Guidelines - City of Oklahoma City

Preservation Standards AND Guidelines August 1, 2012
Throughout the standards and guidelines a number of terms are frequently used to reflect the design
principles that the HPC will consider when making decisions. These terms and their interpretation are
as follows:
Appropriate: Rehabilitation and new construction actions especially suitable or compatible with the
design standards and guidelines.
Compatible/Compatibility: The characteristics of different uses or activities that permit them to be
located near each other in visual harmony and without conflict.
Character: Attributes, qualities and features that make up and distinguish a particular place or development
and give such a place a sense of definition, purpose and uniqueness.
In Kind: Use of the same or similar materials to the original or existing materials.
Preservation: The adaptive use, conservation, protection, reconstruction, restoration, rehabilitation or
stabilization of sites, buildings, districts, structures or monuments significant to the heritage of the people
of Oklahoma City.
Recommended: Suggested, but not mandatory actions outlined in the design guidelines.
Rehabilitation: The act or process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair,
alterations and additions, while preserving those portions or features which convey its historic, cultural
or architectural values.
Scale: The harmonious proportion of parts of a building, structure or monument to one another and to
the human figure.
Significant (Characteristics of Historical or Architectural Resources): Those characteristics that
are important to, or expressive of, the historical, architectural or cultural quality and integrity of the
resource and its setting; and includes, but is not limited to, building material, detail, height, mass, proportion,
rhythm, scale, setback, setting, shape, street accessories and workmanship.
The design standards and guidelines also consider the potential importance of past remodeling work or
additions that may have gained historic significance. Many properties built in the nineteenth century
were later remodeled in the early twentieth century and these remodels may be significant in reflecting
the evolution of the building over time. For example, Bungalow porches were often added to Folk Victorian
and Queen Anne style homes in the 1910s and 1920s. Property owners should consider preserving
and maintaining these types of features to illustrate the influence of later historical styles.
When the existing form, materials and ornament of a historic building cause it to retain its essential
historic character, preservation and maintenance of those features is preferred. When a building has
been subjected to numerous alterations over time, it is important to determine the relative integrity and
importance of existing materials and forms. If the alterations are an important part of the building‘s
history or significance, then their preservation may be appropriate, particularly if they are more than
50 years old.
Historic photographs, Sanborn fire insurance maps, written accounts and other sources may provide
information about the earlier appearance of buildings. Sources for historic photographs include the
local Metropolitan Library System and the Oklahoma Historical Society (the State Historic Preservation
Office and the Research Division). Other sources may include previous owners, neighbors, neighborhood
associations and newspaper archives.
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