Kanab Heritage Museum - Kanab UT

City:: Kanab, UT
Site Type:: Education and Health, Libraries, Museums
New Deal Agencies:: Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs
Started:: 1939
Completed:: 1940
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The historic public library, now Kanab Heritage Museum, in Kanab, Utah was constructed by the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) between 1939 and 1940.

“The library is one of 226 buildings constructed in Utah under the WPA and is important in documenting the impact of New Deal programs in the state. …
Although the Kanab Library was founded in 1915, it was not at first housed in a permanent structure but was rather moved around to various temporary accommodations. In 1938, an $8,000 bond election was approved to build a permanent library, and plans drawn by the architect Carson F. Wells were acquired from the city of Salina, which had just constructed a library, The Kanab Library is basically identical to the Salina building and combines features of both the Prairie School and Art Deco styles. Wells’s design combines a symmetrical facade with abstract geometrical embellishments which tones down the rigidly formal appearance of the building.” (Historical Marker Project)

This building, which is also on the National Historic Registry, is currently under renovation.