- City:
- Mt. Pleasant, MI
- Site Type:
- Education and Health, Colleges and Universities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Public Works Administration (PWA)
- Started:
- 1938
- Completed:
- 1939
- Designer:
- C. William Palmer
Description
Powers Hall / Keeler Union on the campus of Central Michigan University was constructed during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $119,250 grant. Construction occurred between October 1938 and 1939.
“Powers Hall, which now houses the history department, has undergone several major changes since it was first built as the combination student union and first men’s residence hall on campus. Although the outside looks nearly the same, the inside would be completely unrecognizable to its original inhabitants. …
The building was funded through a Public Works Administration Grant, one of the programs of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. The architect was C. William Palmer of Detroit. The cornerstone was laid in February 1939. Cornerstones usually contain materials relating to the period in which the building is built. For some reason, among typical items like newspapers and school material, this cornerstone included a bottle filled with wheat, corn, and barley.” (cmich.edu)
(PWA Docket No. NY [X]1573)
Source notes
National Archives: Record Group 135: Public Works Administration; Projects Control Division; Entry 52: Indices to Non-Federal Projects; Report No. 5: Status of All Completed Non-Federal Allotted Projects, page 62. www.cmich.eduSite originally submitted by Evan Kalish on November 28, 2014.
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