New to RenovateDSM?

Become a Registered User at RenovateDSM for free and get access to additional features (and make this message disappear)! Click for More Information, to Login or to Register.

Most Endangered Building List

A charred Sherman Hill mansion and a former one-room schoolhouse have been named to the Des Moines Rehabbers Club's 2008 list of “Des Moines' Seven Most Endangered Buildings”. Click here to see the full list.

Endangered Buildings Discussion Questions

Here is a list of questions to spark thinking about preservation and reuse of historic buildings. Please feel free to add your own suggested questions and/or responses in the comments below.

  1. What makes a building "historic"? Is it related to age, design, location, social context, occupancy, or some combination of these factors? Which is most important?

  2. Does a building have to be individually significant or architecturally unique to be worth preserving?
  3. How dependent on its physical context is a historic building? If nearby buildings are demolished, does it affect the historic character of the remaining structures?
  4. Is there ever a case when a historic building should be demolished? What are the determining factors?
  5. Is it acceptable to drastically alter the interior of a historic building if the outside appearance is preserved?
  6. Should there be restrictions on what people can do to historic buildings? Who should determine if a building is historic? What should the consequences be?

Post new comment

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

Captcha
This question helps prevent automated spam submissions.