Gradual integration of specific guidelines and interventions based on the balance between values, use, and economy are the best means to achieve the preservation goals.

Concrete Roofs, Precincts and Tombs

The issue of the poured-in-place concrete roofs and precincts is another instance of a decision that may have seemed logical given the information that had been provided to the Archdiocese on an individual tomb basis, but the impact on the tombs and on the site as a whole has been dramatic, as the practice has become widespread.

Over the past thirty years, concrete roofs and pads have been installed on many of the tombs, presumably to stop moisture penetration and, possibly, to aid against subsidence. As a result of this individual tomb work, architectural details (e.g. cornices) are being lost and the site is now being slowly covered in concrete in the name of tomb preservation. More research is needed, but it is likely that this practice is actually causing greater moisture retention by forcing more rising damp up into the soft brick of the individual tombs, or in the case of the roofs, entrapping existing water inside. Increased moisture will soften brick and mortar and if allowed to cycle through wet and dry states, will cause serious structural problems. This may take time to evidence because the tombs are also receiving hard, dense cement stuccos, further locking in rising damp and concealing the growing structural failure problems. Poured concrete roofs are also significantly heavier and may lead to accelerated subsidence of the tomb.

Even more disturbing is the complete destruction of the historic tombs. In an effort to clean up the ruins and the site as a whole, cemetery management has been recommending that tombs be placed in the Perpetual Care program. The restoration answer for many tombs in Perpetual Care has been to dismantle them and replace them with concrete shells and the dark closure tablet. With the success of this Save America's Treasures project, there are now proven alternatives. These significant historic resources can be preserved according to the Secretary of the Interior's Guidelines, by local masons and as cost effectively as the concrete shell approach.