City Hall - Council Bluffs IA

City:: Council Bluffs, IA
Site Type:: City and Town Halls, Civic Facilities
New Deal Agencies:: Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs
Designer:: J Chris Jensen
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: Unknown
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

Art Deco City Hall built for $340,000 with Works Progress Administration workers in 1939.

The building was designed by architect J. Chris Jensen.

An article published in the Daily Nonpareil in 1939 stated that, “Actual work leading to the construction of the proposed $340,000 city hall at the old Merriam Block site started Monday with 40 WPA men assigned to remove piling from the basement excavation and to pave the way for pile driving equipment […]

J. Chris Jensen, architect, said the pile driving equipment will be moved in on the job within the next few days. Workmen, after taking the 500 pilling from the basement, will start excavating footings for the pile clumps, he said […]

Additional WPA employees will be placed on the job as they are needed, WPA officials said. Peter Tellander has been named superintendent of the project.”