Preservation Planning

ARI staff have been involved in a number of preservation planning projects.  Most recently, we led a team that developed a resource management plan for Historic Resources on Route 66 in Oklahoma for the National Park Service and the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office. Other projects include the Portage National Historic Landmark in Cook County, Illinois for the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the Friendship Farm Landscape for the PGA Tour and the John Deere Corporation in Moline, Illinois.  Our internet access to state databases allows us to access records and information on Historic Sites and develop a management plan that best serves the needs of our client.  In addition, we are able to post the working draft on our server for our clients to view and comment on as it is prepared.

ARI provides complete Phase I Archaeological Investigations for both government agencies and private sector clients. Our private sector clients include residential and commercial real estate developers, pipeline companies, fiber optic cable companies, telecommunication tower companies and engineering firms.  Our government agency clients include the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, the General Services Administration, the Iowa Department of Transportation, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Illinois Department of Transportation, the University of Wisconsin, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the Wisconsin State Historical Society and the City of Chicago.

Phase I Archaeological Investigations are required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, National Environmental Protection Act and The Illinois State Agency Historic Preservation Act.  For more information on these check our Section 106 information page.

Phase I Historic Investigations

An important component of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), Environmental Assessments (EA), and Section 106 evaluations is to determine if any standing structures, architectural resources, or above ground historic resources eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places will be affected by an undertaking or project.  ARI provides complete surveys for historic standing structures and historic resources.

The purpose of Phase I Investigations is to discover if any historic resources (archaeological sites or buildings older than 50 years) are located within a project area. If there are historic resources, it must be determined if these resources are eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. These investigations are often called "Determinations of Eligibility" (DOE) or Phase II Investigations.

Archaeological Research, Inc., has extensive experience in conducting Phase II Investigations on both archaeological sites and standing structures.  Some of our most notable projects have been the Plank Road in Shawano, Wisconsin, the Pine River Site in Gotham, Wisconsin,  Auburn Gresham Commercial Bank and Residential buildings in Chicago, the Druce Property in Lake County, Illinois, St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Racine, Wisconsin, the Wozwiak/Kasper Property in Sobieski, Wisconsin, and 33 archaeological sites on Friendship Farms in Moline, Illinois.

Mitigation of
Archaeological Sites

One alternative in reaching a "determination of no adverse effect" on Section 106 projects is to complete full documentation of a historic resource. This is often done by completing HABS (Historic American Building Survey) or HAER (Historic American Engineering Record) documentation.

ARI has completed a number of HABS/HAER documents on both the Federal and State levels. Our most notable Federal Level documentations are on the Marshall Field River Warehouse, the Chicago Loop Elevated Structures, Fullersburg Bridge and the Hoffman Dam.

More than one third of all the HABS/HAER documents prepared under the State of Illinois requirements have been completed by ARI.  These include the Jane Adams Homes, Maxwell Street, the Frank J. Curran Property, the Obee House, the Jonathan Ogden Armour Estate, Forest Home Cemetery Truss Bridges, and the Lake Forest Sheridan Road Bridge.

Removal of Human Remains protected by Historic Preservation Legislation

Archaeological Research, Inc., has been involved in a number of projects that required the identification, removal and relocation of human remains.  Most notable of these are the Dunning Cemeteries on the northwest side of the City of Chicago and the Chicago City Cemetery in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.

ARI staff have assisted many of our clients in working through human remains laws and statues in the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Our staff has considerable experience working with Native American Tribal groups, county medical examiners, municipal health departments, local funeral directors and mortuary specialists. We have also worked with local law enforcement on identification of human remains in criminal investigations.

A number of ARI staff members are certified underwater divers and have participated in underwater archaeology projects.  Most notable of these is mapping the debris field for the wreck of the David Dows, the largest five-masted barkentine  schooner on the Great Lakes in the 1880s. The Dows sunk in a gale on November 29, 1889, in sixty feet of water near the south shore of Lake Michigan.

ARI worked with the Chicago Maritime Society in mapping and tagging the debris field for the Wells Burt, another Great Lakes Schooner sunk in a storm in May of 1883.

ARI assited Ms. Tina Erwin, under contract with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, in the evaluation and identification of the Lady Elgin, an 1850s Sidewheel Palace Steamer sunk off the Illinois Shore of Lake Michigan.