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

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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-
The Development of Modern Architecture in Raleigh 1945-1965 41story Modernist building with ribbon windows. This is now a state government officebuilding. The YMCA, 1601 Hillsborough Street, was a 1960 Modernist building designedby Leif Valand, with wide areas of casement windows, a vertical stair tower accentbeside the entrance, and brise-soleil metal awnings across the rear. It was demolishedduring the survey.SignificanceCivic buildings carry the utmost significance of any property type because of theirfunction as a carrier of the governmental image. They are potentially significant underCriterion C for architecture and Criterion A for government. With the construction of thestartlingly modern state fair arena in 1950, Raleigh’s local government may have beenencouraged to utilize modern design in its own buildings. Some of its fire houses weredesigned by local architects. The 1960 town hall (Municipal Building) is an InternationalStyle design, although of representative significance. To have significance, however, thebuilding needs to be a substantial building with a symbolic value. In certain cases, aminor government building such as a fire station may have significance in the areas ofarchitecture or government. Civic buildings that are less than fifty years old may haveexceptional significance. The N. C. Legislative Building has exceptional architecturalsignificance as the work of a master and exceptional governmental significance as theembodiement of a revolutionary concept of legislative spaces encased in an environmentof interior courtyards and rooftop gardens.Registration RequirementsTo be eligible for the National Register, a civic building must not only possess the higharchitectural distinction, as explained above, but must have retained excellent integrity.Interior alterations are acceptable so long as the principal public spaces remainsubstantially intact. For example, changes have been made to the Senate Chamber in theLegislative Building, but the rest of this large and extremely important building isremarkably unaltered.Civic Buildings Placed on the Study List for the National Register:N. C. Legislative Building. 100 blk W. Jones Street. 1962-63, Edward Durell Stone,Holloway & Reeves.
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