Auditoriums and Arenas Sites

Originally constructed as the Cass County Agricultural Society Auditorium, Weeping Water's striking city hall and library building was constructed with a $40,000 Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant. Construction was completed in 1938, though the building was not formally dedicated until Aug. 1940. The Bouncing Czech: "The auditorium served the fair and the community until a new fairgrounds was built north of Weeping Water in 1967. The building was then sold to a travel trailer and camper dealer. The dealership closed in the early 2000's and the building was left to deteriorate. It was renovated and is again used as a community...

The city hall auditorium in Salem was constructed in 1940 as a PWA project, designed by architect Ernest Friton. This 3-story building includes office space and a city auditorium, and is presently in use.

The Helper Civic Auditorium was built with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding in 1937.  It is an outstanding example of New Deal public architecture and still the finest building to grace Helper, a small coal mining town in central Utah (there is a giant sculpture of a coal miner next to the building to remind everyone of the town's origins). A National Register of Historic Places plaque at the site says this: “Built in 1937, the Helper Civic Auditorium was designed by Salt Lake City architects Carl W. Scott and George W. Welch. The building is an excellent example of the Art...

Originally built as the city's Civic Auditorium and Armory. It was built with assistance from the PWA in 1938-1940. It now houses the Administrative Offices and Athletics Office of Kingsport Parks and Recreation: "Planning began in the autumn of 1938 during the mayoralty of W.L. Holyoke, ground was broken on 22 December, and the dedication occurred on 9 March 1940. With a seating capacity of 2,032 in the auditorium and with areas for the exclusive use of the 191st Field Artillery of the Tennessee National Guard, the building owed its existence to $125,000 from the city and a grant of $97,510...

Now a part of McCaw Hall, Seattle's old Municipal Auditorium was drastically improved by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). "McCaw Hall is the latest incarnation of what was once Seattle's Civic Auditorium (1928), which was then gutted and rebuilt as the Seattle Center Opera House for the World's Fair in 1962." (historylink.org) A WPA press release from Jan. 1938 reported: "Modernizing of the Seattle Civic Auditorium and Ice Arena by WPA workers will begin January 21 with the aid of $21,539 in Federal funds, it was announced today by Don G. Abel, state Works Progress Administrator. One of the important features of...

Originally constructed as the Neosho Auditorium and City Hall, this is now known as "The Civic." It was built by the WPA in 1938. Like the nearby Newton County Courthouse, the civic center was constructed out of Carthage Stone in an Art Deco style. It was extensively renovated in 2008, but the Art Deco elements were preserved.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA) constructed the historic Potsdam civic center. NRHP nomination form: "The Potsdam Civic Center shares salient associations with Depression-era New Deal programs and politics, particularly as manifested in the process that led to its construction. It is representative of local community planning efforts by those who endeavored to build it, and remains an important social history document given its use for a wide range of social gatherings since its completion in the mid-1930s. The building is additionally significant as an example of Neoclassical-style civic design, and one which incorporated an existing...

The Art Deco civic center and armory was Public Works Administration (PWA) project W1206. Designed by Edgar Lucian Malvaney, it was approved 10/24/1036 and completed 11/10/1937. The PWA allotted a grant of $51,226 toward the completion cost of $110,575. A bond sale was held to raise funds for the city's share of the project. The building was demolished in 1975.

The Clarksdale Civic Auditorium was designed by Jackson architect E. L. Malvaney and built as a WPA project in 1939. The auditorium is a 1500 seating capacity designed in the Art Moderne style. A rear addition for the National Guard Armory was added in 1944. The walls are "poured concrete" and the front facade includes a bas relief "above a ribbon of 2/2 horizontal awning metal windows (Wright, Baughn, & Gatline, 2009). The two front entrances (one at each end of the building) are on canted walls, have rounded corners and fluted columns typical of Art Moderne. A band of glass...

In 1939 the Federal Works Progress Administration completed construction of this community building. Both the Waymarking site for this building and the Oklahoma Historic Preservation Survey make note of the architectural style of the building which is unique among WPA buildings. This WPA construction project provided employment for unemployed workers in the area and has remained a centerpiece of the city, hosting dances, concerts, wrestling matches, and other entertainment activities over the years. It now serves as the home of the American Legion.  

The federal Public Works Administration provided funds for the construction of a community building in Hartsville, South Carolina during the mid-1930s. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Wikipedia: "The Center Theater in Hartsville, South Carolina is a theater located at 212 N Fifth St. The theater was built in 1936 using money from the federal Works Progress Administration, a component of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal agency. The theater contains 867 seats, almost 200 of which are in the balcony. The building has historically been known as "Building A" or the "Community Center Theater", as it was...

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in an El Paso Times article from June 7, 1936 was "Exposition Building site, $25,903.67"—Exposition Building being another term for what is now the County Coliseum, which was completed in 1942.

Originally built by the WPA in 1942 as a group of Arvin county office buildings, the adobe complex is now a business incubator and retail complex. A local newspaper of the time had this to say: "Another large project reaching completion this month is the county office building in Arvin, This group of buildings, including a sizable auditorium, will afford the citizens of that community with a central location for the efficient conduct of county business." - Dart The building has had some remodeling recently.

The enormous Cow Palace—or, more formally, the Livestock Exhibition Building—was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds.  It was completed in early 1938 at a cost of $701,648. It lies just south of the San Francisco city/county line in what was long rural land, before the suburb of Daly City exploded in size in the 1940s and 1950s. The Cow Palace is approximately 250 by 130 feet is size and the steel truss roof soars 110 feet above the ground.   The arena accommodates 12,000 spectators.   The building is constructed of reinforced concrete. The roof is held up by cantilever...

"The Deerwood Auditorium is a community center in Deerwood, Minnesota, United States, built as a Works Progress Administration project. The auditorium, built in 1935, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a rare surviving example of federal relief architecture in Minnesota. ...The town first received funding for the auditorium in 1935 through the State Emergency Relief Administration, but the SERA's function was later subsumed by the Works Progress Administration. ...Despite shortages of money during the construction, the building was substantially completed in time for its first event, a lutefisk supper held on October 29, 1936. Final touches were completed in...

Douglass Auditorium is a two-story native stone building in Duncan, Oklahoma that was constructed by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936. It faces east and has five distinct bays, separated by projected stone pilasters with heavy stone caps. On the upper wall of the center bay is a stone panel which reads "19 DOUGLASS 36 / AUDITORIUM". Lower on that wall is an embedded bronze WPA shield showing the year 1936. A community center is located in the adjacent school and we believe this auditorium is used as part of that operation.

Emporia, Virginia's historic National Guard armory building was constructed with federal funds and labor. The building, presently owned by Greensville County, also served as a school gymnasium. It has housed operations for the local chapter of the Boys & Girls Club of America since the late 1990s. Local sources state that the armory was constructed in 1936 by the Army Corps of Engineers and was "built to last." According to a National Register of Historic Places registration form: "The Emporia Armory ... is located at the northernmost edge of the historic district. ... This building is 11 bays wide and is two...

The large Eureka Municipal Auditorium was built with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1935-36.  While it retains the old name, etched in bas-relief above the entrance, the building now appears to be used as a gymnasium for youth basketball (2023). The building's design is Classical Moderne, with Art Deco touches.  The classical element is given by the two-story entrance with its 4 full and 2 half-columns (all fluted) and wide stairway.  Flanking the entrance are full-length, recessed vertical bas-reliefs in  abstract Art Deco style.  Two similar bas-relief columns appear on each side of the building.  The effect of...

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in a Abilene Daily Reporter article from June 14, 1936 was "Repairs on a girls' dormitory and finishing of an auditorium and recreation building Ranger, at a total cost of $1659. Twenty men were employed for two months." The location and status of these facilities is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Skowhegan State Fair is “The Nations Oldest Consecutively Running Agricultural Fair” Celebrating 197 Years. During the Great Depression, various public works projects were initiated in town, including the construction of a grandstand for the racetrack. According to the Independent Reporter, "The Grandstand project which includes the construction of a ticket office and other improvements calls for four carpenters and two laborers. The amount appropriated in ERA funds is $891" A later article reports "The carpenter-foreman at the Fairgrounds is Ralph Buxton. At the time a crew is engaged in building a ticket office as part of the new grandstand equipment. "The Grandstand,...

Fair Park was expanded by New Deal agencies WPA, CCC, and PWA in 1936. The Dallas City Commission is considering to privatize Fair Park in 2018.

The old Fargo Arena was a short-lived recreation facility. Located at Island Park, it has been largely dismantled, though its shell remains. The facility was constructed in the northwest corner of the park, near the park's present-day pool. A 1939 WPA plaque is visible on the old shell today. "The arena was a W.P.A. project built in 193. The original structure was dismantled and reassembled at Hector Airport in December 1943, where it served as an airplane hanger. The concrete front of the building was preserved at the original location."

This PWA building is the "large arena" just off Cameron St. in the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center. "The new arena is of sufficient size to accommodate all livestock judging, with several classes being judged at the same time. The building is 346 by 230 feet in plan and the arena is 240 by 120 feet, with semicircular ends. The permanent seating, which rises in an unbroken ring around the arena, accommodates 8,250. The arena itself, when the hall is being used for conventions, seats 4,250 in temporary seats, thus providing a maximum capacity of 12,500. When the hall...

The Public Works Administration W1183 funded constructing for new buildings and improvements for five Hinds County schools in 1938-1939. Forest Hill School used funds to construct a vocational building, auditorium, gymnasium, and home for the vocational teacher. They used a $24,000 bond issue to supplement the PWA funding for a loan of 151,986 toward estimated cost of all 5 schools of $337,746, approved 6/22/1938. Bids were advertised October 1938; first contract awarded 11/10/38; construction began 11/14/1938; and was completed 12/4/1939 for a total of 322,153. The school was demolished in 1987.

When President Roosevelt authorized the Works Progress Administration construction of the Fort Peck Dam in 1933, the “instant” town with a population of 10,000 created a need for social and recreational diversions in this remote area of Montana. The Army Corps of Engineers designed and constructed this theatre in less than nine months at a cost of nearly $90,000. The theatre opened November 16, 1934, as a movie house. Seating capacity was 1,200 and continuous showings ran twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week during the construction of the Fort Peck Dam. Patrons sometimes braved lines as long as...

Fort Wootton in Trinidad, Colorado "is a giant war memorial that takes up about half a city block. It was once described as the most complete war memorial in the nation. Nine veterans’ groups teamed up with the WPA to have it built in 1936-7. It has an auditorium and meeting spaces inside." Fort Wootton was from its "inception a veterans' gathering place evocative of their military training and posts, somewhat patterned after the regional historic site Bent's Fort. Further, and fortunately, in 2018 the county deeded the property to the Las Animas County Veterans' Council, an organization now seeking to...

  'The building is approximately 170 by 236 feet in over-all dimensions. The auditorium is 100 by 140 feet and is provided with a stage, 35 by 100 feet, and a gallery around three sides. A large foyer, committee rooms, and the necessary services are included in the facilities. The construction is reinforced concrete designed to resist seismic disturbances, and the exterior finish is in concrete. The project was completed in December 1936 at a construction cost of $406,292 and a project cost of $517,903.' - C.W. Short and R. Stanley Brown This Monumental Moderne building with Art Deco details was built by...

The Fresno Bee of 10/6/38 reported that Fresnos first New Deal art project was an 8x12 feet historical wall map for the Fresno County Historical Society in the Fresno Memorial Auditorium. Current status to be determined.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Gadsden Municipal Amphitheater in 1935. Built from locally sourced stone, the facility was designed by Alabama architect Paul W. Hofferbert. The WPA cost was $17,316.00. The structure is still in service today and was renamed Mort Glosser Amphitheater. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Works Progress Administration built the City Hall and the Auditorium building in Gatesville, between 1935 and 1937.

This structure was originally built as the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium in 1907-09. It was thoroughly renovated with WPA assistance in 1938 and given a new facade in 1943. The building was sold to Georgia State University in 1979, and now serves as the school's Alumni Hall, also known as Dahlberg Hall.

Constructed by the WPA under projects 3635, 6994, 7706 and 9392 in 1938. When constructed it was called the Verdugo Municipal Recreation Center and was sponsored by the city of Glendale. "This project, costing a total of $736,422 of which $650,731 was supplied by the Federal Government, consisted of the construction of an auditorium containing 560,000 cubic feet with facilities for plays, concerts, conventions, dances and other public gatherings. A 50 meter swimming pool of the modern cloverleaf design, and conforming to intercollegiate and international specifications, was built together with a reinforced concrete grandstand. A connecting bathhouse containing 160,00 cubic feet...

The Works Progress Administration built the Glouster Stadium for Trimble High School in 1940. According to the Athens Messenger, as of August 2017, the Glouster Stadium was deemed structurally unsafe and closed. The future of the stadium is uncertain, but the Trimble Facilities Improvement Committee is exploring fundraising efforts in an attempt to retrofit and save the structure.

From the Minnesota Historical Society: "The Clarence W. Wigington Pavilion, formerly known as the Harriet Island Pavilion, is significant in St. Paul’s recreational history as a well-preserved example of the work of Clarence Wesley Wigington, the first black architect hired by the city. Harriet Island, originally named for St. Paul’s first schoolteacher, Harriet E. Bishop, became an enclave for healthy living in the bustling city of St. Paul in 1900. Dr. Justus Ohage, St. Paul’s health officer, bought the island and built a new park there, complete with public bathhouse and beach, playgrounds, handball and tennis courts, cafeteria, bandstand, pavilions, zoo, childcare...

Between 1938 and 1939 the Works Progress Administration built a combination auditorium and gymnasium in Millersview, Texas under official project number 665-66-2-352. The building had a concrete foundation and buttresses with stone walls and brick trim.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) did painting and reconditioning work on the former Oakland Civic Auditorium c. 1936. (Further confirmation is needed) Kaiser Convention Center is a city-owned, multi-purpose arena that included a 5,550-seat arena, a large theater, and a ballroom.  The Beaux-Arts style landmark,  built in 1914, was designed by Pittsburgh architect Henry Hornbostel, designer of Oakland’s City Hall, and a local associate John J. Donovan. It was renamed in honor of Henry J. Kaiser, Oakland's greatest industrialist, after a 1984 renovation. The facility has seen many events over the years, such as speeches by Presidents  Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton....

"This structure is in reality a community center and provides for athletics and for social and educational activities. The arena, which is approximately 100 by 200 feet, is surrounded by bleacher seats. There are rooms for the American Legion and the Ladies' Auxiliary, lounges, billiard and card rooms, and administrative offices. A large curling rink approximately 130 by 200 feet has a small gallery for spectators, a curlers' clubroom, lobby, and locker room. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete and the exterior walls are faced with light-colored brick. The roof of the arena is arched...

According to the Federal Writers Project "Stadium built by WPA workers at Middleport High School is one of 80 stadiums either completed or under construction by WPA workers over the state." The second high school was built in 1936, but it is unknown if it was also a WPA project. The Middleport High School in Middleport, Ohio relocated in the 1990s and the building was reused for the Middleport Middle School until closed in 2003.

This building was designed by architectural firm Bonsack and Pearce and constructed by the Public Works Administration for the Jackson Grade School in 1939. Although it is not apparent from the outside, the addition that was initially built for the grade school has been seamlessly absorbed by the adjacent and expanding Jackson High School. While the building has been updated with lighting and projection capabilities, it retains many original elements. The original exterior is visible on the north side of the addition. The original features of the auditorium and the wall tile in the adjacent surrounding halls have been retained. The...

The Anson High School Auditorium was built in 1936 at a cost of $30,000, 45% of which was furnished by the Public Works Administration. The auditorium officially opened on December 31, 1936. It was demolished in 1997 to make room for the current auditorium complex, which also houses a band hall and offices.