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Project: Archive Record Management & Conservation CPA Category: Historic Preservation Amount Requested: $150,000 Amount Recommended: $150,000 CPC Vote: Approval (9 -0) Project Description: Lexington's Municipal Archives contain the records and information of the municipal operations of the Town of Lexington from its earliest dates. To protect the Town's original volumes, documents and materials, and ultimately provide for public access to information on this history of Lexington, the Town Clerk's office recently contracted with Northeast Document Conservation Center ( NEDCC), a renowned local non - profit center with specialized expertise in the conservation and preservation of historic paper -based documents. NEDCC evaluated and assessed the condition of the documents and materials and the cost of their preservation and conservation. Once the final report of the survey is received, actual preservation and conservation may begin. This application requests funding for this next phase of the project. Project Goals and Objectives: The NEDCC survey identifies the general state of the collections, needed improvements, and long -term preservation needs. The survey also identifies specific preservation needs, recommends actions to meet those needs, and prioritizes the recommended actions. The preservation and conservation of the collections, for which CPC funding is being requested, will concentrate on pre -1900 materials, and will entail: • Item treatment, repair, cleaning, deacidification • Item microfilming & digitization • Maintenance of collections in secure, environmentally favorable space • Item reformatting, rebinding, rehousing for preservation of original materials while providing public access to content Total costs to properly preserve and conserve the archival materials have conservatively been estimated at a cost of $500,000. Additional costs for the microfilming and reformatting of these materials are anticipated to reach $250,000. Project Benefit: The Municipal Archives are a key resource for understanding the early organization and management of the Town; but because of their condition and rarity, general public access to these documents cannot now be permitted. Completion of this project will ensure that the documents are protected against loss and further deterioration and will restore public access in a manageable timeframe culminating with the 300 anniversary of the incorporation of Lexington as a town in 2013. Funding Request: This project requests $150,000 of CPA funding, as year one of a projected five -year process. 12