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  • Sewer Outfall Extensions - Washington DC
    According to the Washington Post, $220,500 was allotted by the Public Works Administration (PWA) for an outfall sewer extension in 1933.   According to DC Water, there are 53 sewer outfalls in the District, so the location of the work cannot be known based on this source alone. This work was part of a massive New Deal era program to upgrade the sewers of Washington DC, separate sanitary and storm sewer systems, and install sewage treatment at Blue Plains.   The outfalls referred to here would today be storm sewers not sanitary sewers.
  • Piney Branch Relief Sewer - Washington DC
    In 1933, the Public Works Administration allotted $400,000 for the construction of the Piney Branch Relief Sewer, a storm sewer running from Arkansas and Iowa avenues NW to 5th and Ingraham streets NW, for a distance of 4,600 feet. A contract for the work, in the amount of $326,020, was awarded to the M.A. Cardo Engineering Corporation of New York City. (Washington Post, June 28 and Sept. 1, 1933) In its June 28, 1933 edition, the Evening Star explained that the Piney Branch Relief Sewer was “needed to prevent floods during heavy rainstorms at Fifth and Ingraham streets and to prevent sewer...
  • Northeast Boundary Sewer Extension - Washington DC
    On August 22, 1933, Public Works Administration (PWA) chief Harold Ickes announced a grant of $1,759,500 for various DC sewer projects. These included an extension of the Northeast Boundary Sewer “intended to eliminate a pollution nuisance in Kingman Lake in Anacostia Park” (Evening Star, 1933). The following March, a contract of $589,000 was awarded to Michael Bell Balso, Inc., to extend the sewer “from Twenty-first and A streets NE to the Anacostia River, south of Kingman Lake” (Evening Star, 1934). The extension was completed sometime in 1935.  The trajectory appears to lie beneath parts of the RFK sports complex west of...
  • Bellevue Magazine: Buildings and Roadway - Washington DC
    In 1940, the Washington Post reported allocation of funding to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for improvements to naval facilities in the city's southeast quadrant: "A group of 685 men working on an additional ammunition depot and buildings for the United States Naval Research Laboratory at Bellevue, a naval torpedo station in Alexandria, Va., and storage facilities at the Navy Yard proper for ordnance and improvement of all utility facilities. Cost, $400,000." In 1942, the Washington Post reported on cuts to WPA funding that were affecting military projects, but noted roadway improvements and new building construction at the Bellevue Magazine naval facility...
  • Dalecarlia Pumping Station Addition - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Federal Works Agency (FWA) paid for the installation of a ten-million-gallon-daily pump to improve the performance of the Dalecarlia Pumping Station.  The pump project cost about $16,200 .  The work was most likely done by the Army Corps of Engineers, which had previously upgraded the Dalecarlia reservoir and pumping station. Later that year, the Washington Post reported approval of funding for "... more than 2 ½ miles of 54 inch water main for filtered water from the Dalecarlia Pumping Station to a connection with the gravity system near the south end of the Georgetown Reservoir and approximately ¼ mile of...
  • Wisconsin Avenue NW Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1935-36, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to the stretch of Wisconsin Avenue NW, between Massachusetts Avenue and River Road, in the Cathedral Heights and Tenleytown neighborhoods. “The concrete roadway of Wisconsin Avenue NW., from Massachusetts Avenue to River Road, was covered with asphaltic surface as a salvaging project and it is expected that this treatment will prolong the life of the pavement for many years.” This project was of a nearly $1 million WPA  program to upgrade and repave districts streets fiscal year 1936. This WPA roadwork is probably not discernible today due to subsequent road maintenance, repairs and alterations.
  • Anacostia Park: Swimming Pool - Washington DC
    In 1936, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided $69,036 for the construction of a swimming pool in Anacostia Park (about $1.3 million in 2020 dollars). The pool was built by the BZ Contracting Company of New York and completed in early 1937. It was reported that, “The new pool will accommodate about 500 swimmers” (Evening Star, January 24, 1937). In 1949, Anacostia Pool was the scene of fighting when black youths attempted to use the facility, which was formally not segregated but, in practice, used exclusively by whites. A pro-segregation group was irritated when white members of the “Young Progressives” handed...
  • New York Avenue Playground Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1936, the Washington Post reported that Works Progress Administration (WPA)  crews had done work on the New York Avenue Playground.  This would have been part of a  nearly $1 million WPA program of park and playground improvements in 1935-36. It is unclear whether the existing field house dates to this period, but it shares a general form with other New Deal playgrounds in the area. In 2012, the playground and recreation center were renovated.
  • Raymond Recreation Center and Playground Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1936, the Washington Post reported that Works Progress Administration (WPA)  crews had done unspecified work at the Raymond Recreation Center, which was likely constructing the playground. This work was part of a  nearly $1 million WPA program of park and playground improvements in 1935-36. In 2013, the playground was renovated again; the image shows this construction underway.
  • Theodore Roosevelt High School Repairs - Washington DC
    There is evidence that Civil Works Administration (CWA) workers were hired to do painting on Theodore Roosevelt High School in fm 1933-1934. The school itself was built from 1930-1932, before the New Deal. Also at the site are two recently discovered Nathan Rosenberg murals that are currently being restored.
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