Fayetteville Sites

"While PWA funding was typically focused on local school districts in the public school system, seven buildings were constructed on the University of Arkansas campus using this funding. Buildings constructed with PWA funds during this period include Vol-Walker Hall (1935), the Chemistry Building (1936), Gibson Hall (1937), the Men’s Gymnasium (1937), Ozark Hall (1940), the Home Economics Building (1940), and Memorial Hall (1940). While the design oversight for these buildings was provided by Jamieson & Spearl based on the guidance of their 1925 plan, the construction documents and project administration for many of these buildings was completed by local Arkansas...

"Although there was already a chemistry building on campus, by 1925 it had become too small. There were plans to build a new building by the Arkansas General Assembly in 1927, and was scheduled to be built in 1931. However, the Great Depression delayed these plans. In January 1934, $1,165,000 was made available for the construction of both a new chemistry building and Vol Walker Library. These funds came from the Public Works Administration, and not the Arkansas legislature. Opened in December 1935, the building housed the chemistry, zoology, geology, philosophy, and psychology departments. Eventually, the growing University forced all of these...

"The University of Arkansas Campus Historic District is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 23, 2009. The district covers the historic core of the University of Arkansas campus, including 25 buildings. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on September 23, 2009 and the listing was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service's weekly list of October 2, 2009. The historical core of campus was built in many phases, coincident with when funding was available to build. Beginning with the construction of Old Main in...

"The new men's dormitory at the University of Arkansas is divided into three separate units, each having its own entrances and stairway. The building is 55 by 189 feet in plan and 3 stories in height. On the first floor are 19 double rooms, a lobby, and a social room. The second and third floors each provide 21 double rooms, so that the entire building can accommodate 122 students. The structure is fireproof, with reinforced concrete floor and roof slabs and exterior walls of brick trimmed with stone. It was completed in August 1937 at a...

"After completion of the PWA-funded University Library and Chemistry Building, the University received an additional $413,000 loan and $337,909 grant from the PWA for the construction of three additional buildings on campus. The PWA funds were used to construct the Home Economics Building (now the Human Environmental Sciences Building), Student Union (now known as Memorial Hall), and the Classroom Building (now Ozark Hall). Architects for all three of these buildings were Haralson & Mott of Fort Smith with Mann & Wanger of Little Rock. The three-story Home Economics Building, constructed in 1940, is a masonry building of Indiana white limestone...

"The new building is 3 stories in height. On the ground floor are locker, storage, and utility rooms. The gymnasium and auditorium occupy the entire first floor. A small second floor, across the front of the building, contains offices. There is an additional entrance to the ground floor from the outside. The building is 115 by 169 feet. The playing floor of the gymnasium is 103 by 135 feet, sufficient for 2 practice basketball courts when the bleacher seats are folded. When these seats are open the floor space provides a standard basketball court, and 2,112 spectators may be seated....

"After completion of the PWA-funded University Library and Chemistry Building, the University received an additional $413,000 loan and $337,909 grant from the PWA for the construction of three additional buildings on campus. The PWA funds were used to construct the Home Economics Building (now the Human Environmental Sciences Building), Student Union (now known as Memorial Hall), and the Classroom Building (now Ozark Hall). Architects for all three of these buildings were Haralson & Mott of Fort Smith with Mann & Wanger of Little Rock... Ozark Hall was originally constructed in 1940 as the Classroom Building, in the Collegiate Gothic style. This...

Multiple substantial building projects were undertaken on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville during the Great Depression. The federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) was responsible for an enormous amount of that new development at the time. However, the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) contributed as well. The W.P.A. built a new stadium for the fledgling institution. Now known as Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, the venue has served as the home for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks since its opening in 1938. A 1940 W.P.A. document described the need and benefits of the new stadium: Because of the suddenly acquired national fame...

"Before construction of this new building, the library of the University of Arkansas was housed in the nonfireproof administration building. The new structure has a capacity of 265,000 volumes and furnishes study desks for approximately 600 students. In addition, there are cubicles in the stack room where research work can be carried on. The basement has a museum across the entire front of the building, including work space, receiving, storage, and utility rooms. On the first floor are browsing and research rooms, offices, and seminar rooms. The main reading room extends the full length of the...