Goddard Space Flight Center Cultural Resources Master Plan

Client: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Location: Greenbelt, MD

Services: Cultural Resources Investigation and Documentation, Archeologic and Historic Evaluation

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) was established in 1959 as NASA’s first space flight center and is one of several large federal research facilities near the City of Greenbelt. GSFC, its scientists and engineers are devoted to expanding our knowledge of the Earth, the Sun, our Solar System, and the Universe. The center serves as a laboratory for developing and operating unmanned spacecraft for scientific exploration. The 1,270 acre GSFC facility also includes adjacent magnetic test facilities and propulsion research sites.

To facilitate compliance with the requirements of Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended in 1992, NASA contracted KCI to undertake identification, evaluation, registration and treatment planning activities for cultural resources located at the GSFC Greenbelt Campus. Combining background documentation from the GSFC’s Environmental Resources Document with information gathered from additional fieldwork and research, KCI evaluated the eligibility of cultural resources for the National Register of Historic Places and prepared National Register nomination forms for resources determined eligible. KCI also prepared a Programmatic Memorandum of Agreement documentation outlining GSFC’s Section 106 responsibilities for all Greenbelt Campus resources listed on or determined eligible for the National Register.

KCI developed an Historic Resources Management Plan to provide a framework and context for GSFC’s management of its historic resources in compliance with cultural resources legislation. KCI also developed an Historic Resource Preservation Plan for GSFC’s Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility. Additionally, KCI developed a Phase I Archaeological Reconnaissance Strategy for integration into the Programmatic Agreement. KCI assisted GSFC, in consultation with the Maryland Historical Trust, in determining whether specific cultural resources qualify as historic properties.

To perform this work, KCI conducted a review of resources documented in the files of the Maryland Historical Trust, including the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties and the National Register of Historic Places. KCI also reviewed and compiled background information from GSFC’s Environmental Resources Document, the GSFC Facilities Master Plan, and a previous inventory of architectural and archaeological resources. The work involved coordination with NASA, the National Park Service, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to incorporate the results of a National Landmark study of NASA resources, along with newly developed historic contexts on Cold War Era cultural resources.

An intensive field survey of GSFC’s cultural resources was conducted to gather information necessary for completion of Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties forms. As part of this effort, KCI reviewed files on facility construction, modeling and renovation, and prepared architectural narratives describing noteworthy architectural features and setting for each primary resource. Each resource was documented photographically.

To guide its cultural resource evaluations, KCI, in consultation with GSFC, developed a Structure Rating Sheet to serve as a generic evaluation system for cultural resources at GSFC. A grading system was created to facilitate eligibility evaluations for identified cultural resources. This procedure outlined levels of significance and integrity to be applied to each cultural resource under consideration, as a standard method for determining final recommendations for National Register of Maryland Inventory eligibility.

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