CHRS, Inc.

Lansdale, PA

 Cultural Heritage Research Services, Inc. (CHRS) has an immediate need for a qualified individual to serve as Program Manager of the Preservation Department. This full-time position is available for immediate fill and will be based out of our office in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. The Program Manager will lead the Preservation Department through a variety of projects primarily in the mid-Atlantic region. The individual will be involved in all details of cultural resource management studies related to historic buildings and structures, including early project coordination, client management, historic resources survey and coordination, preparation of determinations of eligibility and effects reports, and Section 4(f) documentation.

 Job Responsibilities:

• Project management, including early interdepartmental project coordination, scheduling, fieldwork, writing and reviewing reports
• Manage small staff of architectural historians
• Historic Resources Survey as needed
• Interact with clients and state and federal agencies
• Assist in preparing for presentations and client meetings
• Organize, prepare for, and help facilitate public meetings and hearings
• Regularly coordinate with in-house staff to complete assigned tasks
• Travel primarily throughout eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey with some overnight trips required

 Qualifications:

Education/Experience Requirements

• Master’s degree in Historic Preservation, Planning, or other closely related field
• Must meet the qualifications of the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Professionals
• At least 3-5 years of related work experience in the field of Cultural Resource Management
• Experience working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (or other state DOT) preferred, but will consider commensurate experience with other Federal or State agencies

 General Skills Requirements:

• Demonstrated experience working with Section 106 and Section 4(f)
• Working knowledge of mid-Atlantic history and historical architecture preferred
• Ability to identify, document, and analyze architectural styles prevalent in the mid-Atlantic region
• Ability to manage multiple projects and complete work within a specified budget and timeframe
• Comfortable speaking and presenting in small and large groups
• Excellent verbal communication, technical writing and research skills
• Skilled in Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, Power Point
• Able to perform other job-related duties as assigned

This is a full-time position, and will involve a moderate amount of travel. Relocation to the Philadelphia area is necessary. CHRS, Inc. offers a full benefits package, including paid holidays, sick, personal and vacation days, health insurance and 401(k). Starting pay is $52,000 to $62,000 commensurate with experience.

CHRS, Inc. is a full-service cultural resource management firm, specializing in a wide variety of Cultural Resource tasks, including historic site survey, documentation, historic research and archaeology. Founded in 1981, CHRS, Inc. has spent over thirty years providing quality cultural resource services throughout the country. This work includes transportation projects, telecommunications projects, and Section 106 related projects of all sizes.

 Additional information about CHRS, Inc. can be found at www.chrsinc.com.

 Interested persons should send a cover letter, resume, and references to the contact and email address below. Please, no phone calls. Descriptive and analytical writing samples may be requested after review of preliminary material.

 Kenneth J. Basalik, Ph.D.

CHRS, Inc.

451 N. Cannon Ave., Suite 100B

Lansdale, PA 19446-2256

Email: kbasalik@chrsinc.com

PLEASE NOTE: ALSO SEND YOUR RESUME TO THIS EMAIL ADDRESS: Chrs_inc@yahoo.com

 The paper presented findings related to mid-twentieth-century historic features associated with the first major environmental remediation project in the United States, and process of rediscovery during recent Section 106 studies in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Above: A view of Dr. Basalik’s poster at the TRB meetings.

Below: Dr. Basalik discusses details of the project with Anthony Opperman (VADOT) Chairman of the ADC50 committee.

CHRS President Ken Basalik presenting his paper: Learning by Osmosis: An “Enhanced” ABC Plate at Explore Philadelphia’s Buried Past: The City and Beyond on Saturday, October 13, 2012. 

The event was held at the Kirby Auditorium in the National Constitution Center, 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia.

 Ken discussed children’s ABC plates, dishes with an educational purpose, and he asked the question:  Did the children who had this type of plate “eat it up”—or was the educational message lost amid the food on the plate?

 Ken will be discussing children’s ABC plates, which are dishes with an educational purpose. They are decorated with nursery rhymes, moral sayings, and/or images of famous places and people. Ken asks the question:  Did the children who had this type of plate “eat it up” – or was the educational message lost amid the food on the plate?

        CHRS staff helped to plan the combined meetings. Mary Alfson Tinsman was the Transportation Research Board’s Representative for conference planning, working closely with the representatives from PennDOT and Preservation Pennsylvania.

        CHRS was a corporate sponsor of the event. Lindsey Allen, Elizabeth Beeman, Rachael Fowler and Alanna Stewart attended the conference, and worked as conference staffers as well as managing the CHRS booth. Lindsey Allen also provided staff services during the Bike Tour of the Lebanon Valley Trail.

        Ken Basalik presented two papers. The first paper: Look what we found … so what do we do now? Dealing with urban archaeological finds, an example from Philadelphia was presented in the, Under the Pavement: Urban Archaeology in American Cities session. The paper discussed dealing with unexpected archaeological finds in an urban setting.

        The second paper presented by Ken Basalik was titled: Food, Drink, and Candy: Expressions of Subsistence in the Early Twentieth Century that was presented in the, They Were What They Ate: The Archaeology of Subsistence session. This paper discussed the findings of archaeological work performed within a small patch town in western Pennsylvania.

        Mary Alfson Tinsman was a presenter in The Future of the Past: Preparing the Next Generation of Cultural Resource Managers session at the conference. Ms. Tinsman discussed the education and experience attributes that current managers are looking for when hiring, and provided recommendations for attaining the necessary experience to be a hot commodity in a tight labor market. 

 The video can be accessed through Urban Engineers home page at (www.urbanengineers.com), in the bottom right corner, or directly through YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNLTBiAeWcA&feature=youtu.be

 The brochure is accessible through the National Park Service’s web site at:

 http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/hpg/index.htm