Post by Okwes on Feb 15, 2006 8:54:08 GMT -5
Indian School House could join list of threatened sites
Indian School House could join list of threatened sites
Duane Winn
www.pipestonestar.com/article.asp?ItemID=12942&Type=new
The Pipestone Indian School Superintendent's residence is approaching
a milestone. In 2007, it will turn 100 years old.
There likely won't be any communitywide celebration to acknowledge
this fact, as befits a structure that is included on the National
Historical Register. Instead, it could spend its centennial on the
Preservation Alliance of Minnesota's "10 Most Endangered List" of the
state's most threatened historic resources.
The list is selected from nominations submitted by citizens and
groups from around the state. The selection committee includes
members of the Preservation Alliance executive and communications
committees, and representatives of the State Historic Preservation
Office of the Minnesota Historical Society, the Society of
Architectural Historians (Minnesota Chapter), the Historic Resources
Committee of the American Institute of Architects-Minnesota, the
University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape
Architecture, and the Minnesota advisors to the National Trust for
Historic Preservation.
The list is devised annually to call raise public awareness about
Minnesota's threatened past and, hopefully, spur citizens with civic
pride to do something about it.
Lorraine Draper, a member of the Pipestone County Historical Society,
the Pipestone Preservation Commission and Historic Pipestone, Inc.,
submitted the nomination form on Wednesday (Feb. 8). The deadline was
Friday (Feb. 10).
The superintendent's residence, which was built in 1907 and is
composed of Siouz quartzite, was first named to the endangered list
in 2000, seven years after it was placed on the National Historic
Register.
The Pipestone Indian School was created in 1893 to provide vocational
training for Native American children. In its heyday, the campus
featured 60 buildings and had the capacity to serve 400 students. As
the federal government shifted its focus toward Native Americans,
funding decreased for the Pipestone Indian School and others like it.
The school closed its doors in 1953.
Most of the buildings were razed or removed by the time Souhwestern
Vocational Technical Institute opened for business in 1976. However,
the superintendent's house, located on the present-day site of
Minnesota West Community and Technical College, survived, and it was
used as a private residence until 1983. Minnesota West Community and
Technical College assumed ownership and maintained it until 1999. The
house is now the property of the Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of
Pipemakers, a group in Pipestone which hopes to restore the residence
to something approaching its former glory.
The Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers have pursued
several avenues for funding to restore the building. However, thus
far its efforts have been to no avail.
A condition assessment report, compiled in 2004 by Mark A. Chavez, an
historical architect for the U.S. National Park Service, found the
house to be structurally stable, but in need of basic maintenance and
restoration. Yet, it also featured three major safety hazards that
need to be remedied: the possible presence of friable asbestos on
basement piping; an accumulation upstars of bird guano, which carries
with the risk of disease such as hantavirus; and lead paint. The
estimated cost of repairs was $150,000 to $180,000, depending upon
the scope of the repairs.
"And the cost goes up about 25 percent each year," said Johnston.
Neither the Keepers or other local historical preservationsists have
the money to initiate repairs.
Johnston said the Keepers would like to transform the downstairs of
the house into a museum pertaining to the Indian School. The upstairs
would serve as an office.
The superintendent's house is one of the few tangible reminders of
the massive attempt that the United States mounted in the final years
of the 19th century to assimilate Native Americans into white
American culture through education. As such, it has served as a
lightning rod in the relationship between the two cultures.
Johnston said if the first enrollees of the school were alive today,
they would voice bitterness at the federal government's attempts to
force them to speak English and renounce the trappings of their
culture.
Depression-era students, however, have a different tale to tell.
"Many of them said they never had it so good," said Johnston. "They
got three meals a day, they were clothed and they were given
shelter."
According to Johnston, something needs to be done or another facet of
Native American experience will be lost forever.
"I think the house is historically significant and it deserves to be
saved," said Johnston. "After all, there aren't too many Indian
school buildings, anywhere, left standing."
Indian School House could join list of threatened sites
Duane Winn
www.pipestonestar.com/article.asp?ItemID=12942&Type=new
The Pipestone Indian School Superintendent's residence is approaching
a milestone. In 2007, it will turn 100 years old.
There likely won't be any communitywide celebration to acknowledge
this fact, as befits a structure that is included on the National
Historical Register. Instead, it could spend its centennial on the
Preservation Alliance of Minnesota's "10 Most Endangered List" of the
state's most threatened historic resources.
The list is selected from nominations submitted by citizens and
groups from around the state. The selection committee includes
members of the Preservation Alliance executive and communications
committees, and representatives of the State Historic Preservation
Office of the Minnesota Historical Society, the Society of
Architectural Historians (Minnesota Chapter), the Historic Resources
Committee of the American Institute of Architects-Minnesota, the
University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape
Architecture, and the Minnesota advisors to the National Trust for
Historic Preservation.
The list is devised annually to call raise public awareness about
Minnesota's threatened past and, hopefully, spur citizens with civic
pride to do something about it.
Lorraine Draper, a member of the Pipestone County Historical Society,
the Pipestone Preservation Commission and Historic Pipestone, Inc.,
submitted the nomination form on Wednesday (Feb. 8). The deadline was
Friday (Feb. 10).
The superintendent's residence, which was built in 1907 and is
composed of Siouz quartzite, was first named to the endangered list
in 2000, seven years after it was placed on the National Historic
Register.
The Pipestone Indian School was created in 1893 to provide vocational
training for Native American children. In its heyday, the campus
featured 60 buildings and had the capacity to serve 400 students. As
the federal government shifted its focus toward Native Americans,
funding decreased for the Pipestone Indian School and others like it.
The school closed its doors in 1953.
Most of the buildings were razed or removed by the time Souhwestern
Vocational Technical Institute opened for business in 1976. However,
the superintendent's house, located on the present-day site of
Minnesota West Community and Technical College, survived, and it was
used as a private residence until 1983. Minnesota West Community and
Technical College assumed ownership and maintained it until 1999. The
house is now the property of the Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of
Pipemakers, a group in Pipestone which hopes to restore the residence
to something approaching its former glory.
The Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers have pursued
several avenues for funding to restore the building. However, thus
far its efforts have been to no avail.
A condition assessment report, compiled in 2004 by Mark A. Chavez, an
historical architect for the U.S. National Park Service, found the
house to be structurally stable, but in need of basic maintenance and
restoration. Yet, it also featured three major safety hazards that
need to be remedied: the possible presence of friable asbestos on
basement piping; an accumulation upstars of bird guano, which carries
with the risk of disease such as hantavirus; and lead paint. The
estimated cost of repairs was $150,000 to $180,000, depending upon
the scope of the repairs.
"And the cost goes up about 25 percent each year," said Johnston.
Neither the Keepers or other local historical preservationsists have
the money to initiate repairs.
Johnston said the Keepers would like to transform the downstairs of
the house into a museum pertaining to the Indian School. The upstairs
would serve as an office.
The superintendent's house is one of the few tangible reminders of
the massive attempt that the United States mounted in the final years
of the 19th century to assimilate Native Americans into white
American culture through education. As such, it has served as a
lightning rod in the relationship between the two cultures.
Johnston said if the first enrollees of the school were alive today,
they would voice bitterness at the federal government's attempts to
force them to speak English and renounce the trappings of their
culture.
Depression-era students, however, have a different tale to tell.
"Many of them said they never had it so good," said Johnston. "They
got three meals a day, they were clothed and they were given
shelter."
According to Johnston, something needs to be done or another facet of
Native American experience will be lost forever.
"I think the house is historically significant and it deserves to be
saved," said Johnston. "After all, there aren't too many Indian
school buildings, anywhere, left standing."