Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

HOUSTON, TX — Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Chairman Milford Wayne Donaldson FAIA, Executive Director John Fowler, and several staff members attended the ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony for the newly restored Apollo Mission Control Center (MCC) at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, June 28.

The ACHP assisted with the funding of the project by managing the $4 million raised by Space Center Houston and the City of Webster, Texas. NASA cannot accept public donations that have a targeted purpose, but the ACHP has authority to do so.

WASHINGTON, D.C.–The US Senate yesterday voted to confirm Aimee Jorjani as the first full-time chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).

“I am honored to be confirmed as the first full-time chairman of the ACHP and look forward to working with Congress, the Administration, Indian tribes, preservation partners, and state and local governments to further stewardship of historic properties while encouraging economic development and heritage tourism,” Ms. Jorjani said. “I will work to ensure historic preservation considerations are efficient, effective, and that early consultation contributes to a better process.”

By Milford Wayne Donaldson FAIA, LEED AP
Chairman, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

July 20, 2019, marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the day Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Eagle on the moon. To commemorate the anniversary and preserve the unique history of that day, NASA has completed a restoration of the Apollo Mission Control Center (MCC) at Johnson Space Center (JSC) just outside Houston, Texas. On June 28, I will attend a ceremony at JSC to celebrate the completion of the project.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation announces its plans for the summer business meeting in Washington, D.C. Read the agendas

Members will meet July 9 in committees and July 10 for the business meeting. The Chairman's Award for Achievement in Historic Preservation will be presented, and members will hear from a variety of speakers discussing historic preservation issues.

In March 2019, the D.C. circuit court issued an opinion that clarified the meaning of the term “directly” in Section 110(f) of the National Historic Preservation Act as referring to the causality, and not the physicality, of the effect to historic properties. This means that if the effect comes from the undertaking at the same time and place with no intervening cause, it is considered “direct” regardless of its specific type (e.g., whether it is visual, physical, auditory, etc.). “Indirect” effects to historic properties are those caused by the undertaking that are later in time or farther removed in distance but are still reasonably foreseeable.