Public Works Administration (PWA) Sites

The PWA constructed this gymnasium in a style and native rock façade that echoed existing buildings on the UCMO campus. It is now known as Morrow Hall, and is still actively used for the gymnasium and Physical Education department.

The PWA funded the construction of the library on the University of Central Missouri campus. The building, now the Dockery building, is no longer the library, but is actively used for classrooms and offices. It is on the north side of the north quadrangle adjacent to the administration building.

"On February 11, 1936, the PWA approved a $1,700,000 grant to seven state teachers’ colleges for construction of dormitories. At Central State Teacher College, two dorms, one to house 300 women and one to house 150 men, were planned. The Architect Guy Reid promised comfortable buildings that were more serviceable and “superior in design.” Murdaugh Hall was the first to be built. It had two wings, a connecting terrace and a cafeteria open to all students. Accommodations in both dorms were the same. Dormitory rooms had two of everything: closets, beds, chest of drawers, desks, chairs and bookcases all made of high-grade maple as well as a lavatory and...

Batch field house was built in 1936 with the aid of the Public Works Administration (PWA). Set against the football stadium, it is part of the larger University of Colorado athletic complex and still actively used for intramural sports.  "The new field house for the University of Colorado is approximately 144 by 296 feet in over-all dimensions. The large hall has an earth floor with a cinder running track 12 laps to the mile, and is provided with a removable wood basketball floor, 60 by 90 feet. Permanent bleachers seat approximately 2,000, and removable bleachers on both sides of the basketball...

The library of the University of Colorado was built with financial aid from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1939.  It is still actively in use.

A Women's Club building was added to the campus of the University of Colorado in 1937, paid for by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). "Before the construction of the new women's club, the University of Colorado had no suitable facilities for the holding of social functions by women. The building is two stories in height and contains on the first floor a living room, approximately 40 by 25 feet, a dining room, reception room, manager's office, kitchen, and pantry. The second floor is devoted to bedrooms. Construction is fireproof with a reinforced-concrete frame and floor slabs, exterior walls of native stone, and...

"The Florida Union building was opened in 1936. The original building and its two additions were constructed without the usage of state funds. William Jennings Bryan was active in raising funds for the original building, and the student body strongly supported the creation of a student fee to provide resources for the project. In addition, Federal funds (PWA) and other gifts were used to fund the original building and the two additions. The original Florida Union is now Dauer Hall."   (https://www.makeitreitz.com)

The University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia was heavily impacted by New Deal program construction. Multiple buildings were constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds, including a laboratory building, classroom building, and the Fine Arts Building.

"In 1933 the State legislature made it possible for the University of Georgia to secure grants from the P.W.A. with which to carry out an extensive building program to accommodate its increased student body and to replace obsolete equipment. The classroom building is 3 stories and a part basement in height and provides 15 classrooms ranging from a kindergarten through the sixth grade, shops, a model living room with bath, clothing, food and science laboratories, conference rooms, administrative offices, a library, cafeteria, recreation room, and an auditorium with stage. The area of the building is 20,700 square feet. The construction is...

"The Fine Arts Building was designed and constructed in 1939-1940 as a Federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The Neoclassical style building was originally designed to house the drama, music, dance, and visual arts programs."

"This project, known as the 'Laboratory Building,' is 2 stories and a basement in height. The basement contains the manual-training department, recreation rooms, an infirmary, a sewing room, kitchen, cafeteria, and the heating plant. On the first floor are 8 classrooms and the administrative offices. The second floor contains 10 classrooms and offices for instructors. The construction is nonfireproof. The exterior walls are brick trimmed with limestone, and all the rest of the building is wood. The project was completed in January 1939 at a construction cost of $133,634 and a project cost of $137,178."

Crawford Hall, also known as the social sciences building, was constructed with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds in 1938.

"The original Gilmore Hall was constructed in 1935 and was funded, in part, by the federal Public Works Administration. Gilmore, the agricultural building, was built on the edge of campus, at an angle to face both Hawaiʻi Hall and Farrington Hall between the main campus and the campus farms. The building was distinctive with its green and blue roof tiles, hand-made by pressing clay around the thigh to form arches." The New Deal-era facility has since been replaced.

"Miller Hall, originally known as the Home Economics Building, was built in 1939 and formally opened with a ceremony on March 15, 1940. The architect of the building was John Mason Young, a professor of engineering at the University. The building’s contractors were Walker and Olund and the overall cost of the construction was $68,000. In addition to Territorial Funds, federal funds were provided by the Public Works Administration totaling $34,000."

The PWA built an addition to the south wing of the Administration Building in 1936 to accommodate the library, which remained there until 1957 when a new library was built.

The PWA helped construct the University of Idaho's infirmary (docket #709-R), now the Student Health Center, in 1936.

The PWA helped construct the University of Idaho Men's Dormitory, now Archie Phinney Hall, in 1938.

This PWA building was originally the Dental College Building for the University of Illinois - Chicago. It was project #1057. Construction of the Dental Building began in 1935 when the project was proposed and backed by the PWA under Illinois director Carl H. Bauer. The Public Works Administration funded the project with a grant of $366,000 and a 20 year loan of $1,091,000. The University Foundation directed by Glen M. Hobbs awarded the contract to the J.W. Snyder company for $952,610. Other contracts amounting to $370,500 were given to Haughton Elevator and Machine Co (elevators), Divane Brothers (electric wiring), O’Callaghan Brothers...

"The University of Iowa Theatre Building was completed in 1936 during the depths of the Great Depression. How did a public university in Iowa, a state hard-hit by economic collapse and unemployment, ever see fit to build a theatre at such a time? The answers are unique to the time: “New Deal” politics, a surge of pride in regional art and arts, and E.C. Mabie, “the Boss,” who had big plans and the drive to see the plans through... The Federal Theatre Project (FTP), also part of Federal One, was formally announced in Iowa City at the National Theatre Conference in...

The University of Kentucky's Student Center, completed 1937, is one of several buildings on the university's campus constructed during the Great Depression with the help of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) financial assistance. The Student Center has since been expanded.

The PWA, in addition to the WPA, was involved in building the University of Maryland campus. From the United States Community Improvement Appraisal: "The University of Maryland has been the beneficiary of funds furnished by the United States Government through the Public Works Administration in connection with the construction of a new Women's Dormitory and an Arts and Science Building at College Park, the remodeling of a Dairy Manufacturing Building at College Park, and the reconstruction and equipping of tho old University Hospital in Baltimore for use as a Dispensary. Without the financial assistance given by the Federal Government in connection with...

The University of Michigan, like numerous public universities around the country, received substantial financial assistance from federal Public Works Administration (PWA) during the Great Depression. Several buildings were constructed on the university's campus as a result of federal grants, including the Victor Vaughan Dormitory; East and West Quadrangles; Stockwell Hall; Kellogg Institute; and the University Health Service Building. Each of these structures is still in use today.  

The student union at the University of Minnesota, now known as Coffman Memorial Union, was likely a New Deal project (probably PWA), though substantially later than the other New Deal buildings on campus. From contributor Charles Swaney: "I've been impressed with the 'foresight, lucky or not' of these constructions on college campuses that anticipated the huge influx of students after WWII with the GI bill, neither of which were even thought of to any great extent at the time they were built.  They had a profound effect on education and the rebuilding of the economy in the '50s in particular...

Cooke Hall was built in 1934, probably as a PWA project like Pioneer Hall since it predates the WPA.

Pioneer Hall is a co-ed residential hall for first-year students at the University of Minnesota. Originally the Men’s Dormitory, the building features colonial architecture and was built in two shifts, the latter with funding from the Public Works Administration. The south side was completed in 1930 and the north side 1934.

The Eastbridge Faculty and Staff apartments at the University of Mississippi were constructed by the PWA and consisted of eight, 2-bedroom apartments. The building has since been demolished.

Kennon Observatory, one of 39 buildings constructed by the PWA on the campus during the years 1936-1941, was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2011. "Kennon Observatory was constructed in 1939, and once again, R. W. Naef was the architect.  Naef apparently held the reins to all of the New Deal construction on campus during those years."   (https://misspreservation.com/) Dr. William Lee Kennon was "instrumental in securing the funding for Lewis Hall and Kennon Observatory, and conceived the building design (University of Mississippi, Department of Physics and Astronomy history). An adaptation of classicism (J. Baughn, Mississippi Department of Archives and History), the observatory faces due...

Leavell Hall, was initially built as a men's dormitory housing 68 students. It is one of six dormitories constructed on campus with PWA funds during 1938. All six buildings remain and are in current use, or slated for renovation and resumption of use. Leavell was named for Dr. Richard Leavell, professor of philosophy and political economy from 1890-1909. "...conditions in Mississippi were worse than at any time since the Civil War (quoted in Harry Hopkins, 1936, Spending to Save: The Complete Story of Relief). With a state government in bankruptcy, Mississippi welcomed the federal funds that finally began to trickle down...

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 Big Timber Pioneer reported in late 1934 that the Public Works Administration (PWA) approved $181,000 for "improvements and equipment" for what was then known as the Montana Normal College at Dillon. Of that, $100,000 came as a loan and $81,000 as an outright grant. We do not know more about what was done with the federal funding, but we suspect that the Main auditorium was constructed at the time. Mathews Hall and the Business & Technology Building also possibly date to the 1930s. And the project might have included landscaping and paths. More information is needed. Montana...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the Student Union building on the University of Montana campus in 1934 and the building was completed in 1936.  It is now the Fine Arts Building and houses the George & Jane Dennison Theater. According to the National Trust/ Montana Historical Society marker on the building, "Missoula architect C. J. Forbis ushered in a new campus building phase in 1935 with the construction of student union. The building’s placement and modern Art Deco façade broke ranks with the Renaissance Revival style called for in the old Carsley-Gilbert campus master plan. The old...

The Journalism Building on the University of Montana campus in Missoula, now known as Stone Hall, was constructed with Public Works Administration funding in 1936-7.  The three-story brick structure originally housed the Journalism School and the printing press of the student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin, and now is the home of the Department of Geology, the College of Forestry and Conservation and the Central and Southwest Asian Studies Center. According to the Montana Historical Society: "Dean Arthur Stone pitched four tents near the Oval in 1914, thereby founding the University’s School of Journalism. An old bicycle shed and later World War I...

  The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The Zimmerman Library website describes the history of the New Deal structure: "Library collections continued to grow and in 1936 UNM James Fulton Zimmerman secured Public Works Administration funding for campus construction that included $370,000 for a new library building. The impressive facility was designed in the Pueblo Revival Style by John Gaw Meem. Miss Shelton turned the first shovelful of earth at the building site on December 2, 1936 and the new library was opened on April 1, 1938. As before, students, faculty, and...

Multiple New Deal agencies, including the Public Works Administration (P.W.A.), Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.), were involved in dramatically developing and transforming what was then the North Texas State Teacher's College (now University of North Texas - Denton TX) in Denton. Federal assistance was responsible for several new buildings on campus in addition to other infrastructural developments.

The University of Northern Colorado received WPA support for at least two projects: remodeling the library in 1938, and constructing an Art Deco extension for the Student Union (also known as Gray Hall) in 1939.

The Public Works Administration funded the University of Northern Iowa Women's Gymnasium Improvements and Pool Addition in Cedar Falls IA. The building now houses the university's Innovation Teaching and Technology Center. "In August 1935, the Board of Education announced plans for a large remodeling project for the Women's Gymnasium.  The basement would be devoted entirely to dressing rooms.  New floors and fireproof stairs would be installed.  And an addition would be put onto the west side of the building to house a 36 X 90 foot swimming pool, with seating for five hundred spectators.  The pool would be three feet six...

Located on the University of Oregon campus. Work on the ornamental Dads' Gates began in August 1940. They were formally dedicated on February 8, 1941, as part of the 14th annual Dad's Day celebration weekend. The UO Dads Club was the sponsor and underwriter of the project. The Dads Club was a patron-parent organization established in 1927. The concept for the gates began in 1938 and was supported with funding from the Dads Club with additional support from a PWA program. Abbot Lawrence, a UO architecture graduate and son of Ellis Lawrence, created the design that was executed by metal...

"By the mid-1920s, the "Old Libe" (now Fenton Hall) had inadequate space to hold library materials even with its 1916 addition. Library collections were stored in several campus locations, including the second floor of Condon Hall. As a consequence of the Depression, Librarian Matthew Douglass with the strong support of Senator Fred Steiwer as able to obtain funding for a new library as a Public Works Administration project. The cost of the library, approximately $460,000, was paid through US gifts and loans and support from alumni and friends -- no state funds were expended for construction. Construction began on September...

A series of stone barns arranged around a central Colonial Revival building. Designed by Edwin E. Cull, of Providence. Demolished in the early 2000s. The site is now a large parking lot.

A large building, built as a women's dormitory. This was the first major building on campus built of a material that wasn't Westerly Granite, in this case brick. This Federal Revival dormitory was designed by Providence architect Albert Harkness, who would go on to be one of Rhode Island's first modernist architect. The building was named for and dedicated by Eleanor Roosevelt. It is one of the three buildings constructed by the PWA on campus.