- City:
- Rapid City, SD
- Site Type:
- Schools, Education and Health
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1937
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The former Rapid City High School at 601 Columbus St., which dates to 1923, received a New Deal addition in the form of “the central and west sections in 1936-37.” The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied a $158,727 grant for the project, whose total cost was $379,347. The city also passed a $194,000 bond issue on November 12, 1935 for the project. Construction took place between Feb. 1936 and Apr. 1937. The building is presently home to the Performing Arts Center of Rapid City.
NRHP Nomination Form: “Construction of the Rapid City High School exemplified the purpose of the PWA program. The PWA funds helped to employ dozens of local workers and to purchase as many local materials for construction as possible. A plaque hanging in the entry vestibule of the school indicates that this was Project No. 1117-R of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works.”
Source notes
National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/d9aa6eec-4637-4ae8-9e30-8710ff81f0f9 (accessed Jul. 2025)
"Rapid City Schools," by Dr. Sarah Gross, https://rcpsfoundation.org/100-years-of-rapid-city-public-schools-community-project/ (page 10; accessed Jul. 2025)
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on July 20, 2025.
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