- State:
- WASHINGTON-DC
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Tennis Courts, Lodges, Ranger Stations and Visitor Centers, Swimming Pools, Athletic Courts and Fields, Landscaping and Tree Planting
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs, Civil Works Administration (CWA)
- Started:
- 1933
- Completed:
- 1936
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
Takoma Recreation Center is a large public recreational facility in Washington D.C., containing buildings, swimming pool, tennis courts and other facilities. New Deal agencies did extensive work on the site, 1933-36, as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program assisted by the Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
The WPA alone undertook a million dollar program of improvements to district parks in 1935-36.
The work at Takoma Recreation Center included: “Swimming pools and field house constructed; baseball diamonds, athletic fields graded and equipment installed; landscaping and lawn area at field house constructed; parking areas constructed” (Washington Daily News).
These facilities all appear to still be in place, though probably renovated over the years; it is uncertain what parts of the New Deal work remain.
A 1937 Washington Star article reported that the WPA would be constructing a pergola at the recreation center swimming pool. The status of this project is unknown.
Source notes
National Archives, Record Group 69, Records of the Work Projects Administration, “Newspaper clippings file, 1935-1942.”
“New Deal Projects Aid Many Park Developments in Capital,” Washington Daily News, July 23, 1936.
National Archives, Record Group 69, Records of the Work Projects Administration, “Newspaper clippings file, 1935-1942.”
“600 Relief Workers To Get Park Places,” Washington Star, May 23, 1937.
Site originally submitted by Brent McKee - wpatoday.org on June 7, 2013.
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The Takoma Pool House, like Banneker, began as a Civil Works Administration Project, but was completed by subsequent New Deal agencies.