Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania: Tennis Courts – Bloomsburg PA

Description

Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Tennis Courts at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in Bloomsburg PA.

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, then known as the Bloomsburg State Teachers College, benefited during the Great Depression from a large construction project enabled by the PWA. The agency provided a $184,604 grant for the project, whose final cost was $584,097. Construction occurred between January 1938 and July 1939. (PWA Docket No. [W]1866.)

Four buildings were constructed on the campus, including a gymnasium and shop/storage building. The present status of these structures is unknown to Living New Deal.

According to the Bloomsburg University Archives, “A set of tennis courts once stood on the site now occupied by Sutliff Hall and the Hartline Science Center. The University’s tennis teams used them for matches and practices, and they were also open for general student recreation.  The courts were originally graded in the spring of 1935 as a government relief program during the Depression, at the same time as the athletic field.  The one set closest to Centennial Gym was removed when construction began on Sutliff Hall in 1958, and the others when work began on the Hartline Science Center in 1967.”