Proposed Levee Construction
Ada, Minnesota

Norman Co Fairgrounds Pavilion Building 400dpi

ARCH3, LLC conducted a Phase II architectural history investigation for Moore Engineering, Inc. of the Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed levee construction in Ada, Norman County, Minnesota. The survey identified 34 residential and commercial buildings/structures and one irrigation ditch system that were over 45 years old.

The Norman County Fairgrounds Pavilion building was found to be associated with significant historic events under the Minnesota historic context Federal Relief Construction in Minnesota, 1933-1941 (including the Depression-era state and county fairgrounds construction programs of the federal Works Progress Administration) and to exhibit the distinctive design/construction characteristics of WPA-era buildings. The Fairgrounds itself was determined eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A as a historic district and individual buildings within it were recommended eligible under Criterion C for their distinctive design and method of construction.

Judicial Ditch 51 was found to be associated with state-level, late-nineteenth/early-twentieth century agricultural drainage programs under the Minnesota historic context Railroads and Agricultural Development (1870-1940) and recommended NRHP-eligible under Criterion A.

Norman Co Fairgrounds Grandstand (Please credit Daniel R. Pratt)

1936 WPA Pavilion Interior (Please credit Daniel R. Pratt)