Part of the Ala Moana Park complex, the Sports Pavilion and Banyan Court were designed by architect Harry Sims Bent and built with the help of federal funds and FERA and CWA labor. “The simple concrete exterior walls of the… read more
The New Deal had a large impact on Maynard’s Alumni Field. In 1933 the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) surfaced the running track, built a concrete foundation for bleachers, graded a field next to the highway, and surfaced tennis courts. The… read more
The Works Progress Administration built tennis courts and completed landscaping at the American School in American Fork, Alpine School District. Docket # 2799-R (Utah).
In 1935-6 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed clay tennis courts at Framingham’s Anna Murphy Playground; removed the remnants of a stone wall; and installed a wire mesh fence.
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers worked to develop an athletic field in Brookfield, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Swish of tennis tackets, the bite of spiked running shoes, and the smart crack of ash wood meeting hoorsehide will soon sound… read more
Avalon Park was one of the last projects of the WPA that was approved by Harry Hopkins and Controller General J.R. McCarl in 1935 and was an example during the Great Depression of how the government was interested in giving… read more
“The landscape was planned and supervised by Phillip Wyman, a landscape architect from Milwaukee in the 1930’s. This park holds an important geographical position in the visual landscape of the city. Badger Park is an 81/2 acre park, developed in… read more
In November 1935, the Works Progress Administration authorized $8243.00 for the construction and improvements at a new two acre playground, which would become Bailey Park. The improvements included two tennis courts, a baseball diamond, wading pool, light, water and sewer… read more
New York City’s Parks Department website states: “During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) and the Works Progress Administration constructed recreational facilities in the park, including a boat landing, several playgrounds, tennis and handball courts, baseball… read more
During the 1930s, Banneker Recreation Area was developed as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program undertaken by the Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Notably, the CWA was… read more
Between 1938 and 1941, with funding assistance from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Seattle Park Department completed several improvement projects at Beacon Hill Playground. In the first of these projects, WPA workers re-painted the playground shelter house in 1938…. read more
Parks first constructed a playground at the intersection of 182nd St. and Belmont Ave. in 1937. A press release from July of that year announced the opening of “five playgrounds, constructed by the Department of Parks with relief labor and… read more
The bulk of present day Bensonhurst Park was first established in 1895. Two further parcels were added later. In 1942, the WPA completed major work on the park: “The Department of Parks announces the completion of work in connection with… read more
Braithwaite Park is “a 32-acre WPA-built recreation area containing picnic grounds, a bathing beach, tennis courts, a baseball diamond, and a dance pavilion.” The park, with different amenities, is still in use today.
Researcher Frank da Cruz has gathered research from a variety of sources here to conclude that the New Deal had some role in the development of the Trojan Courts area of the east side of Bronx Park: This area includes… read more
The WPA made extensive improvements to Brush School, Santa Rosa, California, under Official Project Number 65-3-364. The work to the one-room school house included building stone retaining walls, a playground and a presumed tennis court (Goddard, 1976: 72-74). Though now… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a field house (recreation hall) and athletic courts at the Cabrillo Playground in San Francisco, CA. The exact date of this work is unknown to us. “Constructed field house for district recreation headquarters;… read more
“Besides constructing the amphitheater, workers from the Great Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) also helped drain the ravine which Cain Park is situated in, covering up and culverting the creek that ran through its center. Attractive landscaping, tennis courts, ball… read more
Mott, North Dakota’s Central Park, is located “between 3rd and 4th Sts. Its recreation facilities were built as an FERA project.” Tennis courts were suggested as being among the facilities.
Charles R. Adams Park is a 32-acre public city park located in southwest Atlanta, Georgia. The park is surrounded by the neighborhood of Cascade Heights. Construction of the park began in the mid-1930s, and the dedication ceremony took place in… read more
Multiple New Deal agencies collaborated in the development of Pueblo’s City Park (and one of its primary components, the Pueblo Zoo). Stunning stone facilities and walls throughout the park are still in good condition. There are at least two WPA… read more
The 17-acre Claremont Park in the Bronx was extensively renovated and improved in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration. The renovated park opened on December 7, 1940. A press release from opening day describes WPA work in the park: “This… read more
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) built tennis and handball courts at Codornices Park – most of which lies on the east side of Euclid Road and is accessed via a pedestrian tunnel from the ball courts, which are on the west… read more
In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) converted Ross Field, a World War balloon training school for more than 3,500 military personnel located in Arcadia, CA, into a public park. They constructed a golf course, swimming pool, and tennis courts…. read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed three tennis courts at what was known as Cookerow Park / playground in Boonton, New Jersey. The exact location or status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) conducted multiple work projects at Crowe Park in Maynard, Massachusetts in 1934, including removing rocks and stumps; grading land for parking space; painting its grandstands; and constructing tennis courts. In 1935 F.E.R.A. labor “erected… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the Davie Tennis Stadium in 1936-37 with an allocation of $65,000. WPA relief workers built five tennis courts, with lights for night play and bleachers for viewing, plus a community center in rustic style… read more
The Works Progress Administration constructed Mobile’s Davis Avenue Community Center. The center opened in 1936 and it included facilities such as tennis courts and a pool. Today, the facility is known as the Davis Avenue Recreation Center. The center holds historical significance for… read more
“When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt used landscape and park projects to provide relief and hope for America. The second great period of park building occurred during this ten year period when the CWA and… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the impressive Recreation Area in Dimond Park at the foot of the Sausal Creek canyon in East Oakland in 1936. In late 1935, the WPA approved $38,000 in grants for this project out of… read more
Dyker Beach Park, located just south of the Dyker Beach Golf Course and north of the Belt Parkway was assembled in eight stages between 1895 and 1934. In 1942, the WPA and the Department of Parks completed extensive work on… read more
East Potomac Park rests on an artificial peninsula created with dredge spoils from the Potomac River by the Corps of Engineers. The park opened to the public in 1912 and was largely developed in the 1920s. The Civilian Conservation Corps… read more
During the 1930s, Edgewood Playground, as it was then known, was upgraded as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program undertaken by the Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Elijah Perry Park (then called “South Camden Park”) in Camden, New Jersey. Among the amenities were a “spacious bath house … swimming pool, 200 feet by 78 feet; [a] wading pool amid a playground… read more
In 1939-40, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made substantial improvements to Ellis Lake Park, which was originally designed by landscape architect John McLaren in 1924 on an old slough of the Yuba River. It is not clear how much of… read more
As part of a grant to the Pueblo before it became the City of Los Angeles, Elysian Park is the oldest and second largest park in Los Angeles at 600 acres. A section of the park Montecillo De Leo Politi… read more
The Works Progress Administration built tennis courts, an ice rink, and a shelter house for the School in Enosburg.
“Farnam Park is located at 1305 7th Street South. The City purchased lots from John A. Salzer Seed Company in 1938 to build tennis courts with WPA labor. This is a neighborhood park of .34 acres where people can recreate… read more
The WPA did extensive landscaping in the park in 1936, including redoing the tennis courts and surrounding retaining walls.
