About Our Resident Curatorship Program

The Issue

The Division of Parks and Recreation manages nearly 40,000 acres of land throughout the state. There are more than 100 historic buildings on this land. Many of these buildings are used by the Division for various purposes. A number of others are not currently in use, and it is unlikely that we will be able to renovate them for use in the foreseeable future. We are moving to establish a resident curatorship program within the Division to ensure the restoration and preservation of the more significant of these buildings.

Overview

When the State Parks Commission was established in 1934, it was charged with preserving and protecting a wide variety of resources, including historic buildings. Over the more than 50 years since the creation of the first State Parks in 1951, many historic buildings have been put to use as staff residences, maintenance centers, nature centers, conference centers and interpretive sites. A few buildings, however, have been so deteriorated that they are not immediately usable. Furthermore, the current financial situation precludes the investment of the significant resources needed for the extensive rehabilitation required to make these buildings usable. Nonetheless, we have a responsibility to look for ways to preserve these traces of Delaware’s past.

Resident curatorships provide a method for ensuring the long term preservation of historic buildings at no cost to the State of Delaware. And at the end of a significant period of time they will be returned to the State in a usable condition. The State of Maryland pioneered this program 20 years ago in the Department of Natural Resources, and currently has more than 40 curatorships in operation. Their well-developed procedures provide a model for initiating a similar program in Delaware. The Division of Parks and Recreation is pursuing resident curatorships for historic buildings under the Division’s management. We are currently offering a resident curatorship at Warrington House in Trap Pond State Park. We expect that other properties may be included in the program in the future.

This page last updated 8/29/2008