Historic Structure Reports

Historic Structures Reports lay the foundation for the National Park Service to preserve the historic structures in its care. At Gulf Islands, many of the largest or iconic structures like Fort Pickens have had these documents for years, while others are still in need. Thanks to the funding provided by park entrance fees several have been funded over the years.

HSRs identify character-defining features, assess structural integrity, and provide treatment recommendations for the park’s most important cultural resources and more are planned in the future.

Year: 2014 Total Cost: $53,716.96
The first report funded was focused on the 1944 Battery Commander’s Station and Coincidence Ranger-Finder at Battery 234, Fort Pickens, commonly known as Tower 234. This document became critical when engineers discovered structural integrity issues later in the year. The HSR is now directly cultural resource managers in the long-term planning for the appropriate action to preserve the tower’s story.

Year: 2015 Total Cost: $62,396.60
The second report funded focused on Battery Loomis L. Langdon at Fort Pickens, one of the largest gun batteries built to defend Pensacola Bay and its naval base. This structure is in the heavily visited and obtaining the information on it provided by this report allows the park to plan for its preservation and interpretation. Soon after the report was completed, half of Battery Langdon was adaptively reused as the storage area for the park’s tram service. The report provided the information necessary to complete this work in a way that preserved the integrity of the structure.