Kearney Sites

Kearney State Teachers College was granted almost $10,000.00 in a WPA grant to improve its athletic facilities. The project was planned to be very “inclusive.” It included improving the current football and athletic field at the college, and leveling and grading the area to the north of the gridiron and practice field, formerly part of the “college farm.” Preliminary surveys called for the moving of much earth, and additional parking space would be among the improvements. Tennis courts and other recreational facilities would also be provided. If costs proved reasonable, the track and bleachers were possible additions to the project. In...

In the early 1930s, the Buffalo County Fair was in dire straits. It went broke and was taken over by the County Farm Bureau, and thence was taken over by the newly formed Buffalo County Fair Board. In 1936, the old grandstand blew down in a storm. It appeared to many that the County Fair was becoming an extinct entity. Plans for a new and improved Buffalo County Fairgrounds were announced in February 1937. Buildings were planned for construction that would total a financial outlay of approximately $25,000.00 and included two horse barns, a double hog shed, two cattle sheds, a...

Kearney made an application for funding for a city hall in 1935, however the bond issue failed and the Public Works Administration (PWA) money was never allocated at that time. In 1938, Kearney was given a grant from the PWA for the construction of a new city hall, however the project would once again have to undergo a bond issue election, which meant that a political campaign was quickly initiated by the proponents of the project. Petitions for the special election were submitted within two weeks of notification of the grant, signatures having been largely obtained by Kearney firemen who...

The oldest portion of the park, the block between 5th and 6th Avenues and 29th and 30th Streets, dates back to August 7, 1876, when it was given to the city by Thomas Perkins and James Harford "for the sole and only purpose of a public park for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of said city," according to the deed. It was later dubbed Third Ward Park, and was so designated for many years. Beautiful trees, grass and flowers, some sidewalks, a couple of drinking fountains and a few benches were all this park could boast in the...

In June 1934, the PWA presented a grant to the Kearney School Board for a $7,000.00 addition to the existing high school. Architect John P. Helleberg was hired to prepare specifications for the project, which would include rearranging the building to provide additional classroom space and a more convenient plan on the second floor. One valuable change to the high school was a new chemistry laboratory that could accommodate thirty students at one time. The existing large assembly hall was repurposed as a library and study hall. New bathrooms and lockers were also provided. The project cost approximately $24,000.00, with...

Construction of the concrete “stadium” at the Kearney High School athletic field on West 21st Street was designed primarily to provide dressing rooms for the high school athletes, but also provides seating for a large number of sports fans. It was built on the north side of the track, and measured 76 by 37 feet in size, costing $15,500.00. The stadium and locker room building was in its final stages of construction in December 1938, and Kearneyites were excited that their students would, for the first time, have the benefit of modern, convenient sports facilities. Plans for the stadium were prepared...

In May 1938, a storage yard and highway shed was under construction on 33rd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Utilizing Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor, the building and completed site was estimated to cost $8000. One and one quarter acres of ground were fenced with six-foot wire mesh on steel posts set in concrete. A patrol shed, measuring 56 by 40 feet, with three large stalls for maintainer machines and trucks was built on the site. A repair shop and office space were located in the building as well. Factory-made steel trusses and columns were used in the construction....

In November 1937, the State Board of Control decided to proceed with construction of a new men’s hospital building at the State Tuberculosis Hospital in Kearney. The building was estimated to cost $125,000.00, the bulk of which would be funded out of the unicameral’s “building fund” for state institutions. Officials were hopeful that they building could be completed by the fall of 1938. John Latenser and Sons, Omaha architects, were selected to prepare the plans for the building. The Latensers had experience in designing hospitals, including the University Hospital, the Douglas County Hospital, Clarkson Hospital, Lord Lister Hospital, Clearview Home...

A Public Work Administration (PWA) grant was given to the Kearney School Board for the erection of Kenwood Elementary School, announced in late June, 1934. Architects McClure and Walker submitted plans and specifications to the PWA engineer’s office in Omaha for approval, for which the engineer was allotted thirty days, and then the request for bids had to be published for thirty additional days before a bidder could be hired. The School Board was looking at a September 1st date for selection of bidders if all went according to plan. Still, the architects were convinced that the Kenwood School could...

In September 1935, the Kearney City Council voted unanimously to approve plans drawn by Hugh McClure for an addition to the library. The plans, together with an application for Public Works Administration (PWA) funds, were then forwarded to Lincoln for possible approval. To promote the project, the Chamber of Commerce hosted an evening of speakers to educate members of the Chamber on all of the New Deal projects that were being applied for at the time. John G. Lowe, a long-time member of the library board spoke for the library expansion project. Lowe stated that additional space was badly needed,...

In 1937, architects McClure and Walker of Kearney were hired to draw plans for a new men’s dormitory on the campus of the Kearney State Teachers College. Planned to house 120 to 140 men, the brick building was planned to be three stories tall, 155 feet long and 77 feet wide. In addition to a large cafeteria and dining hall, which would make up one arm of the first floor of the U-shaped building, the building would include between 60 and 72 sleeping rooms, most of them doubles. A large reception room on the first floor and smaller living rooms...

An economic account of Kearney is given in The Kearney Daily Hub paper of November 19, 1935, reporting facts disclosed at a joint Buffalo County Board and Kearney City Council meeting. Board Chairperson Martin Slattery reported that “There were nearly five thousand persons on relief in Buffalo County last year, practically as many as the combined populations of Ravenna, Shelton, Gibbon, Elm Creek, and all other towns in the county outside Kearney.” Chairman of the County Board’s poor committee, Gene Loomis reported that there were then “about 150 non-employable cases on relief, as well as about 175 employable but jobless...

The first rehabilitation farm project to be established in Nebraska, and among the first in the country, was established at Kearney. Fifty-seven acres of land were purchased by the Rural Rehabilitation program. The land lay just north of the north line of East Lawn and east of the branch line tracks. Eight homesteads of about seven acres each were established on this track, and work subdividing the land, erecting fencing, homes and other improvements began in the summer of 1934. Under provisions of the act regulating the rehabilitation farmsteads, tenant families assigned to the homesteads would rent the property for...

In March 1935, nearly one hundred Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) workers started work at Cottonmill Lake, located west of Kearney. Primarily, they were involved in widening and improving the driveway around the lake. The shovel crews were widening the roadway, cutting away the sharp turns, reducing the steep grades, and surfacing the roadway with gravel. The Buffalo County Sportmans’ League underwrote the project by supplying all the gravel and covering the costs of hauling it in. In this way, the FERA funding could be reserved for labor alone. The first “survey” of the road was made very simply: Arnold...

At approximately the same time that the State Board of Control was considering the construction of a new Men’s Hospital, a need for a new heating plant was also being considered. Architect John P. Helleberg, of Kearney, completed plans for the power plant and boiler room, which when equipped would cost $40,000.00, 45% of which was to be paid for through a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant. In addition, a series of heat tunnels would be dug to move steam from one building to another, as well as new wells, an extension to the water system, the storm sewer system,...