Urban Heritage Project

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The Urban Heritage Project, based at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design, addresses issues at the intersection of built heritage, cultural landscape, and societal change through multi-disciplinary research and practice. Working with UHP principal investigator Randall Mason and a team of staff research associates and student research assistants, I have been the project manager and lead researcher for several UHP initiatives around the country:

• Cultural Landscapes of Washington, DC, Documentation + Planning (Various sites; currently underway): In partnership with the National Park Service, the Urban Heritage Project has worked on over 25 projects related to cultural landscapes in Washington, DC since 2012. I have been the project manager and lead author for several of these projects. Working alongside a team of faculty, graduates, and students in Historic Preservation and Landscape Architecture, the Urban Heritage Project has documented the history and evolution of these cultural landscapes—ranging from Civil War-era forts to public golf courses to urban boulevards—enabling the proper stewardship of these sites for centuries to come.

• Lincoln Memorial: Our project team conducted intensive archival research, fieldwork, and GIS mapping to document the origins, evolution, and current conditions of the Lincoln Memorial landscape in Washington, DC, including the memorial building, the Reflecting Pool, and the Watergate Steps.

• Great Falls National Historic Landmark District: I led a two-phase project related to the 108-acre NHL district in Paterson, New Jersey. Phase I included the first comprehensive survey of district use, integrity, and significance since the NHL was last updated in 1986. Phase II resulted in a full revision of the NHL nomination, including expanded periods of significance, areas of significance, and district boundaries.

• Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art) Master Plan: As part of its 126-acre campus in Indianapolis and its satellite property in Columbus, Indiana, the IMA owns and manages several significant historic properties, including the Oldfields estate (designed in part by the Olmsted Brothers) and the world-renowned Miller House (designed by Eero Saarinen). The museum undertook a master plan to reimagine its campus and visitor experience, and as part of that process, the Urban Heritage Project was engaged by landscape architecture firm DAVID RUBIN Land Collective to advise on the treatment and integration of the historic properties within the larger campus landscape. Lester was a researcher and project manager for UHP’s role in the master plan.

• Philadelphia Historic Sacred Places Project: I was a co-project manager for this initiative, which created the first comprehensive, field-checked inventory of Philadelphia’s 842 purpose-built historic sacred places. PennPraxis’ field survey findings were published in The Pew Charitable Trusts’ 2017 report, Philadelphia Historic Sacred Places: Their Past, Present, and Future. The project inventory is a resource for policymakers, municipal officials, preservation planners, designers, and funders, assessing the current circumstances of the city’s older religious properties, which are key assets for the architectural character, cultural stability, and economic development of their neighborhoods.