john f. kennedy space center brevard county, florida - Environmental ...

Space Shuttle Program Historic Properties 5-1
NASA Kennedy Space Center
5.0 PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS
5.1 The LC 39 Site
In May 1973, the LC 39 Site became the first NASA KSC site to be listed in the NRHP.
The nomination, which highlighted the national significance of the principal facilities
associated with the Apollo Manned Lunar Landing Program, was prepared the previous
year by George M. Hawkins, Chief of the Documentation and Data Management Branch
of KSC. LC 39, built between November 1962 and October 1968, was evaluated as
significant in the areas of architecture, communications, engineering, industry, science,
transportation, and space exploration. The boundaries of the NRHP site encompassed a
rectangle measuring approximately 7000 acres in areal extent. This large site area
included the VAB, LCC, Crawlers, Crawlerway, and Pads A and B of LC 39, as well as
hundreds of other assets including trailers and temporary buildings.
5.2 LC 39 Site Reassessment
In 1997, a historical/architectural survey of the Industrial, LC-39, VAB and SLF Areas of
the KSC was initiated by ACI of Sarasota, Florida. The survey included a total of 696
NASA-controlled facilities of which 322 were located within the boundaries of the
previously identified and NRHP-listed LC-39 Site (ACI 1998). As a result, the original
nomination was amended, the boundary of the original LC 39 Site was removed, and a
NRHP Multiple Property nomination for a number of buildings, structures, districts and
objects considered to be of exceptional national importance within the context of the
Apollo Space Program, 1961 to 1975, was prepared. The total 322 resources located
within the original NRHP Site was reduced to eight individually eligible resources and 34
facilities considered as contributing to newly identified NRHP historic districts at LC 39
Pads A and B. The VAB, LCC, the Crawlers, the Crawlerway, and Launch Pads A and B
were retained from the original nomination. The Headquarters Building, O & C Building,
Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF), and the Press Site: Clock and Flag Pole were
added as NRHP-eligible properties as a result of this survey. The three MLPs/LUTs
included in the original nomination were no longer considered independently eligible for
the NRHP due to a loss of integrity. The MLPs/LUTs, as well as the MSS which was no
longer extant, were recommended for delisting from the NRHP. It also was recommended
to the Florida SHPO that the new Multiple Property submission be accepted to supersede
the original (ACI 1998). Recognizing the on-going changes in America’s space program,
it was further recommended that, upon the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program and
each succeeding program, facilities be evaluated and amendments made to the Multiple
Property nomination, as appropriate. The Multiple Property Nomination was signed by
the Florida SHPO in August 1998.
October 2007
Archaeological Consultants, Inc.