Heritage Conservation Planning in the Ross Sea Region, Antarctica

Abstract

The Draft Shackleton's Hut Conservation Plan (SHCP) is the first Of four conservation plans being prepared as part of a much larger restoration project being undertaken by the Antalx:tic Heritage Trust (AHT).The need for a coordinated restoration project for the historic huts has been signalled for some time. Conservation plans are important heritage planning tools that explain why a site is significant and how that significance will be retained in any future use, alteration, development or repair of the place. There are numerous guidelines and models available internationally on how to construct a conservation plan but they ale all similar being based on the same heritage principles. The Antarctic context also provides unique challenges in terms of logistical arrangements for conservation planning and work, and with regard to, at times, difficult climatic factors. The SHCP is the resulting work of a large multidisciplinary team of professionals, the coordination of which has been project managed by a consultant. The draft document is comprehensive and portrays generally accepted and contemporary heritage conservation principles. However, several key issues of debate arise from the plan with respect to the restoration of the hut and its environs. These issues include restoration to a specific time period, the reconstruction of missing parts Of the accessory structures, and the leplication Of artefacts. The Draft Shackleton's Hut Conservation Plan (SHCP) is the first Of four conservation plans being prepared as part of a much larger restoration project being undertaken by the Antalx:tic Heritage Trust (AHT).The need for a coordinated restoration project for the historic huts has been signalled for some time. Conservation plans are important heritage planning tools that explain why a site is significant and how that significance will be retained in any future use, alteration, development or repair of the place. There are numerous guidelines and models available internationally on how to construct a conservation plan but they ale all similar being based on the same heritage principles. The Antarctic context also provides unique challenges in terms of logistical arrangements for conservation planning and work, and with regard to, at times, difficult climatic factors. The SHCP is the resulting work of a large multidisciplinary team of professionals, the coordination of which has been project managed by a consultant. The draft document is comprehensive and portrays generally accepted and contemporary heritage conservation principles. However, several key issues of debate arise from the plan with respect to the restoration of the hut and its environs. These issues include restoration to a specific time period, the reconstruction of missing parts Of the accessory structures, and the leplication Of artefacts.