School House project

[kbaum]

Needing ideas regarding footings for my newest project.  I'm going to be moving a 24x30 school house built in the late 30's.  (very solid).  It has 12' ceilings and 24' to the peak (very steep roof).  it will be my work shop and storage so I can finish my basement.  This isn't my first building to be moved.  Wife and I bought bare land 4 years ago and have moved a 12x20 garage that is being used as a horse barn.  12x24 chicken coop being used as a chicken coop , 8x8 garden shed and our 32x40 house. 

Question is that we live in South Dakota and if I go with a regular foundation, I need to go at least 4 feet down and have a 2 foot crawl space above ground, so a 6 foot footing.  I don't want to spend that much money.  Other idea is to have a footing 2 feet down and build a 4 foot pressure treated wood wall (so still 2 feet above ground.  The spot for the building is in a low area, but I have plenty of extra dirt from the basement of the house.  Last thought is sono tubes.  I like that idea, but don't know how many that I will need.  Each corner and every 4 feet on the perimeter?

Right now, the SH sits on a concrete footings about 2 feet into the ground.  No center supports. I haven't done more investigating due to being under the weather.

[Don_P]

Guessing you're in the eastern part of the state? Built to sit on a solid wall foundation, no girder on the perimeter, you need a pier at every joist... every 16-24". Put it on a gravel footing with a permanent wood foundation.  Just for terminology, the footing is the lowest foundation element, the wide "foot" that the foundation walls sit on. The foundation walls are the vertical... walls, that support the main floor and whatever is above. The 4' frost depth is measured from the top of final grade to the bottom of the footing... if you're building up the ground around it, measure from the final grade height.