Historic resources

Th e common element for historic resource projects undertaken by Sapphos Environmental, Inc. is the staff ’s thorough knowledge of federal, state, and local regulations and current standards for documenting and evaluating historic resources. Sapphos Environmental, Inc.’s team of historians, including architectural historians, offers clients the benefit of decades of experience and a proven track record of achieving client objectives in an environment of complex governmental regulations and increasing public scrutiny. Th e historic resources team assists clients at all stages of the project, from earliest project design, identifying opportunities to avoid or accommodate historic resources; to preconstruction mitigation, such as Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)  documentation; to construction monitoring, including implementation of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. All team members meet or exceed the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional 

Qualification Standards.

Sapphos Environmental, Inc. maintains strong professional relationships with the National Park Service, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the California Offi ce of Historic Preservation, state and local historic preservation commissions, and regional advocacy organizations. Project experience ranges from historic resource evaluations and impact assessments in support of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to design review for both small and large and complex projects, as well as citywide historic resource surveys and context statements. Th e historic resources team also conducts feasibility studies and monitors the application of adaptive reuses of historic buildings, which requires a balance between new design and preservation of character-defi ning features. Sapphos Environmental, Inc. works with specialists, including licensed surveyors, structural engineers, and historic architects, to provide the evidence needed to make practical and defensible feasibility determinations.

Services

• Section 106 / CEQA / NEPA compliance
• Reconnaissance- and intensive-level historic resources surveys
• Historic context statements
• National Register of Historic Places, California Register of Historical Resources, and landmark nominations
• Agency consultation
• Community outreach
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)
• Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties assistance
• Tax credit and grant applications
• Historic preservation elements and plans
• Oral histories
• Educational and interpretative exhibits, publications, and presentations
• Modernization of historic schools
• Adaptive Reuse and Feasibility Services
• Feasibility studies
• Market and programming analyses
• Evaluation of seismic upgrade programs and architectural conditions assessments
• Identification of character-defining features
• Historic structures reports
• Architectural salvage plans