Montclair Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed improvements in Brookdale Park NJ (Essex County) in 1937. Initial construction of the park began in 1928 following an Olmstead Brothers’ design. “The basic work was in place by 1930,” suggests the Essex County Parks Department. But hen the Depression hit, the work that was originally estimated to take only a few years was extended to many years. Construction became dependent upon labor available from the WPA and ERA agencies, who completed the major work by 1937. The result is one of the County's most beautiful parks.” The WPA provided most of the funds and labor...

The federal Works Progress Administration constructed an amphitheater for what was then known as Montclair State Teachers College. The 2,000-seat theater was constructed into a hillside, its 22 tiers of seats measuring between 92 and 190 feet long. The stage, at construction, measured 70 feet by 40 feet and contained a tree in the middle. An orchestra pit in front of the stage measured 70'-by-30'.

The federal Works Progress Administration conducted several construction projects ca. 1936 at what was then known as Montclair State Teachers College. The largest project was the 2,000-seat amphitheater, still in use today. Other work at the college included construction of an athletic field (the original Sprague Field) "to care care of track, football and baseball;" and a parking lot with a capacity of 125 cars. The exact location and status of the latter project is unknown to Living New Deal.

The federal Works Progress Administration constructed an athletic field between 1936 and 1937 "to care care of track, football and baseball." This facility is believed to be the original iteration of Sprague Field, which was inaugurated in 1937.