States Ballroom

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States Ballroom
Bee, Nebraska States Ballroom from SE 1.JPG
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LocationOff Nebraska Highway 15, Bee, Nebraska
Coordinates 41°00′24″N97°03′31″W / 41.00667°N 97.05861°W / 41.00667; -97.05861 (States Ballroom) Coordinates: 41°00′24″N97°03′31″W / 41.00667°N 97.05861°W / 41.00667; -97.05861 (States Ballroom)
Arealess than one acre
Built1938 (1938)-40
ArchitectSobotka, Vladimir
Architectural styleModerne
NRHP reference # 81000375 [1]
Added to NRHPOctober 14, 1981

The States Ballroom is a historic community building in Bee, Nebraska. Originally built as a dance hall, the building opened in 1939 as a Works Progress Administration project. Bee architect Vladimir Sobotka designed the twelve-sided building, which incorporates Moderne features. The building is a defining landmark for Bee and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bee, Nebraska Village in Nebraska, United States

Bee is a village in Seward County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lincoln, Nebraska Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 191 at the 2010 census.

Nebraska U.S. state in the United States

Nebraska is a state that lies in both the Great Plains and the Midwestern United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwest; and Wyoming to the west. It is the only triply landlocked U.S. state.

Works Progress Administration United States federal New Deal agency charged with creating work in the 1930s and 1940s

The Works Progress Administration was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of job-seekers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. It was established on May 6, 1935, by Executive Order 7034. In a much smaller project, Federal Project Number One, the WPA employed musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors in large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. The four projects dedicated to these were: the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP), the Historical Records Survey (HRS), the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), the Federal Music Project (FMP), and the Federal Art Project (FAP). In the Historical Records Survey, for instance, many former slaves in the South were interviewed; these documents are of great importance for American history. Theater and music groups toured throughout America, and gave more than 225,000 performances. Archaeological investigations under the WPA were influential in the rediscovery of pre-Columbian Native American cultures, and the development of professional archaeology in the US.

Contents

History

Work on the ballroom began in 1938 using funds from the Works Progress Administration. By the following year, the building was ready to open, although its interior was not finished. Its grand opening in May 1939 sold 2000 tickets, ten times Bee's population, and earned the village enough money to complete the interior. After construction was officially complete, the village dedicated the building in 1940. Nebraska Governor Robert LeRoy Cochran and other public figures spoke at the dedication ceremony, which also featured a baseball game, concerts, and a dance in the finished ballroom. [2]

While it was only meant to be a ballroom at first, the building soon became host to a great variety of public events in Bee. Concerts, plays, weddings, and estate sales have all been held in the building. The local junior high school plays its basketball games in the ballroom; its dome-like appearance has led opposing teams to call it the Bee Astrodome. [3] In keeping with its original purpose, the village also holds an annual barn dance in the ballroom. Due to its unusual shape and local importance for the small village, the ballroom has become a defining landmark for Bee. [2] The ballroom was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 1981. [2]

Barn dance kind of dance involving traditional or folk music

A barn dance is any kind of dance involving traditional or folk music with traditional dancing, occasionally held in a barn, but, these days, much more likely to be in any suitable building.

The ballroom is featured in Jon Bois' multimedia fictional work 17776 . After randomly picking the region on a globe and discovering the story of the ballroom's construction, Bois added it to prove "that you can't go far in this world without running into a story." [4]

Jon Bois is a sports writer and video producer who is currently employed as the creative director at SB Nation. Bois is known for his speculative fiction works on sports, such as 17776 and "The Tim Tebow CFL Chronicles," as well as his documentary video series including "Pretty Good" and "Chart Party."

<i>17776</i> Serialized speculative fiction multimedia narrative

17776, also known as What Football Will Look Like in the Future, is a serialized speculative fiction multimedia narrative by Jon Bois published online through SB Nation. Set in the distant future, the series follows three space probes that have gained sentience and watch humanity play an evolved form of American football, in which games can be played for millennia over distances of thousands of miles. The series debuted on July 5, 2017, and new chapters were published daily until the series concluded ten days later with its twenty-fifth chapter on July 15.

Design

Architect Vladimir Sobotka, a Bee resident, designed and built the ballroom. Sobotka's design for the building was a vernacular plan that incorporated Moderne elements. The building is twelve-sided with concrete walls and a domed roof. As it was originally meant to primarily host ballroom dances, the building's many sides allowed for a wooden dance floor on which dancers could always follow the wood's grain. The ballroom's concrete exterior is inlaid with patterns of horizontal and vertical lines, giving the building its Moderne appearance without extensive formal styling. Upon his retirement in 1981, Sobotka called the building his "pride and joy." [2]

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References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. 2013-11-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Murphy, D.; Gilkerson, Joni (August 1981). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: States Ballroom". National Park Service . Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  3. Pesek, Cara (June 17, 2006). "Landmarks: Unique ballroom puts Bee on the map". Lincoln Journal Star . Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  4. Bois, John (July 24, 2017). "17776: Questions and answers". SB Nation . Retrieved September 14, 2019.