Office of Historic Alexandria
220 North Washington Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703.746.4554
December 22, 2010
Mr. David Cavanaugh
4008 Fort Worth Ave.
Alexandria, Virginia 22304
Dear Mr. Cavanaugh:
Thank you for your correspondence to Mayor William D. Euille and Members of the Alexandria City Council concerning the City’s contract with The Ottery Group for the documentary study and archaeological evaluation of Fort Ward Park. Your comments relating to The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Archaeological Research and a future Master Plan for the Park have been forwarded to me for response.
First, please note in Exhibit III of the executed contract with The Ottery Group (a copy of which can be found on the Ad Hoc Fort Ward Park and Museum Area Stakeholder Advisory Group website of RPCA) that:
“All aspects of this investigation will comply with the OSHA standards and the guidelines set forth in the City of Alexandria Archaeological Standards, the Guidelines for Conducting Cultural Resource Surveys in Virginia, and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation.”
The introduction to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Archaeological Documentation states:
“Archeological documentation is a series of actions applied to properties of archeological interest. Documentation of such properties may occur at any or all levels of planning, identification, evaluation or treatment. The nature and level of documentation is dictated by each specific set of circumstances. Archeological documentation consists of activities such as archival research, observation and recording of above-ground remains, and observation (directly, through excavation, or indirectly, through remote sensing) of below-ground remains. Archeological documentation is employed for the purpose of gathering information on individual historic properties or groups of properties. It is guided by a framework of objectives and methods derived from the planning process, and makes use of previous planning decisions, such as those on evaluation of significance. Archeological documentation may be undertaken as an aid to various treatment activities, including research, interpretation, reconstruction, stabilization and data recovery when mitigating archeological losses resulting from construction. Care should be taken to assure that documentation efforts do not duplicate previous efforts.”
The City’s intent in this first phase of work is to confirm the existence of burials or the remains of non-extant structures in select areas of the park where archaeological investigations have not yet occurred and where there is historic research supported by documentary evidence. This evidence may be a document or record, first hand oral communication, or through the results of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). Professional staff of the Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA), including the Directors of Alexandria Archaeology, the Alexandria Black History Museum, Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, and myself as OHA Director, as well as contractor, The Ottery Group, are in agreement that the current strategy employed for the project is the most appropriate within the level of existing resources. We also agree that the project meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and that the Scope of Work for the current project addresses the specific circumstances associated with the Fort Ward site.
With the Ad Hoc Fort Ward Park and Museum Area Stakeholders Advisory Group (SAG) now wrapping up their work on recommendations for Fort Ward Park, the staff at OHA feels it is important to make preliminary archaeological findings to the SAG before they conclude their work in January 2011. After evaluating this need, and the financial limits of the current phase of the project, it was determined to defer from the current Scope of Work Tasks 1-1 d., f., g., and h., as well as Task 1-4, and 1-6 in Stage One , as outlined in the Request for Proposals Number 00000104 Documentary Study and Archaeological Evaluation for Fort Ward Historical Park (RFP) dated April 7, 2010 (a copy of which can also be found on the Ad Hoc Fort Ward Park and Museum Area Stakeholder Advisory Group website). These remaining Stage One tasks will be undertaken in the next phase of the project, to be followed by Stages Two and Three as funding becomes available.
Concerning your comment that:
“Master plans can identify areas not immediately threatened by park or recreation use that are set aside for further study. These areas usually have low to medium potential for significant identification or recovery of artifacts or information is unavailable or too costly to assess public significance.”
While that may be true, the areas at Fort Ward now being surveyed have been determined by OHA to have a high potential for significant identification and/or recovery of artifacts or information. As City Council has provided adequate funding to undertake an archaeological investigation specifically in these high potential areas, it is not now too costly to assess public significance, nor has it been determined that there is a need to set these areas aside for further study at some future time. The areas selected for the current archaeological investigation, which have seen park maintenance and recreational uses in the past, are being evaluated at this time based on an appropriate level of historic research and documentation. By “ground truthing” these areas now, interim short-term protection and preservation strategies may be implemented, if necessary, and the knowledge gained will guide and supplement the preparation of a comprehensive Master Plan for the park in the future.
As a preservation planner myself, it is my professional opinion that with the current body of information known about the Fort Ward, we would be remiss if we did not continue the archaeological evaluation outlined in the current scope of work to confirm the suspected burials and cultural resources that remain in these areas of the park.
I appreciate the opportunity to make these comments to you, and thank you for your dedication to further the understanding of Fort Ward Park. Please feel free to contact me at (703) 746-4554 or at lance.mallamo@alexandriava.gov to discuss the matter further.
Very truly yours,
J. Lance Mallamo
Director, Office of Historic Alexandria
cc: The Honorable Mayor and Members of Council
Jim Hartmann, City Manager
Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager
Laura Triggs, Director of Finance
220 North Washington Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703.746.4554
December 22, 2010
Mr. David Cavanaugh
4008 Fort Worth Ave.
Alexandria, Virginia 22304
Dear Mr. Cavanaugh:
Thank you for your correspondence to Mayor William D. Euille and Members of the Alexandria City Council concerning the City’s contract with The Ottery Group for the documentary study and archaeological evaluation of Fort Ward Park. Your comments relating to The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Archaeological Research and a future Master Plan for the Park have been forwarded to me for response.
First, please note in Exhibit III of the executed contract with The Ottery Group (a copy of which can be found on the Ad Hoc Fort Ward Park and Museum Area Stakeholder Advisory Group website of RPCA) that:
“All aspects of this investigation will comply with the OSHA standards and the guidelines set forth in the City of Alexandria Archaeological Standards, the Guidelines for Conducting Cultural Resource Surveys in Virginia, and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation.”
The introduction to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Archaeological Documentation states:
“Archeological documentation is a series of actions applied to properties of archeological interest. Documentation of such properties may occur at any or all levels of planning, identification, evaluation or treatment. The nature and level of documentation is dictated by each specific set of circumstances. Archeological documentation consists of activities such as archival research, observation and recording of above-ground remains, and observation (directly, through excavation, or indirectly, through remote sensing) of below-ground remains. Archeological documentation is employed for the purpose of gathering information on individual historic properties or groups of properties. It is guided by a framework of objectives and methods derived from the planning process, and makes use of previous planning decisions, such as those on evaluation of significance. Archeological documentation may be undertaken as an aid to various treatment activities, including research, interpretation, reconstruction, stabilization and data recovery when mitigating archeological losses resulting from construction. Care should be taken to assure that documentation efforts do not duplicate previous efforts.”
The City’s intent in this first phase of work is to confirm the existence of burials or the remains of non-extant structures in select areas of the park where archaeological investigations have not yet occurred and where there is historic research supported by documentary evidence. This evidence may be a document or record, first hand oral communication, or through the results of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). Professional staff of the Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA), including the Directors of Alexandria Archaeology, the Alexandria Black History Museum, Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, and myself as OHA Director, as well as contractor, The Ottery Group, are in agreement that the current strategy employed for the project is the most appropriate within the level of existing resources. We also agree that the project meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and that the Scope of Work for the current project addresses the specific circumstances associated with the Fort Ward site.
With the Ad Hoc Fort Ward Park and Museum Area Stakeholders Advisory Group (SAG) now wrapping up their work on recommendations for Fort Ward Park, the staff at OHA feels it is important to make preliminary archaeological findings to the SAG before they conclude their work in January 2011. After evaluating this need, and the financial limits of the current phase of the project, it was determined to defer from the current Scope of Work Tasks 1-1 d., f., g., and h., as well as Task 1-4, and 1-6 in Stage One , as outlined in the Request for Proposals Number 00000104 Documentary Study and Archaeological Evaluation for Fort Ward Historical Park (RFP) dated April 7, 2010 (a copy of which can also be found on the Ad Hoc Fort Ward Park and Museum Area Stakeholder Advisory Group website). These remaining Stage One tasks will be undertaken in the next phase of the project, to be followed by Stages Two and Three as funding becomes available.
Concerning your comment that:
“Master plans can identify areas not immediately threatened by park or recreation use that are set aside for further study. These areas usually have low to medium potential for significant identification or recovery of artifacts or information is unavailable or too costly to assess public significance.”
While that may be true, the areas at Fort Ward now being surveyed have been determined by OHA to have a high potential for significant identification and/or recovery of artifacts or information. As City Council has provided adequate funding to undertake an archaeological investigation specifically in these high potential areas, it is not now too costly to assess public significance, nor has it been determined that there is a need to set these areas aside for further study at some future time. The areas selected for the current archaeological investigation, which have seen park maintenance and recreational uses in the past, are being evaluated at this time based on an appropriate level of historic research and documentation. By “ground truthing” these areas now, interim short-term protection and preservation strategies may be implemented, if necessary, and the knowledge gained will guide and supplement the preparation of a comprehensive Master Plan for the park in the future.
As a preservation planner myself, it is my professional opinion that with the current body of information known about the Fort Ward, we would be remiss if we did not continue the archaeological evaluation outlined in the current scope of work to confirm the suspected burials and cultural resources that remain in these areas of the park.
I appreciate the opportunity to make these comments to you, and thank you for your dedication to further the understanding of Fort Ward Park. Please feel free to contact me at (703) 746-4554 or at lance.mallamo@alexandriava.gov to discuss the matter further.
Very truly yours,
J. Lance Mallamo
Director, Office of Historic Alexandria
cc: The Honorable Mayor and Members of Council
Jim Hartmann, City Manager
Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager
Laura Triggs, Director of Finance
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