Rapid City Parks and Recreation Building
Introduction
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The Rapid City Parks and Recreation Building is a good example of rustic vernacular architecture.
Backstory and Context
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Local architect Waldo J. W. Winter designed the building, which was intended to be a museum and serve as a repository for local and regional historical collections. As stated above, the Works Progress Administration—one of the "New Deal" programs the federal government established during the Great Depression to support the economy—constructed the building. The building's architecture reflects the "rustic" Adirondack style and craftsman movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which originated in upstate New York. The building's rustic features include logs, large chimneys, native limestone, shingled roofs, large overhangs, and exposed rafters. The west wing was added in 1957. It is not readily apparent when the museums closed and the parks and recreation department moved in.
Sources
Preszler, Robert E. "Rapid City Historical Museum." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. December 20, 1988. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/ccdb1cae-fbad-4d20-b23a-282a0226d9fa.
Jeffrey Beall, via Wikimedia Commons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Pennington_County,_South_Dakota#/media/File:Rapid_City_Historical_Museum.JPG