Description

A. Program Need: The Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) is dedicated to the preservation and maintenance of historic buildings, structures, and features of the NPS and its partners. The HPTC executes this commitment by demonstrating outstanding leadership through field preservation schooling for basic hands-on craft skills development in masonry, carpentry, wood crafting, and architectural building identification, evaluation, and condition assessment techniques. The HPTC utilizes historic preservation projects as its main instrument for teaching preservation philosophy and progressive development of building crafts knowledge, exposure to the newest stabilization practices, techniques and applications, and enriching project management skills. This structure lends itself to accommodate on projects additional individuals looking to learn and practice new skills through hands-on projects. The HPTC is continuing to grow significantly across the NPS in scope and scale. Additional technical assistance on projects from skilled individuals will assist it in more responsively meeting the demand for project work at NPS sites across the country, and thus better accomplish the HPTC and overall NPS mission to preserve cultural resources for future generations to experience, learn from, and enjoy.B. Program Objectives: The program objective is to support and stimulate preservation trades and project work on NPS cultural resources through hosting pre-apprentice-style and pre-professional experiences for emerging professionals in the fields of facility management and cultural resource restoration and rehabilitation. Specifically, the program focuses on engaging existing students and graduates of trade schools focused on historic preservation skills and knowledge (such as those listed on The Campaign for Historic Trades website) or other facility relevant trades and fields (e.g. water/wastewater management, engineering, architecture, project management, etc.) and degree programs applicable to public land facility management who are looking for opportunities to apply their education to real-life projects. The program will promote greater public and private participation in historic preservation and facility programs and activities while simultaneously building resource stewardship ethics in its participants. An ancillary benefit and objective is to provide the National Park Service with trained individuals to help complete critical historic preservation and facility projects. The program will combine an intensive, immersive work atmosphere with tailored classroom and field-based curriculum to provide participants with any additionally necessary training related to the maintenance, restoration, and preservation of the infrastructure (buildings, bridges, monuments, memorials, culverts, etc.) found on public lands. The work completed will be on active NPS backlogged preventative maintenance and other projects alongside NPS maintenance and preservation professionals. Any curriculum provided by NPS will support this hands-on experience through reinforcement of the importance of trade skills, ethics of conservation and preservation on public lands.The program will strive to engage emerging student or recent graduations (2 years) historic trades and facility professionals from diverse backgrounds currently underrepresented in this field of work. The goal is to interest these skilled individuals in NPS career opportunities and thus diversify the NPS Facilities workforce.