Walter L. Perry Construction Company Sites

"James T. Canizaro (1904-1982)... in 1938 designed a small modernist gem in the WPA-sponsored Oxford City Hall (p.107)...a structure that pushed even more courageously toward the brave new world of international modernism" (Hines, 1996, p.108). "Above two round modernist columns supporting the covered first floor entrance porch, the defining motif of the building was a long, thin band of contiguous ribbon windows, curving smartly at the corner in a quintessentially modernist gesture. To the right and on the axis of this key design element was an asymmetrically placed clock of chic modernist design" (Hines, p. 108). The structure was demolished in 1976.

The 1936 high school was designed by E. L. Malvaney, and constructed by Walter L. Perry Construction Company. Mississippi project W1034 provided a $40,909 grant and the city funded the remainder of the total cost of $92,437. Construction began March 25, 1936 and was completed January 20, 1937. The school was demolished at some point, but the concrete bas relief panels--found on many of E. L. Malvaney's Mississippi schools, were salvaged and erected at the back of the new school.

Constructed primarily with Works Progress Administration funding, the University of Mississippi built 22 vernacular cottage-style houses on a new street named Faculty Row in 1939 (Walton, 2008). The three-bedroom houses ranged from 1200 to 1600 square feet, and were sided with clapboard. Each had a garage or carport (Mississippi Department of Archives and History). Only one of the houses remains on campus at this time. Others were demolished in 2007 according to MDAH. Twenty-one faculty houses were relocated to establish a development for affordable housing, however, according to the Lafayette County appraisal records, dates on those houses indicate construction in 1955...

The Physics Building of the University of Mississippi campus, was built in 1939 as one of the last construction projects during the Public Works Administration. It was renamed Lewis Hall in 1977 for Dr. Arthur Lewis, a physics professor from 1939-1969. A research wing was added to the rear of the southwest corner in 1995.

The Student Union Building was completed in 1939 on the campus of the University of Mississippi. It housed the bookstore, university post office, a grill, game room, barbershop, clothing store, and several meeting rooms (Sansing, 1999, p. 254). The Greek Revival style building was used as the student union building until 1973. It was renovated in 2004 and is currently used by the Computer Science Department and houses a student computer lab.