Scott:
I think Jim Nagle answered your question inadvertently above.
With current technology you can get the green 99.5% back to what was there before, if you take long enough at it. I have spoken to members at Holston Hills and The Valley Club and SFGC where we tried to rebuild the greens pretty much exactly, and for the most part they can't tell the difference, except on one or two holes they will tell me that a putt breaks differently.
The problem is that along the way, it's inevitable that the architect or contractor or club will decide to "improve the green" along the lines of Jim's description [preserve THIS feature, but reduce THESE slopes]. So, if you are asking whether reconstruction is up to the standard of historic preservation, my answer would be no. Reconstruction opens the door to changes that would otherwise not be made. We could argue all day whether that's a good thing or not, but it IS a change.