Join our efforts in opposing the State of South Dakota's plans to systematically demolish eleven historic buildings on the Human Services Center (HSC) campus in Yankton. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the HSC was established as the Dakota Hospital for the Insane in 1878 and is the oldest public institution in the state.  Today, 130 years since the institution opened for treatment, the State continues to move forward with plans to erase an important piece of South Dakota history.
 
The National Trust for Historic Preservation and our South Dakota partners believe that alternatives to demolition can be found to protect this historic and cultural resource. We urge the State of South Dakota to actively work with the preservation community to help identify and promote viable reuses for the threatened historic buildings on the HSC campus that will support economic investment, increase quality of life, and promote sustainable development in Yankton County. We also believe that taxpayers' money should be used to protect significant South Dakota history, not erase it. Please support the protection of the historic HSC campus buildings for the benefit of South Dakotans.

We the undersigned petition Governor Rounds to support the protection and future use of the historic HSC campus buildings.