The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum receives grant from national historic group

The National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum a $5,000 grant to prepare a conservation plan for the H.H. DeLong Rammed Earth Building on the South Dakota State University campus.
Henry H. DeLong and Ralph Patty, professors in South Dakota State’s agricultural engineering department, built the building in the 1920s and 1930s as part of their research on how to make buildings for livestock using materials easily available for farmers. Their research on the historic rammed earth construction became the foundation for contemporary rammed earth building construction around the world. The H.H. DeLong Rammed Earth Building is one of the few remaining structures built by Patty and DeLong.
“This grant allows us to bring in a world-renowned architect who specializes in rammed earth construction and has studied our building for his own personal research. This construction method is so unique to this region that we needed someone with the expertise on how to repair and preserve the building,” said Gwen McCausland, director of the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum. “After we repair the building, we plan to open it to the public as an outdoor education space and blacksmith shop for the museum.”
Steve Burroughs, an architect from Canberra, Australia, will arrive on campus April 1, 2017. The preservation plan, which is expected to be completed by June, will contain an action plan to repair and preserve the building as well as estimate the cost for repairs. The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum will raise funds to renovate the building.
“Organizations like the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum help ensure that communities and towns all across America retain their unique sense of place,” said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “We are honored to provide a grant to South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, which will use the funds to help preserve an important piece of our shared national heritage.”
Grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation range from $2,500 to $5,000 and have provided more than $15 million since 2003. These matching grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the country to support wide-ranging activities including consultant services for rehabilitating buildings, technical assistance for tourism that promotes historic resources and the development of materials for education and outreach campaigns.
For more information on National Trust for Historic Preservation, visit savingplaces.org.