Four of the world’s aqueducts already join this venerable list of sites, and we believe that the Croton Waterworks matches those other sites in national- and worldwidelevel historical, engineering, architectural, and cultural value. While this designation also does not have legal “teeth,” a comprehensive management plan is required for designation, and the production of this document would be an important undertaking for the entire Croton Waterworks. Lastly, in order to further protect the Croton Waterworks, and historic infrastructure more broadly, we call for the first meeting of a Croton Congress, in order to construct the “Croton Declaration of Principles and Recommendations for the Preservation, Conservation, and Restoration of the Historic Infrastructure.” For a full proposal, see page __. While all of the protective measures within this preservation plan are to be considered, we have explored interpretation as our primary method for preserving the Croton Waterworks. We have found that interpretation serves as an engaging and flexible protective approach to historic infrastructure. The driving force behind our work is our belief that protection and interpretation are mutually dependent as integral elements of an overall preservation scheme. Our preservation plan identifies measures within established historic preservation standards and discourse to protect infrastructure. However, certain complications arise when these frameworks are applied to the Croton Waterworks holistically. Therefore in the following section we will present a survey of existing interpretation of the Croton Waterworks, as well as a range of proposed interpretation. Plan/Guidelines 50 as is the case for the Old Croton Aqueduct portion of the system, extant machinery is rare. If a good candidate were identified, such as a pumping station or a weir with engineering integrity, restoration could be a course of action. Another possible restoration project would be the berm and conduit beneath. Reconstruction of properties that have been severely damaged or lost is not yet a consideration because of the extensive and extant variety of typologies present in the Croton Waterworks system. However, the potential to bring the entire system back online, through restoration and reconstruction, has been suggested in conversations with experts. The thought of the entire Croton Waterworks system once again supplying water to New York is an exciting one, and speaks to the longevity of historic infrastructural systems. Section 3: Preservation replacement is necessary, materials and design should be researched and expertly matched. Any chemical or physical treatments should be as gentle as possible. 5. Archeological resources should be “protected and preserved in place.” 6. Any new additions or construction cannot destroy historic building materials, features, or spatial relationships that characterize the structure. All such new work should be reversible.8 Adaptive reuse is essentially the process of finding a new use for an old building. This “recycling” of buildings has long been a historic preservation tool to protect structures whose original utility is outmoded. While reuse has mainly been utilized to preserve more traditionally “inhabitable” structures, the reuse of infrastructure has become increasingly popular. Structures that are part of the Croton Waterworks that are no longer in service can gain new life through reuse. Already, some structures within the Croton Waterworks system are being reused. The 135th Street Gatehouse in Manhattan underwent extensive renovations and is now a theater space, Harlem Stage. Other structures that were reused along the Waterworks include the 113th Street Gatehouse in Manhattan, which has been appropriated by a nursing home for their use. These examples, along with others, point to the viability of historic infrastructure to be reintegrated into community use. At this stage in the preservation process we have not explored many cases where restoration or reconstruction would be the advised course of treatment. Most modern interventions into the historic landscape of the Croton Waterworks have taken the form of updated infrastructural systems. Where the mechanical systems have not been replaced, National Park Service, Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Architectural and Engineering Documentation, http://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/ arch_stnds_6. 1 51 National Park Service, “Maintaining Historic Building Exteriors” (May 2006): 3. 3 Ibid. 4 Norman Weiss, “Preventative Maintenance in Historic Structures,” in Conservation of Historic Stone Buildings and Monuments (Washington DC: National Academies Press,1982), 282. 5 National Park Service, “Standards for Preservation and Guidelines for Preserving Historic Buildings,” http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/preserve/ preserve_index.htm. 6 Ibid., http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/preserve/preserve_standards.htm. 7 National Park Service’s “Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Histovric Buildings,” http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/rehab/ rehab_index.htm. 8 Ibid., http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/rehab/rehab_standards.htm. 2 52 Section 3: Interpretation Interpretation is a key element in the preservation of the Croton Waterworks. It may be used to support the maintenance of the system, full restorations of particularly significant buildings, and public education of its layered history and significance. While interpretative efforts for the Croton Waterworks have been carried out in the past, the presence and means of this interpretation is quite varied, discontinuous along the length of the system, and not always easily accessible (either from a