Ketchikan Federal Building
Locals refer to the building as the "Big Pink."
Description
The first federal courthouse in Ketchikan was opened in 1905. By 1913, a federal grand jury requested the government build a new facility. In 1923, a report found the 1905 courthouse “dilapidated beyond reasonable repair and overcrowded past endurance.” Finally, a decade later, relief came to Ketchikan in the form of the Work Projects Administration.
An initial appropriation of $300,000 was allotted for the project with a supplemental appropriation of $100,000 to cover the $350,000 cost of the building. The plain, box-like exterior, flat roof and lack of ornamentation identify the Federal Building as International Style architecture. The building also represents a regional construction type and style known within Federal organizations as New Deal Concrete.
The building currently houses offices for the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Alaska, the U.S. General Services Administration and the U.S. Forest Service. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 28, 2006.
-
-
Ketchikan Federal Building Cornerstone
Source notes
https://www.sitnews.us/Kiffer/FederalBuilding/061406_federal_building.html https://www.gsa.gov/portal/ext/html/site/hb/category/25431/actionParameter/exploreByBuilding/buildingId/834
Project originally submitted by Larry Moore on July 18, 2014.
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal project site.
SUBMIT MORE INFORMATION OR PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THIS SITE