Upcoming events honor city’s historic architecture

By Dan Daly, Journal staff | Friday, April 27, 2007

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RAPID CITY — What downtown Rapid City landmark, constructed in 1888 of local brick and sandstone, features a corner that is adorned by an oriel window and topped by an onion dome?

If you can answer that question — and 11 more that are a bit harder — you could be eligible to win one of the prizes offered in a local history treasure hunt, sponsored by the Rapid City Historic Preservation Commission.

The month long contest, called the Treasure Hunt, is one of several events in May to help generate interest in historic architecture during National Preservation Month. In South Dakota, May is known as Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month.

Here’s how the treasure hunt will work. Beginning Saturday, May 5, you can pick up a Treasure Hunt passport at the Rapid City Public Library. The booklet will contain historic clues and contemporary cues for each of the buildings in the contest.

Treasure hunters, as they walk around downtown, will figure out which buildings are the answers to the clues. Once they have the answer, they can go inside and get their passport stamped. Fill the passport with 12 stamps, and you’re in the drawing.

According to Jean Kessloff, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission and one of the Preservation Month organizers, the idea for the Treasure Hunt came from Reid Riner, director of the Minnilusa Pioneer Museum. He suggested that the commission organize a form of letter boxing, a hobby that involves hidden plastic boxes and rubber stamps.

“We sort of modernized the idea and turned it into a Treasure Hunt,” Kessloff said. “We hope that people will learn about historic architecture and what we have in Rapid City.”

In addition, a number of downtown businesses will have window displays featuring historic photos of their buildings during May.

Throughout the month, the South Dakota State Historic Society traveling exhibit, “Properties of History: Exploring South Dakota’s Historic Places,” will be on display in the lobby of the City-School Administration Center, 300 Sixth St. It contains 15 panels of historic photos, documents and objects on South Dakota history.

On the opening day of the show, Tuesday, May 1, Mayor Jim Shaw will sign a proclamation declaring preservation month. The ceremony will be at 1 p.m.

Other events:

Saturday, May 5 — At 10 a.m. historians Helen Wrede and Norm Nelson will present an oral history program. At 3 p.m. Chuck Rausch of Rausch Monuments will talk about cemetery art and monument maintenance. The events will be at the Rapid City Public Library, 610 Quincy St. (ARE BOTH OF THESE AT THE LIBRARY???)

Sunday, May 6 — The Elks Theater will be sponsoring a free showing of the Disney movie “The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band,” a story featuring one of Rapid City’s earliest families. Showtime is 5 p.m.

Saturday, May 12 — At 10 a.m. there will be a tour and talk at the Lewis House, once known as the Pink House, at 730 South St. Mark Landon and Gordon Hopperdietzel of Parkside Design are restoring the house and adapting it for use as offices. At 3 p.m., Chris Nelson of the South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office will present, “A Historic Property Owners Guide: A guide to helping you Preserve Your Historic Property” at the Rapid City Public Library.

Tuesday, May 15 n At noon, historian Donovan Sprague will talk about the events and show photos from the Rapid City Indian School, which is now Sioux San Hospital. In his talk, at the Dahl Arts Center 713 Seventh St., Sprague will also talk about the importance of preserving Sioux San.

Saturday May 19 — At 10 a.m. in the Duke Corning Armory, Ret. Col. Robert D. Grams will discuss the history of Camp Rapid. Also, Tech. Sgt. Steven Wilson of Ellsworth Air Force Base will talk about the history of Ellsworth Air Force Base and the Pride Hanger. At 1:30 p.m., Mike Bender, a senior landscape architect at Dream Design International, will talk about the identification and preservation of historic landscapes. His talk will be at the Rapid City Public Library.

Sunday, May 20 n At 2 p.m., there will be self-guided tours of Art Alley, the visual art venue in the alley between Main and St. Joseph streets. The artwork runs from Sixth Street to Seventh Street.

Tuesday May 22 n At 6:30 p.m., Assistant State Archeologist Michael Fosha, will present an overview of South Dakota’s prehistory at the State Archaeology Research Center, 2425 E. St. Charles St. There will also be tours of the center.

Saturday May 26 n At 10:30 a.m., Trinity Lutheran Church, 402 Kansas City St., will be both the location of the topic of a talk by two ministers and an architect. Pastor LeRoy Flagstad, Pastor Jeff Otterman and architect Tim Cheever of TSP will talk about Christian symbolism and the church’s well-known designer, Harold Spitznagel. At 2:30 p.m. there will be a tour and talk about the restoration and adaptive reuse of the historic Swander’s Grocery building, 517 Seventh St., by enVision Design Group.

All of the events are free and open to the public. For more information contact Kessloff at 341-5398.

Contact Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com