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National Park Service, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and is managed at the state <br /> level by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) of the Minnesota Historical Society. <br /> Cemeteries are categorically excluded from the National Register unless they meet one or more <br /> of the "criteria consideration"outlined in guidelines issued by the National Park Service. In the <br /> case of Sunset Memorial Park, the standard that must be met is Criteria Consideration D, which <br /> applies to cemeteries deriving their"primary significance from graves of persons of transcendent <br /> importance, from age, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events." <br /> A National Register publication offers examples of cemeteries qualifying under Criterion <br /> Consideration D, including"a cemetery . . . which reflects important aspects of community <br /> history"and "a cemetery that embodies the principles of an aesthetic movement or tradition of <br /> design and monumentation through its overall plan and landscaping, its gravemarkers and <br /> funerary sculpture, or its buildings and structures."12 <br /> The National Register eligibility of the Sunset Memorial Park administration building either as <br /> an individual structure or as part of a larger historic district has not been evaluated previously. A <br /> building inventory form for the "Sunset Funeral Home and Mausoleum" was prepared for the <br /> Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission by Mead and Hunt in March 2004 as part of a <br /> reconnaissance survey. The form concludes: "The stone funeral home building is recommended <br /> for local designation under Criterion 4 for its architectural merit and for listing in the National <br /> Register under Criterion C: Architecture."The survey did not analyze the significance of <br /> cemetery buildings in Saint Anthony, and did not evaluate the significance of the cemetery's <br /> landscape. <br /> While this approach might have appeared justified given the parameters of the survey, Sunset <br /> Memorial Park clearly functions as a whole and the landscape reads as a whole. Given the <br /> funerary property type, in general, and the design and development history of Sunset Memorial <br /> Park, in particular, it is necessary to assess the property in its entirety, regardless of municipal <br /> boundaries. From this perspective, Sunset Memorial Park is eligible for the National Register <br /> under Criterion C and Criterion Consideration D as a well-preserved example of a memorial park <br /> and as a significant work of landscape architect Arthur Nichols. Further research is necessary to <br /> determine whether the property is of local, statewide, or national significance and whether it also <br /> qualifies under Criterion A for its role in the history of the metropolitan area. In addition, an in- <br /> depth physical survey of the property should be conducted to verify that the property's historic <br /> integrity is good, and to see if the circa 1949 expansion should also be included as part of the <br /> historic site. Snow obscured many details of the landscape at the time that this report was <br /> prepared. <br /> There are a number of contributing features within the Sunset Memorial Park historic site, <br /> including the administration building. While the administration building's potential for <br /> individual designation is more difficult to evaluate, it does not appear to have sufficient <br /> architectural or historic significance to merit National Register designation on its own. <br /> 12 Elisabeth Walton Potter and Beth M.Boland, Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial <br /> Places(Washington,D.C.:U.S.Department of the Interior,National Park Service,Interagency Resources Division, <br /> National Register of Historic Places, 1992), 14-17. <br /> Sunset Memorial Park Administration Building <br /> Preliminary National Register and Condition Assessment—Page 6 <br />