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STORY SPACE UNINTERRUPTED. BUILT WITH WPA FUNDS AND LABOR. HUBER A GERMAN AND THE ARCHITECT OF FORMER PARK STRUCTURE. UNUSUAL PAVILION STRUCTURE W/DOMED ROOF FORMED BY 16 ADJACENT ARCHES ON OCTAGONAL PLAN.
In the 1930s, the depletion of the hardwood forests, drought, and general economic depression brought hard times to the Northwoods. The Town of Jacobs appealed for federal aid, but even the influx of almost 600 young men with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)--which planted trees, cleaned out streams, cut new roads, and erected bridges--did not revive the community. Luckily, a local man became superintendent of Ashland County’s Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal agency, and the town secured construction funds for a pavilion in Marion Park. Unlike the CCC, which brought in young men from outside the area, the WPA created jobs for local unemployed residents. WPA projects thus provided the community with greater immediate economic assistance and became symbols of pride for the participants.
To design the Marion Park Pavilion, completed in 1939, the WPA hired local carpenters Huber and Kasin. Their octagonal plan with a domed roof provided a large unobstructed space for dancing and roller-skating. To create it, they engineered a series of sixteen bowstring trusses, which reach from the top of the walls to the peak of the roof. These three-dimensional arches consist of a top chord running along the curve of the roof, a bottom chord stretching between each end of the top chord, and vertical and diagonal braces. Wooden knee braces, collar ties, and rafters provide stability and rigidity to this light framing system. To resist the outward thrust of each arch, steel rods extend across the room, tying the bottom end of each truss to the one opposite. Concrete piers frame the side walls, which are sheathed in wooden shiplap siding, divided by a continuous window sill. Bands of tall, narrow multipaned windows provide natural lighting, and double-doors pierce every other wall. Inside, a hardwood floor, a nearly continuous bench along the walls, and a stage for musicians created an ideal space for community dances, skating, and other gatherings.
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Marion Park
81000032
Located in Town of Jacobs, Ashland County
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208941
Located in Cudahy, Milwaukee County
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25936
Located in Gibraltar, Door County
S5975 Park Road, DEVIL'S LAKE STATE PARK
91111
Located in Baraboo, Sauk County
