During spring 2015, graduate students in Fran Gale’s Materials Conservation: Lab Methods course partnered with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) on a research project at Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet County. For this project, students investigated original building materials of the Longhorn Cavern Administration Building, a rustic park structure designed by Texas architects Samuel C. P. Vosper and George Walling and built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934. TPWD Historic Sites and Structures Program Architect Bess Althaus Graham and Research Specialist Jennifer Carpenter provided background information about the Administration Building, including original drawings and construction photographs, and joined Lab Methods students for a March site visit. Working with Graham and Carpenter, students obtained small samples of stone, mortar, plaster and paint for examination and testing in UT’s Architectural Conservation Laboratory. The report of their archival and laboratory research provides information about the composition and properties of original building materials that will be helpful in planning maintenance and preservation work. Information about Longhorn Cavern State Park and other parks designed and built by the CCC is available on “The Look of Nature” website.
Frances Gale
Izabella Nuckels
Rebekka Grady
Vishal Joshi
