University of Illinois Facilities and Services

Within broad limits prescribed by the institution and the campus administration, the academic and major service units at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign enjoy a significant degree of autonomy in identifying needed facility projects and in prioritizing those projects. Although the actual amount varies widely among the units, each of these organizations has some annual funding for facility modifications or improvements. There are several facility-support units, such as the Facilities & Services Division and the Housing Division, which also plan or undertake facility projects in any given year. Each of these projects may affect campus historic resources -- several of which either are on the National Register of Historic Places or are National Historic Landmarks (See appendix 1). The university's activities involving these facilities and others deemed “register-eligible” by the state historic preservation officer are governed by a wide array of state and federal laws and regulations.

As of fiscal year 1995, the Urbana-Champaign campus included more than 15 million square feet of facilities in 200 major buildings on almost 1,400 contiguous acres of land. Including funds from all sources, the fiscal year 1995 campus facilities budgets for academic facilities (which are typical of recent years) for maintenance and repair, remodeling for new functions (alterations and improvements), renewal to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog, and reinvestment to sustain the quality of facilities (variously referred to as renovation and renewal, repair and renovation, etc.) totalled over $7,500,000. Additionally, academic units under the campus organizational umbrella, such as the College of Engineering or the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Enviromental Sciences, spent almost $1,000,000 on projects involving existing facilities.

Coordination of this scale of enterprise among more than twenty units having facility budgets and a significant degree of autonomy is not a trivial matter. To achieve an acceptable degree of institutional control, the campus has developed a thorough process for project planning and approval. This process allows continuing effective custodianship of historic resources.

As is the case with most other major institutions of higher education, the campus faces the problems of its campus physical environment declining much faster than it can be regenerated. Aging infrastructure, high-maintenance mechanical systems, and underfunded facility support budgets have caused a steady erosion of the quality of the built environment. Campus facility planners estimate that $15 million per year should be spent on building maintenance to keep campus structures in good condition; the state has allocated less than one-half of that amount each year since 1986. Oftentimes in the past, the university has been forced to take the least expensive approach to general maintenance tasks and minor remodeling at the expense of preserving architectural details. One responsibility of the institution is to perform its mission of teaching, research, and public service in ways that preserve the most significant aspects of its physical heritage. To this end, the period dating from the mid-1980s has been one of unprecedented investment in the university’s historic facilities.

The Chancellor’s Design Advisory Committee (CDAC, see appendix 6) identifies historic resources, evaluates the importance of those resources, advises on the care of historic facilities and sites, and critiques potential projects that would affect those resources. The CDAC developed a systematic method of rating facilities (see appendices 23 through 28), sites, and interiors on the campus; and the resulting ratings serve as guidance for all project planning. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) has been a particularly valuable resource in identifying and evaluating these resources.

Successful master planning ensures preservation of the most significant existing facilities which best express the heritage of the campus. This goal has been realized in the university's current master plans. As the campus develops and the process of master planning continues, the process of weaving the university’s past with its future also continues. Planning updates are performed with the input and review of the CDAC. Significant revisions to the master plan -- those that might affect historic resources -- are reviewed in consultation with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Several Illinois historic preservation laws apply to the university:

The Archaeological and Paleontological Resources Protection Act

This act (effective January 1, 1989) applies only to public lands. The law contains criminal sanctions for anyone who disturbs burial mounds, human remains, shipwrecks, or other archaeological resources on public lands. A violation carries potential penalties as severe as three years imprisonment and $10,000 in fines. The law establishes an administrative system for affected agencies to follow. Under this system any excavations on public property must be authorized by a permit from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and must be conducted by a consultant having appropriate professional staff. Excavations must be documented in written reports. The Illinois State Museum is the official curator for any objects removed from public property. On the University of Illinois campus, the Environmental Protection Agency oversees activities on the campus core (north, central and south campuses), while the Office for Project Planning and Facility Management is responsible for the south farms.

The Human Grave Protection Act

The Human Grave Protection Act (effective August 11, 1989), or Public Act 86-151, makes it unlawful for anyone without a permit to knowingly disturb human skeletal remains or a grave marker, including burial mounds. The act applies to any burial on public or private property, but only if the burial is over 100 years old and is not in a registered cemetery. Certain violations are Class Four felonies with potential fines of $10,000 and imprisonment for as long as three years. The bill’s underlying premises are that the use of private property should not be unreasonably bridled and unnecessary disturbance of human burials is generally repulsive to members of our society and should not be permitted.

The Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act

Similar to the Human Grave Protection Act, the Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act (effective August 11, 1989) applies to all unregistered and unmarked graves. This law makes it unlawful for anyone to disturb skeletal remains, artifacts, and grave markers, to sell or exchange human skeletal remains or to allow disturbance of human skeletal remains. The state’s attorney or the attorney general may be requested by the director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency to initiate criminal prosecutions or to seek civil damages, injunctive relief, and any other appropriate relief if this act is alleged to have occurred.

The Illinois State Agency Historic Resources Preservation Act

The Illinois State Agency Historic Resources Preservation Act (effective January 1, 1990), often referred to as the “State 106” (also known as Public Act 86-707) law, is modeled after section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The law applies to all state agencies and requires that they take into account the effect that their activities may have on historic resources. An agency planning a construction project, for example, is required to notify the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and then take into account any comments made by the agency within a 30 day comment period. The act also provides a number of negotiation and appeal procedures and does not apply to projects already covered by federal law. This law assures that state agencies give consideration to historic resources and minimizes the impact that state projects or activities might have on such resources. The campus must also comply with the National Historic Preservation Act when federal funds are used for a project, though the use of federal funds is rare.

Federal laws which apply to the university include:

The Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979

The Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, commonly referred to as ARPA, provides protection to archeological resources that are at least 100 years of age and are located on public or Indian lands. It establishes a permit application process for excavation on public or Indian lands. In addition, it increases criminal penalties beyond the Antiquities Act of 1906 and makes provision for expanding cooperation between the Secretary of the Interior and archeological organizations, individual archaeologists, and private collectors.

The Archeological Resources Protection Act Amendments of 1988

The Archeological Resources Protection Act Amendments of 1988 strengthen the original act and require federal agencies to develop public awareness programs and prepare plans and schedules for surveying land under their jurisdiction.

The Antiquities Act of 1906

The Antiquities Act of 1906 provides for the protection of all historic and prehistoric ruins or monuments on federal lands. It prohibits any excavation or destruction of such antiquities without permission of the secretary of the department having jurisdiction over these resources. The act authorizes the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and War (Defense) to give permission for excavation to reputable institutions for increasing knowledge and for permanent preservation in public museums. It also authorizes the President to declare areas of public lands as national monuments and to reserve lands for that purpose.

The Historic Sites Act of 1935

The preservation for public use of historic sites, buildings, and objects was declared a national policy by the Historic Sites Act of 1935. It led to the establishment of the Historic Sites Survey, Historic American Buildings Survey, and the Historic American Engineering Record by giving the Secretary of the Interior authority to make historic surveys, to secure and preserve data on historic sites, and to acquire and preserve archaeological and historic sites. The National Historic Landmarks program and its advisory board were also established under this act to designate properties having exceptional value as commemorating or illustrating the history of the United States.

The National Environmental Policy Act

Federal agencies are required by the National Environmental Policy Act to prepare an environmental impact statement for every major federal action that affects the quality of the human environment. The environment is defined to include cultural as well as natural resources.

Executive Order 11593: Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment

Federal agencies are directed by this Executive Order, Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment, to take a leadership role in preservation in two particular ways. First, for all property under federal jurisdiction or control, the agencies must survey and nominate all significant historic properties to the National Register. These historic properties also must be maintained and preserved by the agency. Second, for every action funded, licensed, or executed by the federal government the agency involved must ask the Secretary of the Interior to determine if any property in the environmental impact area is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. If the federal action will substantially alter or destroy a historic property, the agency must allow the advisory council to comment on such undertakings; nationally significant properties must be recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey or the Historic American Engineering Record.

The Archaeological and Historical Preservation Act of 1974

The Archaeological and Historical Preservation Act of 1974 calls for the preservation of historic and archaeological materials and data that otherwise would be lost as a result of federal construction or federally licensed or aided activities. Data recovery or in situ preservation are available to the Secretary of the Interior.

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966

The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) is legislation intended to preserve historical and archaeological sites in the United States. The act created the National Register of Historic Places, the list of National Historic Landmarks, and the State Historic Preservation Offices.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, commonly referred to as NAGPRA, describes the rights of Native Americans and requires federal agencies and museums receiving federal funds to inventory holdings of remains and objects of Native Americans to reach agreements regarding the disposition of these items.

In conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings and Illinois law in accord with Public Act 86-707, review by the IHPA is required prior to the execution of any contract involving historic resources. In comformance with the Historic American Building Survey, appropriate levels of architectural documentation/reports and/or archaeological surveys are made available to IHPA, guiding its assessment of the undertaking’s impact on the historic resource. In turn, IHPA responds with a determination of no effect, additional information required, or no adverse effect; or the IHPA must draft a memorandum of agreement outlining alternatives that would eliminate, minimize, or mitigate the possible adverse effect on the historic resource. The campus historic preservation officer also introduces these types of projects to the CDAC on a case-by-case basis, seeking input and guidance from this group of preservation specialists.

Proposed construction projects and major site improvements involving historic resources are reviewed by the CDAC at least twice during planning. Initially, projects are brought before the CDAC at the very earliest planning stages -- frequently at the predrawing, or the “idea,” stage of development. At the university, that segment of the project planning process (see appendix 29) is called “project conceptualization” (see appendix 30), and it occurs after the need for the project is identified, but before all the specific requirements for a successful physical solution are prescribed. This committee review can

• present a critique of the intent of the project and can prevent further consideration of an idea that is basically flawed;
• provide an opportunity to influence the scope of a project that could involve a historic resource;
• provide an opportunity to raise historic concerns to other project stakeholders; and/or
• present the opportunity for the committee to forward concerns, cautions, or conditions that must be considered as the project planning continues. Frequently, this information is included as requirements in the project program statement.

If the proposed project advances through feasibility testing (see appendix 31) to the design segment of the process, the schematic design (see appendix 32) for the project is also reviewed by the committee. This critique of the direction of the design solution comes so early in the design process that alterations can easily be made. For state-funded projects, the Capital Development Board is typically the project planning agent. By mutual agreement between the two state entities, the Capital Development Board consults with the IHPA at critical junctures in the project planning process.

The campus is uniquely organized to ensure adequate review of proposed projects. Plans for alterations and improvement to campus academic facilities must be endorsed by the Office for Project Planning and Facility Management and approved by the Chancellor’s Capital Review Committee (CCRC). Thus, plans for these activities on all historically significant structures, whether they be state-funded or auxiliary enterprises, must also be endorsed and approved by that office and committee. The director of the Office for Project Planning and Facility Management is the campus historic preservation officer, is a member of the CCRC, and holds an ex officio position on the CDAC. Projects that could have a deleterious effect on a resource are brought to the CDAC for consultation and advice.

Maintenance and repair activities typically have little potential for negative effect on the resource, but renovation -- as an activity designed specifically to reduce the backlog of deferred maintenance or to alter the functionality of a facility -- has the potential for abuse of the resource. Activities supported by funding to correct deterioration of historic resources are planned in cooperation with the campus historic preservation officer (or deputy). Activities that would result in significant visual consequence, such as re-pointing or window replacement, are planned in cooperation with the campus historic preservation officer and are reviewed by the IHPA. Depending on the nature of the project, the campus historic preservation officer may elect to seek the counsel of the CDAC.