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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Z Page 1 Walker Field Shelterhouse St. Joseph County IN NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION Walker Field lies on the southwest side of South Bend, the seat of St. Joseph County. Directly north of and contiguous with Rum Village Park, the recreational area is on the north side of Ewing Street between Walnut and Webster streets, taking up a large city block. It contains playing fields and playground equipment, allowing Rum Village Park to remain a heavily wooded "natural" area used for hiking and picnicking. The shelterhouse (photos 1,2,3), which contains restrooms and storage rooms, stands at the south end of Walker Field. The shelterhouse is split -rock masonry inside and out, using the fieldstone that is abundant in the county. The stones, which are mostly granite, are close -fitted with narrow mortar joints, and the concrete trim is formed in such a way as to strongly resemble limestone. The foundation is concrete and the roof is covered in asphalt shingles. An inscribed limestone tablet on the east side of the building identifies it as a product of the Federal Works Progress Administration (photo 4). A stone chimney (see photos 1,3), capped with concrete, is near the east end of the gabled roof. Overall, the structure is T-shaped, with an east -west oriented gabled building facing Ewing Avenue with three segmental arched openings, with a northward roofless extension that surrounds a large wading pool. On each side (east and west) of this extension are five segmental arched openings (see photos 2,5), matching the openings on the south main facade and the north rear of the building. The pool area itself is roofless; the west and east walls with the arched openings are each topped with a gabled roof supported by knee braces (photos 5,6), giving the impression of a clerestory. The north end of each wall is marked with a substantial stone abutment capped with a concrete parapet (see photo 5). The north end of the pool area (photo 6) is enclosed with a low wall, at the center of which is a larger stone -and -concrete abutment with a blank tablet in the center facing the pool. There is no indication that there was ever any inscription in this space, although it does contain a geometric pattern. Beneath the blank tablet is set a concrete -capped bench, lower than the wall. The wading pool, which has not been used for many years, is