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NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION STAFF REPORT PROPERTY— Walker Field Shelterhouse 1305 Ewing Avenue South Bend, Indiana OWNER— South Bend Parks & Recreation, Phil St. Clair, Supt. STANDARDS The nomination proposes to list this resource in the New Deal Work Relief Projects in Saint Joseph County, Indiana Multiple Property Listing as a property "associated with New Deal work projects related to parks and recreation (1933-1942)." The nomination also proposes placement of this resource under the above thematic listing based on National Register Criteria A: Event and C: Design/Construction. Under these criteria, a property retains significance through its "association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history," and its "[embodiment of] the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction." The New Deal Work Relief Projects in St. Joseph County, Indiana Multiple Property Listing Registration Requirements for New Deal resources related to parks and recreation further guides the review of the Walker Field Shelterhouse nomination. The Registration Requirements note that "besides possessing significance, to be listed in the National Register [this resource] must meet criteria based on the seven aspects of integrity — location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, association, feeling — as described in NPS Bulletin 15, How to Aoolv the National Reeister Criteria for Evaluation." RECOMMENDATION The resource meets criterion A; it is associated with one of the wide sweeping New Deal Programs, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the development of public recreation facilities in the 1930s. It meets criterion C as an example of a structure designed and constructed by the WPA. Per the Registration Requirements, the Walker Field Shelterhouse remains in its original location adjacent to the Walker Field baseball diamond and original setting in a recreation facility. The design, materials, and workmanship of the shelterhouse are all characteristic of the buildings and structures produced by the New Deal Work Relief Programs in the last 1930s, specifically those related to parks and recreation. The structure retains its original open -aired wading pool, granite facades, and concrete architectural details. Because of the presence of the above five components of the shelterhouse's integrity, the building has retained a great deal of the feeling of and association to the 1930s and the New Deal work relief projects. The building also meets the Registration Requirements for park related resources. HPC Staff favorably recommends the nomination of the Walker Field Shelterhouse to the National Register of Historic Places under the New Deal Work Relief Projects in St. Joseph County Multiple Property Listing. Staff also recommends that the Commission send a favorable recommendation to the Mayor of South Bend and to the State Historic Preservation Office.