- City:
- South Bend, IN
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Lodges, Ranger Stations and Visitor Centers, Picnic and Other Facilities, Landscaping and Tree Planting, Shops and Auxiliary Buildings
- New Deal Agencies:
- National Youth Administration (NYA), Work Relief Programs
- Started:
- 1939
- Quality of Information:
- Good
- Marked:
- Unknown
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The National Youth Administration (NYA) pursued improvements at South Bend’s Kennedy Park in 1939. The park was known as Bendix Park during the New Deal.
“Plans for beautifying Bendix Park are being completed by the board of park commissioners of South Bend, Ind.,” a reporter noted in April 1939. “The board hopes to transform the bare land into one of the City’s beauty spots by next summer. The park will be landscaped around the NYA building, which is being financed jointly by the NYA and the park department as a city recreation center. Plans for landscaping include an experimental garden in which shrubs and trees, never before grown in local parks, will be planted.”
The park has been renovated several times since the NYA’s efforts. As of 2006, the NYA workshop building – built by NYA teams in 1939 – was still extant.
Source notes
“Beautification Project at South Bend,” Parks & Recreation, April 1939.
Glory-June Greiff, “New Deal Work Relief Projects in St. Joseph County, Indiana,” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. August 23, 2005. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/2a42a949-d661-43c0-b6c6-73de72ccdf76
Site originally submitted by Gray Brechin on June 9, 2022.
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
Join the Conversation