Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Management Plan

INL Historic Architectural Properties
For INL management purposes, a historic architectural property is defined as any post-1942 manmade
structure or object that is either on, or eligible for listing on, the National Register. Examples might
include the autopsy and surgical table that was removed to temporary storage prior to demolition of the
former dispensary at the Central Facilities Area, the gantry crane used to load and unload ordnance during
World War II, or the massive aircraft hangar at Test Area North; in other words, features of the INL “built
environment.”
History of INL Historic Architectural Investigations
Recognizing the historic significance of many INL architectural properties and associated artifacts—
yet lacking an empirical approach to achieve National Register eligibility determinations—in 1993 the
INL CRM Office initiated comprehensive surveys of DOE-ID-owned buildings as required by NHPA
Section 110 (Braun 1996; Braun and Marler 1996). In 1997, a comprehensive building inventory survey
was completed and historic contexts were drafted for use in conjunction with National Register criteria to
arrive at eligibility evaluations for DOE-ID buildings. Specifically, the goals of these investigations were
to:
Prepare a contextual history of INL from 1942 to the present
Prepare a detailed historic properties inventory of all DOE-ID-managed buildings
Develop significance evaluations for each building based on applicable legal criteria and historic
contexts
Develop mitigation recommendations for each historic building in the event of future adverse effects
Develop recommendations on ways to satisfy NHPA Section 106 and 110 requirements.
The buildings were inventoried and evaluated in terms of the following four major chronological
contexts:
Ordnance testing: 1942–1949 and 1968–1970
Nuclear reactor testing: 1949–1970
Multi-program research: 1971–present
Waste remediation: 1970–present.
With these contexts, it was determined that the period of historic significance for INL ranged from
1942 with the establishment of the U.S. Navy’s ordnance testing program to the end of the original
reactor testing as a primary INL mission in 1970. Due to their continued testing missions, a few post-1970
structures are exceptions. With completion of the draft INL historic contexts and building inventory and
assessments, it became apparent that INL is a historic property through its association with events related
to World War II, nuclear reactor testing and development, and workmanship and design of reactor
equipment and associated structures. Considering INL as a historic property, as defined by INL
boundaries, provides a way to organize information about INL history. (The complete INL historic
contexts are contained in Appendix F.) For further information regarding the contexts, methodology, and
DOE-ID building inventory see “The Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory: A
Historical Context and Assessment, Narrative, and Inventory” (INEEL/EXT-97-01021 1998, revised
2003).
Within the contextual framework, of the 516 buildings surveyed in 1997, approximately 200 were
determined to be eligible for the National Register. The survey and inventory were updated in 2003 to
reflect changes that have occurred since 1997. For example, since the survey was completed, some of the
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