Historic District Design Guidelines

Client: City of Deadwood

Site: Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood is a National Historic Landmark District, and considered to be a South Dakota state treasure whose preservation is very important to the citizens of this state. When a citizen led initiative to allow limited gaming in Deadwood was passed by South Dakota voters in 1989, this city was immediately faced with a building boom reminiscent of their previous gold rushes. The intent behind allowing limited gaming was to use a portion of these revenues for preservation of Deadwood’s historic buildings. With changes of some type proposed for most downtown buildings, and many large infill projects on the drawing boards, the Historic District Commission required design guidelines to evaluate the appropriateness of proposed changes. The Collaborative was contracted to develop design guidelines for the Downtown Historic District, these included a number of features: an historic overview of Deadwood’s architecture and history; national, state and local regulatory framework for historic preservation; the principles for the preservation of historic buildings and sites; and characteristics of the Downtown Historic District’s urban design. Design guidelines were developed for alterations to historic structures, additions of new commercial buildings, and public, residential, and other miscellaneous types of buildings. Guidelines were also developed for public works projects, alterations to non-contributing buildings, alleys, parking, painting, materials, interiors, fire and life safety, mechanical upgrades, and handicap access ways. Discussions of variations in the Building Code for historic buildings; and a presentation of important maintenance procedures for historic buildings were also included, as part of the Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan.