- City:
- Norwalk, CT
- Site Type:
- Schools, Education and Health
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding
- Started:
- 1935
- Completed:
- 1937
- Quality of Information:
- Good
- Site Survival:
- No Longer Extant
Description
Originally constructed as a high school, what is now Norwalk’s Benjamin Franklin Middle School was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. contributed a $407,676 grant for the project, whose total cost was $909,689. Primary construction occurred between Dec. 1935 and Nov. 1937. The building also houses examples of New Deal artwork installed soon after the building’s completion.
P.W.A. Docket No. CT [W]1128
This school has closed and it is now the Crystal Theatre.
Arrangements to see the murals can be made by calling the
Crystal Theatre at 203-847-4850.
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 2.
Phone calls to the Norwalk School District and Historical Society on June 13, 2018.
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on May 8, 2017.
Additional contributions by Hans Johnson, July 2018.
At this Location:
Site Details
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal SiteOne comment on “Benjamin Franklin Middle School (former) – Norwalk CT”
Join the Conversation
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Don Burr
Would like to see the murals in Franklin Jr, High auditorium walls context. Made a big impression on a 12/13 yr old from Columbus elementary school.