The adaptive use of historic correctional institutions : retaining architectural and historical significance
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Date
2010
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MA in Historic Preservation
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Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain information or permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Goucher Special Collections & Archives at 410-337-6347 or email archives@goucher.edu.
Abstract
This thesis examines the adaptive use of historic correctional institutions and the
supposition that architectural and historical significance are vulnerable in the reuse
process. The thesis investigates three less familiar aspects of significance: interior layout
and finishes, spatial relationships in campus settings, and history that encompasses both
the original intent and redirected changes over time. Research focuses on three case
studies of reused correctional institutions – the Allegheny County Jail, the Sockanosset
Training School for Boys, and the Lorton Workhouse.
Correctional institutions of the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era were selected
as case studies based on the premise that these decades encapsulated America's transition
from imprisonment as profit-making reprimand toward rehabilitation. This era
also encompassed the waning years of employing America's most renowned architects to
design these facilities, which were expressions of civic pride and artistic achievement.
Research on incarceration practices since the Progressive Era supports this assumption.
Beginning in the 1980s and continuing today, the purpose of imprisonment refocused on
mere incapacitation, and good design consequently became an afterthought.
This thesis demonstrates that architectural and historical significance can be
retained in both public and private reuse projects, in approaches that preserve all, some,
or almost none of the physical plant, and at facilities that represent a variety of intentions
in their historic context. Retention can be achieved by prioritizing the significance of site
features, by providing honest and respectful interpretation, and by voluntarily involving
preservation professionals and community members in decision-making that is afforded
ample time and informed consideration.