- City:
- El Monte, CA
- Site Type:
- Community Centers, Education and Health, Civic Facilities, Libraries
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs
- Completed:
- 1937
- Contractor:
- Farrell and Miller
- Quality of Information:
- Good
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
In 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a community center and adjoining public library (today’s Historical Museum) in El Monte, CA. The adobe-style structures were built of reinforced concrete and stucco.
The community center originally housed city offices, meeting rooms for clubs and organizations, a pair of auditoriums with capacities of 250 and 600, as well as a large kitchen and several kitchenettes. Today, the community center houses administrative offices and meeting rooms available for public use.
According to his daughter, JoAnn Ells Ebele, El Monte’s Depression-era City Engineer Joseph C. Ells traveled to Washington, D.C., to secure the approval of several city projects—including the community building, library, and a sewer line and sewer plant—that he would go on to supervise.
Source notes
Donald H. Connolly and G. I. Farman, Report of Accomplishments of the Operations Division, Works Progress Administration: Southern California, Jan. 1, 1939.
Site originally submitted by JoAnn Ells Ebele on July 13, 2010.
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