The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum has a rammed earth building that was built in the 1920s-1930s as a research experiment for the Engineering department. It is on the National Registry for Historic Places since this research has influenced the scholarly research about rammed earth structures around world.
Each section of the walls are different soil compositions and different plaster or stucco topcoats. One wall has the topcoat pulling away from the building because the composition wasn't right for the wall. In other words, this portion of the experiment failed or proved a point about various topcoats.
So now we have a conundrum. When does experimentation end and preservation begin? Do we continue to have the wall deteriorate for engineering research to show that this method didn't work or do we repair it? By repairing it, are we hurting the historical integrity since it will remove the original topcoat that doesn't work for rammed earth structures?
Gwen McCausland
Director
SD Agricultural Heritage Museum
South Dakota State University
Box 601
925 11th Street
Brookings, SD 57007
605-688-4581
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