Recreating the Massasoit Spring House with 3Dimensional Modelling

ABSTRACT

The history of cultural landmarks has abundant examples for educational enlightenment. Yet hundreds, if not thousands, of sites have yet to achieve this notoriety, often given the lack of funding to restore the site. For those found within our parks and protected areas one challenge for managers is to preserve its cultural heritage, often with limited funding. It is this challenge that we illustrate a process for recreating our historical landscape based on archived materials and using computer animation. Three-dimensional computer modelling software provides one such tool to recreate these sites, and adds to our knowledge for historic preservation and educational prospects. Here we recreate the setting of the nineteenth-century Massasoit Spring water business in West Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. Protected watershed lands previously managed for no visitation are now opened up for tourism and this baseline data serves educational and interpretive opportunities.

KEYWORDS:

• Historic springs
• parks and protected areas
• virtual archaeology
• 3D modelling
• nineteenth-century small industries

Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the archives of the Town of West Springfield Historical Commission for many of the records we used.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert S. Bristow

Robert S. Bristow is a Professor in the Geography, Planning and Sustainability Department at Westfield State University. His research interests are in resource planning and management for tourism.

Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor is a graduate of the Master of Science in Sustainability Science program at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. His research interests include green building and GIS.