111744

Page 179

Street Address: ----~------------------------------Architectl Builder: unknown 4 --- ---....;;.;...---Site No: - - -- - w a: :;, ~ u !:: w J: U a: '" Building Materials: stone Building Type/Style: PWA Moderne Description of physical appearance & significant architectural features: (Include additions, alterations. ancillary structures, and landscaping if applicable) This is a 1-story flat roof building that is constructed in the PWA Moderne style. The composition of the building is symmetrical and there are two wide low relief piers at each end of the principal facade. There is a dentiled frieze under the cornice and a distinctive projecting denti1ed string course just above the level of the window heads. The openings themselves are recessed and plain and there are decorative geometric glazing bars. The walls are coursed ashlar stone. The building remains in excellent condition. 5 Statement of Historical Significance: Construction Oate:1935 Built in 1935, the Jordan School District Administration Building is part of the Public Works Buildings Thematic Resources nomination and is significant because it helps document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah, which was one of the states that the Great Depression of the 1930s most severely affected. In 1933 Utah had an unemployment rate of 36 percent, the fourth highest in the country, and for the period 1932-1940 Utah's unemployment rate averaged 25 percent. Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal programs were extensive in the state. Overall, per capita federal spending in Utah during the 1930s was 9th among the 48 states, and the percentage of workers on federal work projects was far above the national average. Building programs were of great importance. During the 1930s virtually every public building constructed in Utah, including county courthouses, city halls, fire stations, national guard annories, public school buildings, and a variety of others, were built under federal programs by one of several agencies, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the National Youth Administration (NYA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), or the Public Works Administration (PWA), and almost without exception none of the buildings would have been built when they were without the assistance of the federal government. This is one of 233 public works buildings identified in Utah that were built during the 1930s and early 1940s. Only 130 of those 233 buildings are known to remain today and retain their historic integrity. Of those 233, 107 were public school buildings, 55 of which remain. In Salt Lake County 20 bundings were constructed, of which 10 are left and are relatively unaltered. The Jordan School District Administration Building was built in 1935 as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. It was part of a $75,000 PWA project that also included rebuilding the fire-razed Highland Boy Elementary School at Bingham which inc}uded an auditorium.