meetings with various interest groups, including archaeologists, Chambers of Commerce, and Economic Development boards;
• Draft revised plan circulated for review and comment.

• Staff review of planning goals to identify objectives that have been met or need revision or elimination.

HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES
Diverse cultural heritage; objects, sites, buildings, and districts; New Orleans French Quarter; historic properties and archaeological sites; US Customs House in New Orleans; historic courthouses; rural and formal landscapes; heritage areas; historic plantations; historic riverfronts; Spanish-era Cabildo & Presbytere; Old State Capitol and historic district; East Louisiana State Hospitals; Civil War battlefields; historic bridges; Louisiana State University campus historic district; parish courthouses; historic St. Charles Avenue Streetcar line; historic school buildings; historic churches, cemeteries, and convents; prehistoric archaeological sites, including Poverty Point earthworks, effigy mounds, hamlets, ceremonial centers, burial mounds, mound groups, houses, and submerged campsites and watercraft; historic period archaeological sites, including underwater and maritime sites, archaeological resources associated with historic buildings and properties; other types of historic structures, such as sugar mills, plantation quarters, Creole architecture, warehouses, industrial sites, steamboats, railroads, hotels, diners, lumber company towns; rice mills; oil and gas company towns; public buildings, shotgun houses.

ISSUES, THREATS, & OPPORTUNITIES

• Road and highway construction threatens rural and urban cultural resources and contributes to urban and suburban sprawl;
• TEA-21 enhancement grants;
• Various tax incentive programs;
• Legal requirements of Forced Heirship fragment historic property ownership;
• Earliest human occupations are poorly documented;
• Tropical climate encourages structural decay;
• Citizen distrust and dislike for government programs, regulation, and "planning;"
• Benefits of Main Street programs and heritage tourism are being recognized;
• Demolition by neglect;
• Urban and commercial growth threatens archaeological resources, rural historic properties, and small downtowns;
• Improper alteration of historic buildings;
• Formosan termites threaten historic wooden buildings;
• Timber harvesting, agricultural practices, and laser-guided land-leveling threaten archaeological sites;
• Loss of archaeological sites from vandalism, looting, shifting river channels, coastal erosion, subsidence, wave and storm damage.

1. Survey and create an inventory of all the properties in the state which may possess historic, architectural or archaeological significance.
2. Evaluate and designate properties possessing archaeological, historical or architectural significance with emphasis upon our developed historic and prehistoric contexts.
3. Protect and preserve the broad range of archaeologically, historically or architecturally significant properties.
4. Educate architects, construction practitioners, property owners, citizens, and particularly students in general in the practices, principles, and importance of historic preservation.
5. Enhance the economic basis of historic preservation.
6. Stem the threat posed by the infestation of Formosan termites.

1. Survey and inventory significant properties.
   • Financial and technical support for community surveys;
   • Resource identification by federal and state agencies;
   • Complete rural area survey.
2. Evaluate and designate significant properties.
   • Accessibility of National Register program to all citizens;
   • Nomination of properties to National Register by CLGs;
   • Target high priority properties for nomination by property owners.
3. Protect significant properties.
   • Local, state, and federal agencies and Indian Tribes consider impacts of their actions on historic properties;
   • Monitor condition of properties;
   • Use publications and other media to encourage stewardship;
   • Educate young people in state's heritage and historic preservation.
4. Educate about historic preservation.
   • Educate architecture and archaeology students;
   • Educate those whose actions impact properties;
   • Establish partnerships to educate about American Indian and African American heritage;
   • Develop variety of educational materials.
5. Enhance economic basis.
   • Improve public awareness of incentives available;
   • Expand effectiveness of Main Street Program;
   • Incorporate historic properties into tourism programs.
6. Formosan termites.
   • Expand research to combat infestation;
   • Educate public on coping strategies.