Saving Suburban Sites and Rescuing Roadside Relics: The Historic Preservation of the Recent Past through Adaptive Reuse

Shapiro, Kelli Kristine

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Overview

Year:: 2011
Contributor:: Shapiro, Kelli Kristine (creator); Malone, Patrick (Director); Smulyan, Susan (Reader); Neumann, Dietrich (Reader); Brown University. American Civilization (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: cultural history; architectural history; adaptive reuse; revitalization; postwar; recent past; car culture; roadside; Route 66; consumption; Historic preservation; Buildings--Remodeling for other use; Conversion; Architecture; Twentieth century; Suburbs; Automobiles; United States--United States Highway 66; Tourism; Travel
Extent:: xxxvi, 974 p.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0D798PW

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Abstract:: This dissertation addresses historic preservation through the adaptive reuse of thematic segments of the built environment of the United States. Within those broad themes (such as tourism and consumption), each chapter focuses on the saving and conversion of a particular type of structure from the recent past, one commonly found in suburbia and/or along the American roadside. Many of these reused building types, which range from gas stations to bowling alleys, have - until recently - often been unnoticed or unappreciated by the general public, the preservation community, and academia.To provide background for the many reuses I detail, each chapter begins with an analysis of the architectural, socio-cultural, and economic significance of the building type in question. I place it in historical perspective, contextualizing its evolution over the 20th Century and explaining its state of decline and subsequent need for preservation. I then discuss major examples of non-reuse preservation throughout the country. Following the section detailing the building type's history and preservation, each chapter's bulk contains case studies of successful conversions from across the nation. Examples range from a former car dealership that became a small town's city hall, to a Greyhound bus station that is now a history museum, to a motel that serves as an artists' colony filled with studios and galleries. As the cases in my dissertation demonstrate, through local vision and leadership, these structures' usefulness can outlast the failure of their original purpose.I contend that these kinds of vacant buildings of the recent past can provide valuable opportunities for community revitalization, enhancement, and enrichment. I explore how, in various areas, such sites have transformed into civic and economic assets through adaptive reuse. Beyond turning blighted buildings into productive parts of the urban landscape, these transformations also demonstrate the increasing appreciation and nostalgia for icons of our collective history and memory that are from an era not far behind us in the rear view mirror. I thus situate these structures' restoration and conversion in the broader framework of the ever strengthening, yet still quite controversial, national movement to preserve the recent past.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2011)

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Rights: In Copyright
Restrictions on Use: Collection is open for research.

Citation

Shapiro, Kelli Kristine, "Saving Suburban Sites and Rescuing Roadside Relics: The Historic Preservation of the Recent Past through Adaptive Reuse" (2011). American Studies Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0D798PW

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American Studies Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the American Studies department.
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