- City:
- Blacksburg, VA
- Site Type:
- Colleges and Universities, Education and Health, Military and Public Safety, Gymnasiums, Armories
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1936
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Armory, now part of the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, was originally constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project in 1936. The PWA supplied an $18,000 grant for the then-National Guard armory, whose total cost was $42,544. Primary construction began in January and was completed in December 1936. The project is sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), including on a historic information board outside the building’s entrance. Once it had fulfilled its original purpose the facility served as an auditorium for what was then the nearby Blacksburg High School. Per VT.edu, the Armory was also “a former community gymnasium.” The structure presently houses the School of Visual Arts.
PWA Docket No. VA 1128
Source notes
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 120.
https://www.vt.edu/about/locations/buildings/armory.html (accessed Mar. 30, 2023)
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on July 13, 2022.
At this Location:
- Virginia Tech Development - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Military Building - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Airport Expansion - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: East Campbell Hall - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Owens Hall - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Seitz Hall - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Agnew Hall - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Hutcheson Hall - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Smyth Hall - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Commerce Hall (demolished) Remodeling - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Burruss Hall - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Squires Student Center - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Graduate Life Center - Blacksburg VA
- Virginia Tech: Eggleston Hall - Blacksburg VA
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Lynn Schnurr
I lived in Main Eggleston 1972-74! It was a great dorm with pretty spacious rooms. I loved being on the first floor with a view of the Drillfield. It was a great location for getting to my classes! Go Hokies!