A crew of four to eight workers started the slow and tedious process of preserving Morrill Hall in July and their job won’t be completed until next summer.
About every 20 years Morrill Hall undergoes a project called tuckpointing. Tuckpointing is the repair process that removes old mortar, and sometimes brick, and replaces it with new mortar and brick to help maintain the building’s structural integrity and prevent the building from suffering moisture damage.
David Law, director of project management and engineering, said the workers start by grinding off all the mortar joints on every brick. They then replace it with new mortar.
If there is significant damage to any of the bricks, workers replace them. Law said when a brick needs to be replaced, a masonry contractor blends and matches the brick to the others on the building.
If tuckpointing isn’t done regularly, water gets inside the mortar and the freeze-thaw cycle breaks in and causes the bricks to shift or collapse. Tuckpointing also keeps the building looking nice.
“It’ll last a while,” Law said. “It could be another 20 to 30 years before we have to look at it again.”
Law said this project is routine maintenance. He added that things come up on calendars and the university’s Facilities and Services Department personnel decide if they need to be done. It takes about a year to develop a project because they have to focus on allocating dollars to the project.
Luke Witte, project manager/engineer at SDSU, said that out of the five companies that submitted a bid, Mid-Continental Restoration Co. Inc., was awarded the contract via public bid to work on this project. This company is headquartered out of Fort Scott, Kansas.
South Dakota State University is required to allocate about $9 million to $10 million every year to reinvest into infrastructure around campus. Law said this money covers projects like tuckpointing, roofing and upgrading mechanical systems around campus. This money comes from a higher education fee in students’ tuition.
The tuckpointing on Morrill Hall will cost about $440,000 not including the cost of bid packs and additional costs, Law said.
Law said that recently two new generators were set up by Morrill Hall that help serve the data center for the campus. Additionally, officials hope to re-do the bathroom on the first floor, as well as installing new roofing drains in the tunnels.
Morrill Hall has a long history. Construction started in 1911 on the middle and south wings of the building, and the north extension was added in 1918. Before it was named Morrill Hall in 2016, it was called the Administration Building.
Morrill Hall was named in honor of Justin Smith Morrill, who is remembered for the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act. The building was built in stages with appropriations from the state Legislature.
