Requires the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation to preserve and maintain state historic sites that are closed for more than a month.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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5628
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 4, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, MILLMAN, SWEENEY, ROSENTHAL, THIELE,
JAFFEE, DenDEKKER, WEISENBERG, CASTRO, TITONE, CAHILL, COLTON,
RUSSELL, GIBSON, MAISEL, BOYLAND -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
GABRYSZAK, GLICK, HOOPER, JACOBS, PERRY, SCARBOROUGH -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Develop-
ment
AN ACT to amend the parks, recreation and historic preservation law, in
relation to the maintenance and preservation of state historic sites
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative finding. The legislature hereby finds that the
2 state has long acted on the recognition that the historical, archeologi-
3 cal, architectural and cultural heritage of the state as represented in
4 state historic sites are amongst the most important environmental assets
5 of the state and that they should be carefully maintained and preserved
6 for future generations.
7 § 2. The parks, recreation and historic preservation law is amended by
8 adding a new section 14.11 to read as follows:
9 § 14.11 Maintenance and preservation of state historic sites. 1.
10 State historic sites shall be subject to the highest standards of care,
11 custody and control to assure their preservation for future generations.
12 For the purposes of this section, "mothballing" shall mean the process
13 of temporarily closing a historic structure that involves controlling
14 the long-term deterioration of the building while it is unoccupied as
15 well as finding methods to protect it from sudden loss by fire or
16 vandalism; and "seasonal" shall mean a period of time not to exceed six
17 months in any given year.
18 2. During the process of determining the viability of the office main-
19 taining a historic site open to the public, the commissioner shall
20 produce a written outline of alternative actions that include, but are
21 not limited to the preparation of a request for proposals for the estab-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00520-01-3
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1 lishment of a non-profit group that would contract with the office to
2 maintain the historic site following the agency's established criteria
3 and best practices and an economic impact statement on the proposed
4 closing of the site. This outline and economic impact statement will be
5 made available to the public and a copy shall be delivered to the gover-
6 nor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the
7 senate, and the chairs of the assembly committee on tourism, parks, arts
8 and sports development and the senate committee on cultural affairs,
9 tourism, parks and recreation. Following the publication of the outline
10 of alternative actions, a public comment period of no less than thirty
11 days shall be implemented followed by at least one public hearing on the
12 proposed actions by the agency.
13 3. If it has been determined both by the commissioner and the board
14 that a state historic site shall be closed to the public and not fully
15 maintained for a period to exceed the normal seasonal limit previously
16 in place, the commissioner shall adhere to the standards of the United
17 States Secretary of the Interior for the mothballing of historic build-
18 ings. Such secretary's standards for historic preservation are the
19 established and acknowledged standards for historic site and building
20 preservation throughout the nation. Such standards for the mothballing
21 of historic buildings focus on the steps needed to properly deactivate a
22 historic property for an extended period of time not to exceed ten years
23 and require continued limited monitoring and maintenance by professional
24 staff. The standards for the mothballing of historic buildings require
25 the appointment of a preservation specialist to assess the specific
26 needs of the structure and to develop an effective mothballing program.
27 4. Actions taken in the event of the closing of a specific state
28 historic site shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
29 (a) the preparation of a condition assessment report of the building
30 or site by a preservation specialist, a copy of which shall be delivered
31 to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president
32 of the senate, and the chairs of the assembly committee on tourism,
33 parks, arts and sports development and the senate committee on cultural
34 affairs, tourism, parks and recreation;
35 (b) structural stabilization of the building, based on the recommenda-
36 tions of the condition assessment;
37 (c) extermination or control of pests, including rodents and insects.
38 This shall include, but not be limited to, the installation of pest
39 screens and the inspection of the building by a licensed pest control
40 expert;
41 (d) protection of the exterior from moisture penetration. This shall
42 include an inspection of the building or structure's roof, gutters,
43 drains, window and door frames, masonry, siding, and proper drainage;
44 (e) securing the building and its component features to reduce vandal-
45 ism or break-ins. This shall include the notification of local fire and
46 police departments that the building is being mothballed, ensuring the
47 proper installation and maintenance of fire and intrusion detection
48 systems are in place throughout the structure, along with any existing
49 inspected fire suppression systems, the fastening of all exterior doors
50 and windows, the prevention of the overgrowth of the grounds, and the
51 creation and implementation of a security monitoring plan;
52 (f) provision of adequate ventilation to the interior that is, at
53 minimum, two air exchanges every hour to prevent mildew damage;
54 (g) securing or modifying utilities and mechanical systems to ensure
55 no damage takes place due to nonuse;
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1 (h) development and implementation of a maintenance and monitoring
2 plan for protection of the structure to be made available to the public
3 with a copy sent to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the
4 temporary president of the senate, and the chairs of the assembly
5 committee on tourism, parks, arts and sports development and the senate
6 committee on cultural affairs, tourism, parks and recreation;
7 (i) removal, cataloguing of, and proper storage of any and all histor-
8 ical collections held within the structure including furniture, arti-
9 facts, art work, textile material, and library and archival material,
10 consistent with established best practices for the handling and cata-
11 loguing of such historical collections and objects; and
12 (j) not less than once every six months at a minimum an inspection of
13 the building shall be made, maintenance action shall be taken on any
14 deterioration that is found in such inspection and a report, including
15 photographic documentation on the inspection shall be made and presented
16 to the governor and legislature.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
