• National Zoo: Additions and Improvements - Washington DC
    The New Deal years 1933 to 1941 were arguably the best years in the history of the National Zoo, thanks to the many projects undertaken by the Roosevelt Administration.  Labor was provided by work-relief programs — the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) — and construction was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and, later, the Federal Works Agency (FWA). New Deal agencies built or improved virtually every aspect of the zoo.  The PWA paid for a new elephant house and small mammal house and an addition to the bird house.  It funded...
  • National Zoo: Bird House Addition - Washington DC
    The south wing of the Bird House at National Zoo – which had been left off the original building in 1927-28 – was constructed in 1936 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). It completed the the imposing, Romanesque style Bird House, adding space for more cages/exhibits and housing the Bird Resource Center. The PWA contributed around $1 million to several zoo improvement projects in the 1930s, including new elephant house, a small mammal house and an addition to the bird house.  The separate cost of the Bird House addition is undetermined.  The original building had been design by Albert Harris and the...
  • National Zoo: Elephant House - Washington DC
    The Elephant House at National Zoo was built in 1936-37 with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). At the time, it was known as the Pachyderm House; it is also sometimes called the Large Mammal House.   The Elephant House was designed in 1935 by Edwin Hill Clark, lead architect for all the New Deal additions to the National Zoo, as well as the Philadelphia zoo in 1930s.  The work was supervised by the Treasury Department Procurement Division's architectural office.  The actual construction was undertaken by private contractors, Harwood-Nebel Construction and Huffman and Brown. The Elephant House includes both indoor enclosures and rustic...
  • National Zoo: Machine and Carpentry Shops Building - Washington DC
    The Machine and Carpenter Shops building was constructed at the National Zoo in 1936-37, with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA paid for four buildings and other improvements to the zoo in the 1930s. In 1938, the National Zoo reported that “fiscal year 1937 was probably the most outstanding in the history of the Zoo.  The construction under the Public Works Administration grant of $892,920 was completed. These improvements include… machine and carpenter shops...”  The separate cost of the Machine & Carpenter Shops building is not specified in the reports. The Zoo report described the new utility building as...
  • National Zoo: Mane Cafe - Washington DC
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the building for a restaurant at National Zoo, constructed in 1939-40.  The restaurant building still serves the public today as the Mane Cafe. In its 1939 fiscal year report, the National Zoo noted: “The Public Works Administration allotted the sum of $90,000 for the much-needed restaurant building at the Park. Work on plans for this building was commenced immediately by the Supervising Architect, Procurement Division, Treasury Department, and in a short time it is expected that bids will be let and construction begun. This will be a marked improvement in the service that the Zoo gives...
  • National Zoo: Small Mammal House - Washington DC
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a Small Mammal House at the National Zoo, constructed in 1937.  It was one of several buildings paid for by the PWA and many other improvements made at the zoo by New Deal relief agencies. It is a brick building done in Italian Renaissance style, with a triple-arch entry, one semicircular end, limestone trim and tile roofing.  It includes a ventilation system. The designed was done in 1935 by Edwin Hill Clark, lead architect for all the New Deal additions to the National Zoo, as well as the Philadelphia zoo, in 1930s.  The work was supervised...