- City:
- Kingsport, TN
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, Parks and Recreation, Military and Public Safety, Auditoriums and Arenas, Armories
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Public Works Administration (PWA)
- Started:
- 1938
- Completed:
- 1940
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
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 from the Public Works Administration. Kingsport architect Allen N. Dryden, Sr., executed the arched-dome design, reportedly the only one of its kind in Tennessee and one of only three in the South at the time.” (Wolfe)
Source notes
Wolfe, Margaret Ripley. 2015. Kingsport, Tennessee: A Planned American City. University Press of Kentucky. https://www.kingsportparksandrecreation.org/civicauditorium/civicauditorium.htmContribute to this Site
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