Ballentine Park Improvements – Norfolk VA

City:
Norfolk, VA

Site Type:
Parks and Recreation, Gardens and Nurseries, Landscaping and Tree Planting

New Deal Agency:
Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Started:
1937

Completed:
1937

Quality of Information:
Good

Marked:
Unknown

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded and provided labor for an improvement and beautification program in Norfolk’s Ballentine Park in 1937.

The WPA allocated $12, 836 for the project with the city adding an additional $4,884. “The project call[ed] for the extension of drains, building of a culvert, excavation for a lake, the grading and building of walkways and the planting of shrubs and trees.”

The efforts of WPA work crews resulted in a beautiful park that shared property with the old Ballentine School. In recent years, the vacant school building was demolished and replaced by new townhouses and lofts. Nonetheless, the park “has remained a centerpiece of the neighborhood, visually as well as socially.”

Source notes

“Beautification Program for Norfolk Parks,” Parks & Recreation. July 1937.

“Ballentine Place Historic District,” Living Places: U.S. Neighborhoods, Towns, Counties and Homes. https://www.livingplaces.com/VA/Independent_Cities/Norfolk_City/Ballentine_Place_Historic_District.html

Site originally submitted by Gray Brechin on March 18, 2022.

Location Info


2415 Ballentine Blvd.
Norfolk, VA 23509

Coordinates: 36.86492, -76.25139

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