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 street or from the Westchester County trail). Furthermore, gaps exist in the extant and visible fabric of the Waterworks, which often leads to a lack of public understanding of the characteristics, extent, and significance of the Croton Waterworks. It is for these reasons (and many more) that existing interpretation must be adequately assessed and new interpretative measures discussed and eventually implemented. Interpreting the entire forty-one-mile-long Croton Waterworks system, from Westchester County to New York City—including both structures and landscapes—is a challenging issue. It is important to understand the variety of sites associated with the Croton Waterworks, to be able to group these sites into larger thematic typologies, and to ultimately connect these sites through interpretative measures, enabling the Waterworks to be understood in a holistic manner. Questions have surfaced as to how to interpret unseen or underground portions of the Waterworks, structures still in use, fragments of demolished structures, and even entirely demolished structures. As a result, the classification of a site as existing/demolished, accessible/inaccessible, active/ decommissioned, or subgrade/abovegrade is a crucial first step that must be completed in order to obtain a full understanding of the circumstances that one may face in interpreting these sites. For a system as varied and expansive as the Croton Waterworks, these considerations (among others presented in later pages) will aid in the determination of the best use and type of interpretation. Structures that are Existing or Demolished The extant structures of the Croton Waterworks, even without clear interpretation components associated with them, are at least visible to passersby. There are many components of the Waterworks that have been demolished, however, that are still considered to be of enduring significance to the system’s engineering, architectural, landscape or social/cultural history. Examples of demolished structures that remain significant to the Waterworks include the keepers’ 54 houses (of which only one remains, in Dobbs Ferry), the West Burnside Avenue Bridge (large fragments of which remain on either side of West Burnside Avenue in the Bronx), the Clendening Valley Crossing (demolished in the nineteenth century), Murray Hill Reservoir (of which fragments remain, and can be seen in the main branch of the New York Public Library that now occupies the reservoir’s site), and York Hill Reservoir (fragments of which are scattered around the Great Lawn and incorporated into the police precinct building in Central Park). Structures that are Accessible or Inaccessible to the Public Many of the Croton Waterworks sites, particularly those associated with the Old Croton Aqueduct, are located in areas where members of the public may interact directly with the exterior of a structure (and even enter the structure, in some cases) or come close to more landscape-oriented features such as dams and reservoirs. Other structures are only visible from a distance (head houses over the shafts associated with the New Croton Aqueduct), surrounded by layers of fencing (Jerome Park Reservoir), or on publicly inaccessible property (York Hill Reservoir fragments in the police precinct building in Central Park). Considerations and Challenges Considerations and Challenges Section 4: Interpretation Interpretation of the Croton Waterworks Structures that are Active or Decommissioned The structures associated with the New Croton Aqueduct, which is still in use, are considered “active” components of the system. The first priority of the municipal agencies (such as the New York City Department of Environmental Protection) responsible for 55 56 Challenges Encountered in Interpreting the Croton Waterworks The following is a list of critical issues that were encountered while researching, analyzing, and creating interpretative measures for the Croton Waterworks. This list is by no means comprehensive or complete; its purpose is to provide additional ideas and issues to consider in working toward the creation of a holistic interpretative plan for the Croton Waterworks. 1. The balance of public education/interpretation and maintenance of scenic viewsheds, particularly in Westchester County, has become increasingly important. The definition of what a scenic viewshed might encompass in New York City has yet to be determined. 2. The possible incorporation of interpretative features into the reuse of Croton Waterworks structures—such as the 135th Street Gatehouse (adaptively reused as Harlem Stage) and the 113th Street Gatehouse (renovated as part of the Amsterdam Nursing Home)—leads to the question of how to incorporate signage, for example,