The Development of Modernism in Raleigh 1945-1965 - Triangle ...

The Development of Modern Architecture in Raleigh 1945-1965 40Eligible houses of worship must retain a high degree of integrity, inside and out, ofdesign, workmanship, and materials in order to be eligible for the National Register. Theadditions of educational wings to the side or rear do not ruin integrity if they are ofcompatible scale and design.Houses of Worship Placed on the Study List for the National Register:White Memorial Presbyterian Church. 1704 Oberlin Rd. 1951Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. 2723 Clark Ave. 1959St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. Leif Valand, 1956Civic BuildingsDescriptionThe construction between 1950 and 1952 of the audacious Dorton Arena at the N. C.State Fairgrounds in Raleigh can be said to have introduced modern architecture to thecity. Designed by internationally known architect Matthew Nowicki while in the employof William H. Deitrick and carried through by Deitrick after Nowicki’s death, thegigantic steel and concrete parabolic-arched building with its saddle-shaped roof hungbetween the two arches became an instant icon of Raleigh’s progressive atmosphere.Now a National Civil Engineering Landmark, Dorton Arena is without a doubt the mostarchitecturally significant civic building in Raleigh from the postwar era. The secondmost significant civic building is the 1963 Legislative Building, 100 block W. JonesStreet, designed by Edward Durrell Stone, with Holloway and Reeves as supportingarchitects and Richard Bell as landscape architect. Its classicized modernism is familiarfrom Stone’s famous 1950s American Embassy in New Delhi, India. The LegislativeBuilding has broad two-story peripteral colonnades around the perimeter and a series offive pyramidal roofs that open out to series of rooftop garden terraces. White marble andfiligreed metal screens add to the exotic Asian look of the building.Distinctly less significant architecturally are city services buildings, such as theMunicipal Building, 110 S. McDowell Street, 1960; and a number of fire stationsconstructed from ca. 1949 to the late 1960s. The Municipal Building is a four-storyInternational Style structure with a flat roof and a ground story covered in dark blueglassed brick that is recessed behind six piloti on each elevation. Raleigh Fire Station Six,2601 Fairview Road, built in 1949, was designed by William Deitrick and Associates in asleek, plain brick Modernist style, with three truck bays across the front and an upperstory with bands of metal casement windows. Fire Station Three, 11 S. East Street, builtin 1951, is a two-bay wide two-story brick building with a similar pared-down Modernistfeel. The Central Fire Station on Nash Square, designed by F. Carter Williams and builtin 1953, is a similar two-story plain brick building with three truck bays across the frontand an upper story with ribbon windows.Two “Y” buildings, of a civic nature although not owned by the government, wereconstructed in Raleigh during the era. The YWCA, 217 W. Jones Street, 1953, is a four-