Threats to Historic Landscapes
We lose many historic landscapes in Utah before they can be identified. However, several threats can affect even identified and recognized historic landscapes.
Threats
Neglect & Mismanagement
Neglect stands as both a common threat, and one of the most difficult of threats to address. Throughout the state of Utah, the neglect, or improper management of landscapes, often leads to the loss of historic elements.
Redevelopment
Urban infill and redevelopment, while generally considered a more sustainable development pattern, can also consume historical landscapes if not carefully planned. For example, many popular historic districts, reaping the benefits of the increased demand for historic neighborhoods, often see inappropriate urban infill that detracts from the surrounding context. Municipalities may plow through historic landscape elements in an attempt to upgrade infrastructure and municipal services to increasingly more affluent historic neighborhoods.
Urban Sprawl
Urban sprawl looms as a fundamentally unsustainable practice and pattern. In our state, sprawl leads to the loss of open space, and Utah’s agricultural heritage, including many pioneer era vernacular landscapes. This problem is especially rampant in rapidly growing counties in Utah, which often have a rich pioneer-agricultural heritage. Over the past decade, rampant sprawl has forever changed the face of once quant agricultural enclaves like Cache Valley.
Overuse
On the flip-side of neglect, over-use can also plague historic landscapes. Many urban recreation spots, including parks and trailheads, have become increasingly popular. The resulting over-use puts a dramatic strain on the infrastructure of historic sites.
Addressing these Threats
Managing Neglect & Mismanagement
Timing and investment are key! Just because a site is trending downwards does not mean that revival is out of reach. For example, Allen Park in SLC, was trending downwards in 2020, with historic landscape elements in danger of being lost forever. Due to the crucial investment of the City of Salt Lake in the site’s documentation and preservation, the site’s trajectory reversed, heading positively towards revitalization. Cultural Landscape Reports, such as the one we completed for Allen Park, lay out pathways forward and solidify historic value for sites which may have experienced neglect or mismanagement in the past.
A site photo of Allen Park, taken at the time of the CLR
A page from the Allen Park CLR, completed by Io LandArch
Working with Redevelopment
Redevelopment does not necessitate the obliteration of historic sites. In fact, historically sensitive redevelopment can be mutually beneficial, adding additional value to development while preserving the character and history of a site. At Ogden Business Exchange, the client decided to prioritize historic aspects of the site. While many of the holding pens and associated livestock infrastructure were not feasible to save, we worked with Ogden city to identify character defining features such as the historic sheep-loading ramps and the Art Deco Stock Exchange building at the site for preservation, and planned the development around them.
Set in motion by the Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) report Io completed for the site in 2014, projects including the OBE Commons and the ongoing preservation of the Stock Exchange building look to the future through the lens of the site’s significant past for the City of Ogden.
Our original concept plan for the redevelopment of the Ogden Union Stokyards helped to preserve and integrate into the Ogden Business Exchange important historic features.
Navigating Realities of Urban Sprawl
Formerly owned by the BLM, the Washington Fields were transferred to a private developer in 2016. As part of this process, Washington County retained Io to document historic erosion control features. The features include large earthen berms, with rock spreader features, along with gully traps and small berms in series. All these features were designed and constructed to slow the movement of water and disperse it across the site, minimizing erosion, and were designed and built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s. While the site itself has now been developed, the HALS for this site documents the site’s story for posterity. 106 compliance required this documentation, and for good reason. While the use of the site has changed, its story now remains for perpetuity.
Washington Fields HALS required extensive scanning and documentation, as well as large-format photography by the famous Peter Goss, to memorialize the site’s history before the landworks were demolished.
Recovering from Overuse
By understanding what both a landscape and its users needs to thrive, we can offer recommendations to help a site adapt to higher traffic. Often, solutions will emerge when we stop to really understand what a site needs from the plant communities to the human communities. For example, at the Sheep Bridge Nature Preserve in Utah, we worked with the Nature Conservancy to re-route a popular bike trail on the site creating a more enjoyable loop trail for bikes, and restoring an area of landscape that was damaged by sanctioned parking, and created a new accessible trailhead and hiking trail system to provide access to the historic sheep bridge, while also preserving the natural and cultural history of the landscape.
At Sheep Bridge, signage and wayfinding elements complement a trail reroute and updated parking area. This has accommodated sensitive use of the site for recreation, preserving the site’s natural and cultural integrity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you cannot (and maybe should not) save everything. Temporal by nature, landscapes will always change over time. Successful historic landscape preservationists recognize what needs to stay and what can go, as the examples above have illustrated.
Learn more about our Historic Preservation practice here.