Tucson Plant Material Center, Machinery Shed, 3241 North Romero Road, Tucson

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The Machinery Shed, located at the historic building complex of the Tucson Plant Materials Center, is significant for its association with the initial construction and development of the first soil conservation nursery estab- lished in Arizona by the Soil Conservation Service. The Tucson Nursery represents one of the first group of 48 soil conservation nurseries built by the Soil Conservation Service from the beginning of through June Built in the Machinery Shed was one of eight original buildings at the complex. It functioned as a storage garage for farm implements used at the nursery. The Machinery Shed is among the five remaining historic buildings at the site. Tucson Plant Materials Center, Machinery Shed (Building No. 4) HABS No. AZ-159-A (Page 2) Part I. Descriptive Information A.

Physical Description The Machinery Shed is a utilitarian building originally used to house farm machinery for the nursery. The building is a detached structure located within a closely grouped complex of historic and contemporary buildings. The Machinery Shed is situated directly west of the original General Utility Building and southwest of the original Administration Building. Abutting the Machinery Shed on its west wall is the Seed Building, built in For a physical description and historic context of the Tucson Plant Materials Center site, see HABS No.AZ-159. As originally constructed, the Machinery Shed was a one-story rectangular building measuring 42 feet long by 24 feet deep. It contained a single room with a dirt floor and exposed wood truss roof framing.

The building was constructed of adobe brick walls, one foot thick and finished on the exterior with pebble-dashed Portland cement piaster. The east facade contained five equally spaced bays, each eight feet wide, which were enclosed with a pair of wood stile and rail eight panel doors. The building was covered with a flat roof, sloping to the west and hidden behind a two foot high parapet. A Storage Room, measuring 15 feet by 14 feet, was added at the south end of the west facade of the building ca. It is also built of adobe, one foot thick, finished on the interior and exterior with roughly trowelled Portland cement plaster. The addition has a dirt floor and a flat roof built of exposed 2X4 joists. The roof slopes west with a one foot deep overhang at the west wall.

The north and south walls were parapeted. The Storage Room Addition is accessed by a single, offset doorway on the west wall. The doorway contains a 2 X 5 rabbeted frame. The original five panel wood door is missing. The south wall of the Storage Room contains a slightly offset window opening, five feet wide by four feet high. The adobe wall above is supported by a heavy timber, 8X8 exposed lintel bearing 1' - 6" on either side of the opening. The opening has a partially intact 2X6 head, jamb and sill frame. There is no physical evidence of a window sash or shutters having been incorporated into the opening. Between and a wood framed lean-to, 15 feet deep, was built along a portion of the west wall of the Machinery Shed, extending north from the Storage Room addition.

At that time the north parapet of the Storage Room was removed and a single shed roof was constructed over both buildings. During the same period, an adobe and wood frame building was constructed by the CCC adjacent to the north and west walls of the Machine Shed. Most likely the building functioned as a bunkhouse. After a portion of the building functioned as a seed drying room. Known as the Building," it was demolished in April Between and June the five bays on the east facade of the Machinery Shed were enclosed with X 3 tongue-in-groove, applied vertically on 2 X 4 stud framing. Except for one leaf, all five pairs of wood panel doors were removed.

A 2 X 4 stud wall, sheathed on one side with plywood, was installed inside the building between and The east - west off-center wall divided the building into two rooms. A shelving system was Tucson Plant Materials Center, Machinery Shed (Building No. 4) HABS No. AZ-159-A (Page 3) installed in the south room along the east wall. It consists of three tiers of shelves, three feet deep, supported by a 2 X 4 frame and enclosed at each end with vertical tongue-in-groove siding. The shelves are lined with sheet metal. Between and a concrete slab floor was installed in the building. In the wood frame lean-to was demolished, along with the CCC Building, to make way for the construction of the Seed Building. The original adobe walls of the Machinery Shed and Storage Room Addition remain intact.

Deterioration of the walls, due to water infiltration, is evident. The northwest and southwest corners of the Machinery Shed are eroding and partially collapsed on the interior face due to the failed roof drainage outlets directly above. The Machinery Shed original roof framing system is still intact. The primary framing is wood Howe trusses spaced on four foot centers and spanning in the east - west direction. The bottom and top chords are built of 2 X 4 lumber, and the vertical and diagonal bracing is X 5 tongue-in-groove boards. The depth of the trusses are uniformly 1' - 9" deep at the east wall bearing. The truss depth at the west wall varies from 1* - 4" to eight inches to accommodate roof slopes to drainage outlets at the northwest and southwest corners of the building.

The trusses are braced laterally by 2 X 4s extending along the center line of the north - south axis. One evenly located 2X4 intermediate joist is located between each truss, bearing on the lateral bracing at center span. The roof is sheathed with stained and varnished "V" groove tongue - in - groove boards. The trusses and the intermediate joists bear in pockets in the west adobe wall. On the east, they bear on two 2X8 girders. The girders are supported at eight foot intervals by composite columns consisting of two 4 X4 posts. The top of each post is notched to receive the 2 X 8 girders. The parapet at the east wall above the girders in built of Portland cement plaster on metal lath attached to a 2 X 4 cripple stud wall bearing on the girder.

Additional support for the roof trusses at the west wall includes a centrally located adobe buttress, one foot thick by two feet wide, supporting a 2 X 8 girder with the trusses bearing on the girder. Intermediate supports for the girder to the north and south of the buttress is provided by two 4X4 posts, bearing on the concrete slab and notched at the top to receive the 2 X 8 girder. Name / Title: Jim Woodward, Architect N. Christine Richards, Historic Architecture Associate Affilitation: Woodward Architectural Group Date: October 26, Tucson Plant Materials Center, Machinery Shed (Building No, 4) HABSNo. AZ-159-A (Page 4) MACHINERY SHED FLOOR PLAN SCALE 0 v 5' 6" 2' 10' NORTH C3 &m

Seed Building Partial Plan Built

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