Sol_140P5425Q0012_Attach__0001-SOW.pdf

SCOPE OF WORK

San Juan National Historic Site

San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Administrative History

Scope

This scope of work directs the contractor to prepare an Administrative History (Administrative History) for the San Juan National Historic Site (SAJU, the park), located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Administrative History will help complete basic historical documentation of the park’s history and resources as developed and managed by the National Park Service (NPS). The information contained in the Administrative History is essential for present and future interpretation and resource management. The Administrative History would be the first one produced for the park and will account for changes to the park since its establishment, incorporate additional scholarship, and update resource documentation.

The Administrative History will synthesize all available information from all disciplines in a format designed to serve managers, planners, interpreters, cultural resource specialists, and the interested public as a reference for the history of the park and its resources. The study shall conform to professional standards regarding the methodology of historical research and writing. The study will include a collection of oral histories of up to 10 current and former NPS employees and others important to the history of this park unit will be interviewed in person, digitally recorded, and transcriptions prepared.

The contractor shall provide all materials, supplies, labor, supervision, coordination, and management necessary to complete the work as and when required, as specified in this scope of services. The Administrative History, including enumerated appendices, graphics, and index shall be completed within twenty-four months from the date of contract award.

Confidentiality The information developed under this task order is the property of the U.S. government and shall be kept in strict confidence.

Performance Period The work shall begin following the issuance of the delivery/task order, proceed by the schedule for submittals, and be completed no later than 18 months after the award.

Purpose The administrative history will document the origin and evolution of the park in a narrative form. The park was established to protect the fortifications of San Juan and important aspects to research are who were the main proponents of the park at the local level, as well as the main actors involved in its creation in Congress and the Executive and why it was finally decided to use the Historic Sites Act of 1935 to establish the park.

Thematically, the administrative history will contextualize issues that affect the park to this day such as land occupation and use and jurisdictional conflicts, the establishment of the preservation program, visitor transportation challenges, traditional visitor uses of the site, etc. The study will cover the history of the park’s foundation, the historical landmarks associated with this event, and the history of the NPS management of the fortifications of San Juan.

A comprehensive administrative history from the park’s inception to the present would capture information about important management decisions regarding boundary issues, the adoption of our preservation program as well and important milestones such as the inclusion in the World Heritage List in a written format while the history is still relatively recent. The recurrent boundary issues with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, private owners, and the Municipality; boundary clarification involving possible exchanges with the Commonwealth and the Municipality. should be included in this history. Furthermore, as the park approaches the 75th Anniversary of its establishment. Capturing this information in the next five years is crucial to interview former staff, including the former facility managers and administrative officers before they forget crucial details.

Administrative histories often combine chronological narratives with topical treatments of key activities, events, and issues. Skilled authors can use this approach effectively to address the complexity of park management. The primary audience for park administrative histories is current and future park managers and staff. The more familiar managers and staff are with the problems their predecessors faced and their responses, the better prepared they will be to make thoughtful, informed decisions about ongoing or recurring issues. Administrative histories provide valuable context and inform superintendents about why and how their predecessors made certain decisions. They help superintendents understand past controversies and prepare for future ones and are a critical tool for park managers who seek a greater understanding of why and how certain practices and policies evolved.

Background

San Juan National Historic Site encompasses the historic fortifications of Castillo San Felipe del Morro (also known as El Morro), Castillo San Cristóbal, Fort San Juan de la Cruz (also known as El Cañuelo), and most of what remains of the fortress wall that surrounds Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Called the “Gibraltar of the Caribbean,” this system of fortifications became one of the key frontier outposts of Spain’s West Indies dominions. The physical remains of the defenses encapsulate the history of the Spanish Empire.

The major themes of this history at San Juan involve: (1) the initial settlement of Hispanic America, reflecting a major shift in European affairs from the Mediterranean, toward an Atlantic emphasis; (2) Spain’s rise to preeminent power in the world deriving in major part from the riches of the Americas; (3) the struggle for dominance in the West Indies that made the San Juan forts’ possession a vital consideration in world politics for several centuries;(4) the long but inexorable decline of the Spanish Empire marked by the independence won by most of the colonies; and (5) the aftermath of Spain’s military and political rule in the Western Hemisphere.

Puerto Rico’s location at the western edge of the Caribbean Sea made control of the island the focus of several centuries of military and diplomatic schemes. For this reason the Spanish fortified the island’s major port of San Juan with a forceful system of defense. The fortification system of the park exemplifies important developments in military architecture and engineering spanning almost five centuries and represents the oldest fortifications of European design in the United States. The fortification structures retain features demonstrating advanced 18th-century defense technology, as applied to the steep topography of the San Juan islet. Built on the foundations of Castillo San Felipe del Morro in 1539, the system of fortifications also bears evidence imparted by 16th, 17th, and 18th-century military construction, reflecting Medieval Italian Renaissance, Baroque, and French Enlightenment architectural design for defensive installations. The fortifications also include 19th and early 20th-century military construction.

The strategic location of the fortifications and their transfer from the Spanish government to the United States in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War set the stage for the eventual establishment of the San Juan fortifications as a national historic site. In 1898, the Treaty of Paris transferred the forts and 210.86 acres of land in the garrison of San Juan to the United States military, which designated the area the San Juan Reservation. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt reserved the buildings and lands for U.S. military purposes. The U.S. Army officially designated the reservation Fort Brooke in 1943 for the duration of World War II, when San Juan’s fortifications became integral parts of the U.S. military post in the Caribbean.

In 1949, the Secretary of the Interior established a portion of the Fort Brooke area as the designated San Juan National Historic Site under the provisions of the 1935 Historic Sites Act. The 1949 establishment order recognized the historic significance of San Juan’s Spanish Colonial Empire fortifications and authorized the development of a cooperative agreement between the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army to preserve the site. On December 31, 1966, the U.S. Army declared all lands under its jurisdiction at Fort Brooke as excess, an action that initiated the eventual transfer of most of the fortification properties from the U.S. Army to the National Park Service.

With the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, San Juan National Historic Site was administratively listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 1972, a formal national register nomination for the site was accepted by the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places and the nomination was revised and updated in 2022. The park is part of the Old San Juan National Historic Landmark (2013), and the La Fortaleza and San Juan NHS World Heritage Site (1983). In 1983, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the San Juan National Historic Site and the Commonwealth-owned site La Fortaleza World Heritage Site in recognition of the forts’ international significance in European military history and architectural history. San Juan National Historic Site has established a preservation program with a specialized laboratory and workshop focused on developing preservation techniques and performing repairs. Staffed by masons trained in traditional historic masonry, the program aims to preserve the park’s stone fortifications, including fortresses, defensive walls, and related structures. The park is a global leader in historic masonry preservation.

The major features and resources within the NPS-administered San Juan National Historic Site include Castillo San Felipe del Morro (1540–1790), the dominant fort poised on the cliffs overlooking the entrance to San Juan Bay; the 23-acre grassy area in front of Castillo San Felipe del Morro called the esplanade; Castillo San Cristóbal (1634–1790), fort at the east side of the park; El Cañuelo (1601–1609), a smaller fort directly across from Castillo San Felipe del Morro on the Isla de Cabras; and portions of the city’s fortress walls and bastions (1634–1800s) that extend from the forts and enclose the district of Old San Juan. Except for El Cañuelo, most of the historic fortifications are in Old San Juan, population of 7,963. Today, the modern city of San Juan (population 434,374) goes well beyond the boundaries of the historic forts and walls of the islet to encompass a busy metropolitan area, serving the capital of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The park’s 75 acres provide the largest open green space in Old San Juan.

Statement of Work

An NPS Administrative History is a history of a park unit as an institutional entity. Its purpose is to present the history of a park since the time it was first proposed through Congressional authorization and subsequent NPS management. It provides NPS managers with a historical context for making decisions on issues relevant to park management. This research project will include a legislative history detailing federal laws relevant to the park. It will also focus on all studies, plans, restoration/preservation activities, and management decisions regarding the operation, interpretation, and preservation of the park. This document will describe legislative efforts to preserve and protect the park’s history, park authorization, the park’s NPS development and operational history, and how it has been managed by NPS to the present day.

This Administrative History is an urgent necessity for current management as it will examine events while they are still in the recent past and while the individuals who participated in these events can provide primary source material from living memory.

The contractor will prepare the administrative history in collaboration with NPS staff. It will be based on an analysis of primary and secondary source material from park records and associated archives, including oral history interviews with former employees and others associated with SAJU. This administrative history must be prepared in conformity with National Park Service Administrative History: A Guide and NPS-28: Cultural Resource Management Guidelines.

Tasks

1. Introduction: This chapter will introduce the study, and describe the park, its location, primary resources, values, purpose, and significance.

2. Natural and Cultural Setting: A description of who administered the area, how it was administered, and how it was used before the NPS acquired it. This should include a summary of the area's geology and prehistoric use, with more detailed information on the historic period, particularly early settlement. This is particularly important because the way the area was managed and used in the past affected subsequent NPS administration. The contractor should give particular attention to early preservation efforts or commemoration by individuals, associations, and other governmental entities.

3. Park Establishment: An account of the movement to establish SAJU is a vital part of administrative history because it can provide critical insight into legislative intent. A discussion of how the movement to bring the area under NPS management culminated in its establishment as a unit of the national park system.

This discussion should emphasize the key organizations and individuals promoting (and opposing) park establishment under the 1935 Historic Sites Act, as well as their motivations, and the involvement and positions taken by the NPS and the Interior Department. It should also cover the legislative process as revealed by congressional bills, hearings, committee reports, floor debate, and final enactment.

4. Planning, Development, and Park Management: The primary emphasis of the study will provide a description and analysis of the development and administration of SAJU as a unit of the National Park System. A discussion of the major activities and events that subsequently affected the area under NPS administration, e.g., master, or general management planning; land acquisition;

development of administrative and visitor facilities; natural resource management;

cultural resource management; partnerships; interpretation; recreational and other public use; new or amendatory park legislation. The history should also include a description and analysis of how the unit was managed and developed during different eras as well as its dealings with other federal, state, and local agencies and entities. More detailed coverage should be given to topics that concerned park managers in the past and are relevant to present and foreseeable management concerns. For ease of reference, such topics can often be addressed in separate chapters or sections rather than combined in a single chronological account.

Topics such as land acquisition, facility development, planning, and resource management can be updated. This analysis should be supported by a close examination of Park records and NPS databases including, the electronic Technical Information Center (ETIC2), Integrated Resource Management Applications portal (IRMA), Tract files, tax records, historic aerial photographs, and cartographic sources.

5. Oral Histories: The contractor will conduct formal oral history interviews with up to 16 subjects in person according to professional standards. Oral history interviews with present and former NPS officials, community leaders, and other outside parties associated with the park are often essential to complete the story.

Those directly involved in the park’s development and management often can provide important perspectives. Oral histories with park neighbors also can provide valuable insights. However, oral history interviews should never substitute for but should complement, careful research of contemporary documents. The contractor will also utilize any pertinent oral history interviews conducted by NPS.

6. Cartographic and Visual History: The analysis, interpretation, and illustrative use of historic maps, photographs, paintings, and other graphic representations will greatly enhance the manuscript and can be deployed within the body of the narrative and/or in a standalone chapter supported by an appendix. Analysis of and use of well-composed maps are particularly important if there is a discussion of park boundaries, land acquisition, and other land issues.

7. Conclusions: The Administrative History will conclude with recommendations for further study, as well as a clear conclusion with a closing statement that provides further comment, if appropriate, on the interpretation of the information found in the study.

8. Bibliography: The Administrative History would also include a detailed bibliography that includes all references cited in the body of the report and directs interested readers to additional sources.

9. Index: An index is essential to ensure this administrative history is resonant usable and accessible by current and future park staff, researchers and scholars, and the public.

10. Appendices: Appendix(es) containing copies of key park legislation, executive orders, cooperative agreements, personnel rosters, visitation statistics, and other documents and data valuable for management reference. Thorough, well-organized, and well-referenced appendices greatly enhance the value of the administrative history as a management tool and are an integral part of the administrative history.

Deliverable Products

The contractor will present the results of archival research, field survey, analysis, and assessment in a detailed final Administrative History report. The report will include appropriate maps, tables, and photographs to support the text and the author’s recommendations for further research. Administrative histories should meet the same standards of scholarship that apply to published academic histories: thorough research, objective analysis, and peer review.

The chapter outline will be submitted in electronic format (Word) five months following the contract award for NPS review and approval. The outline shall include descriptions of each chapter containing sufficient detail to demonstrate the complete range of topics and themes to be discussed as well as chronological periods.

The first and second draft reports will be submitted in electronic format (Word) twenty months following the contract award to NPS for review. The drafts will be typed, double-spaced, with numbered reference lines in the left margins on each page of text and will include all maps, graphics, footnotes, and appendices to be included in the final report.

The drafts will be reviewed by NPS for contract sufficiency and professional quality and the contractor will be notified when review comments will be transmitted. During the period of revision of the draft, the contractor will consult with NPS to ensure the satisfactory resolution of review comments and the submission of the final draft promptly.

The final draft report addressing review comments transmitted to the contractor by NPS will be submitted to NPS before publication of the final document. The contractor will design appropriate cover art/graphics including the NPS Arrowhead for the camera-ready final document. Printing on the document's spine will include title, author, National Park Service, and year of publication. Within 30 days of NPS acceptance of the final draft (indicated by the required signatures specified above) and before the expiration of the twenty-four-month contract period of performance, the contractor will deliver the final version of the Administrative History of the NPS as a print-ready 508-compliant Adobe Acrobat formatted PDF file and as other electronic files (e.g., Microsoft Word).

All formal oral history interviews conducted will be digitally recorded and transcriptions prepared. All interview candidates must sign an interview rights release form (format to be supplied by NPS). Any additional interviews that take place on an informal basis (i.e., telephonically) must be comprehensively documented in a memorandum of telephone call. All additional recordings, transcripts, interview rights release forms, photographs, and memoranda of telephone calls will be transmitted to NPS with the final document.

The final deliverables for the oral history interviews for each of the interviewees are: 1) an uncompressed WAV file (described above) and a listening file in MP3 format 2) a .jpg photograph of each interviewee 3) scans of the original Gift Conveyance of Interview Rights form signed by each interviewee along with those original signed conveyance forms, and 4) one digital copy of each interview transcript (including edits from the interviewee), and 5) one digital pdf file of each interview transcript. All digital files will be provided to the COR on a portable external hard drive that will not be returned. The transcripts in Word and PDF format must also be machine-readable to meet standards for accessibility in section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (see https://section508.gov/ for more information).

In addition to the professionally produced Administrative History, other deliverables include a well-organized copy of all research notes, photos, and electronic documents, except copies of photographs or documents for which another institution has either the copyright or, has placed restrictions on its distribution. The documents the researcher or researchers assemble from park files, the National Archives, and other repositories to support their administrative history can form the basis of a working archive in the park or augment existing park archives. These records can be an enormous asset to park managers and future researchers.

The final draft, including all photographs, maps, etc. shall become the intellectual property of the NPS. The study will include a comprehensive list of references and a list of information repositories. Appendices, including relevant existing documentation, tables, maps, and sources will be included as noted above.

Report Format

Frontmatter will include a concise executive summary that summarizes the Administrative History in a clear and accessible manner that is useful to Park planners, resource managers, and facilities staff, as well as the expected table of contents, list of illustrations, list of tables, acknowledgments, and list of abbreviations and/or acronyms that must include nonstandard abbreviations and acronyms used in the report. The spelled-out version of a term should be given the first time the term appears within the study but may be replaced by an acronym thereafter.

For the title page, if the report is also authored by Project Historians, the title page must identify the author(s) and bear the inscription, “Prepared under the supervision of (name), Principal Investigator.” The title/cover page shall also include signature and date lines for approving officials, details to be provided by the COR once the final draft has been approved.

The general formatting of the document will be in portrait orientation with a single column of text to ease readability in electronic form, laid out with mirror margins: 1.25 inches inside; .75 inches top, bottom, and outside; and headers and footers should be 0.5 inches from the edge of the paper. The text should be left-justified, ragged right in block paragraphs with no indent, and set in single-spaced lines with paragraphs double-spaced.

The bibliography must list the primary and secondary source materials researched and used for the preparation of the study broken into sections by kinds of materials (i.e., primary, and secondary sources, etc.) as directed in The Chicago Manual of Style. Back matter includes appendices, including tables, assessment or inventory forms, copies of key documents, and geospatial data.

All illustrations used in the final document will be credited. If any of the illustrations carry restrictions (such as one-time-use limitations), the researchers will provide this information to the NPS. The electronic file(s) supplied to NPS will be adequate for transmission to a printer or for incorporation into a final file or files to be prepared by NPS for transmission to a printer to be selected by the NPS.

All photographs and other illustrations will be fully referenced to their source, including a catalog or accession number, drawing number, etc., if applicable. Appropriate permissions will be obtained for the use of all illustrations. This is especially important for any publication that may ever be used as a sales item in any form.

All digital images used in the document shall be individually scanned relative to the final image size in the report at a minimum of 300dpi, JPEG or TIF format, medium-high to high resolution. The resolution of original files should not be increased to meet this requirement. Image files should be saved through FTP transfer in a folder entitled “IMAGES.” Image files should be named as follows: Subject, Figure #, Brief Description, Year taken.

Additional formatting guidance includes:

• Leading (space between lines of type in a paragraph) should be chosen for readability. In general, at least two extra points of leading (e.g., 12/14) are advised.

• All headings should be capped/lowercase; all upper-case headings are never to be used.

• The use of bold, underline, and italic type within the text should be limited.

• The traditional American form of dates will be used: August 18, 1978.

• In the text, the treatment of numbers will be consistent with the Chicago Manual of Style.

• All numbers used with units of measurement will be numerals (e.g., windows measure 2 feet by 4 feet).

• Footnotes or notes at the end of each chapter may be used. Endnotes for the whole document will not be used.

• The most current edition of the Chicago Manual of Style should guide questions of style that are not addressed here. Most publications use the humanities-style notation (see Chapter 15). If the manual offers options or does not address an issue, consistent treatment within the document should be the rule.

• The latest edition of Webster’s Dictionary should be used for spelling.

• Acronyms should be introduced in parentheses after the full name at the first appearance of the full name. Acronyms may then be used for subsequent references.

Stipulations

1. The contractor and key team members will meet the requirements specified in 36 CFR Appendix A, Professional Qualification Standards, and the intent of Section 112 (a)(1)(of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as Amended through1992. (http://www.cr.nps.gov/local-law/arch_stnds_9.htm )

2. The contractor shall coordinate with the COR as necessary to complete the work as and when required and determine the appropriate point of contact. This coordination must include participating in consultant-led regular monthly conference calls with minutes that serve as progress summaries and product review meetings.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/local-law/arch_stnds_9.htm

3. All work shall be technically and legally defensible.

4. Contractor shall use Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition or later.

5. The Administrative History should be written in Plain Language to the degree possible and make use of the Harper’s Ferry Center Editorial Style Guide to inform the use of language (https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/hfc-editorial-style-guide.htm)

6. Research will meet NPS standards for an exhaustive investigation, i.e., the consultant will employ all published and documentary sources of known or presumed relevance, interview all knowledgeable persons regardless of location, and thoroughly analyze and present findings from all data of direct and indirect relevance. This study will require archival and primary source research at repositories.

7. All documentation (field and research notes, photographs and negatives, sketches, finished original drawings, narratives, computerized inventories, forms, assessments, and reports) produced by the contractor in connection with this project are to become the property of NPS (public domain). All documentation shall be delivered to the NPS upon completion of contract services. The completed documentation may be used and reproduced in any fashion that the NPS chooses, with appropriate credit given to the researcher. A researcher may publish articles based on the research covered under these contracts if appropriate credit is given to the NPS.

8. The contractor's quality control efforts shall ensure that all draft and final deliverables are completed documents, as specified, that have been reviewed for academic excellence, professional and copy quality, and technical accuracy.

Documents not displaying such efforts will not be accepted.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/hfc-editorial-style-guide.htm https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/hfc-editorial-style-guide.htm

Fee and Payment

Progress payments to the contractor shall be made based on proper and acceptable invoices submitted consistent with the quality requirements described in Stipulation 6 above, according to the following schedule:

DELIVERY ITEM DATE

Contract Award

Orientation and Planning Call Within 15 Days of the Award

Project Kick-Off Meeting and Site Visit Within 60 Days of the Orientation and Planning Call

Submit Detailed Outline Within 90 Days of the Project Kick-Off Meeting Site Visit

NPS Review 15 Days

Submit Draft Chapter and List of Oral History Interview Subjects Within 90 Days of the NPS Review

NPS Review 15 Days

Submit First Draft Administrative History Within 240 Days of the NPS Review

NPS Review and Peer Review 30 Days

Submit Revised Second Draft Within Days of the NPS Review

NPS Review 30 Days

Submit Revised Final Administrative History Within 30 Days of the NPS Review

Submit all report/research-related documentation to

NPS.

Within 15 Days of the Revised Final Administrative History Submittal

Period of Performance 24 Months

Appendix A - Criteria for Evaluating Proposals

The project will be awarded on a best-value basis with technical factors more important than price.

The technical factors are equal in importance to each other. The relative strengths, deficiencies, significant weaknesses, and risks supporting the proposal evaluation shall be documented in the Technical Evaluation Board report. Elements within each technical factor are also of equal importance within the factor.

1. Understanding of the Requirement: Sound and thorough understanding of the work to be performed, issues to be addressed, and problems that may be encountered.

2. Technical Approach:

• Appropriateness and completeness of methods and procedures

• Schedules, including sequencing and duration of various phases, and allocation of time among projects activities

• Allotment of time among team members, including but not limited to key personnel defined for undertaking the documentary research, field investigation, analysis, and report preparation and editing.

3. Professional experience of key personnel in undertaking the evaluation of architecturally and historically significant districts with a cultural landscape component of similar magnitude, significance, and complexity. Resumes of project team members, examples of similar projects, and references should be provided for purposes of evaluation.

4. Management Capabilities and Organization of the firm as it relates to the ability to assemble multi-disciplinary teams and to meet the graphic and other technical requirements of the work.

5. Demonstrated Past Performance: Provide contact information (owner’s name, contact, and telephone number) and description for similar projects completed within the last five years.

6. Price Proposal: The prospective contractor must submit a line-item cost proposal for the project including the following items:

a) Personnel services: Principal Investigator and other personnel

b) Miscellaneous personal expenses

c) Supplies and equipment

d) Travel

e) Cost of analysis and report preparation

f) Overhead, Indirect, and In-kind costs as applicable

g) Other expenses

h) Total project cost