Virginia Recreation Building | |
 The Virginia Recreation Building viewed from the southeast | |
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| Location | 301–307 S. 1st Street, Virginia, Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 47°31′21″N92°32′8″W / 47.52250°N 92.53556°W |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1923 |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 82004711 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | February 4, 1982 |
The Virginia Recreation Building is a former community center in Virginia, Minnesota, United States, that was later converted into a factory. It was designed by architect Frederick German [2] and built in 1923 as an ice hockey and curling rink to provide a public venue for physical development to the working class men largely employed in Iron Range mines. A generation later, as the gender balance of the city's population evened out, the building was converted into a shirt factory in 1947 to create jobs for women. [3] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for its state-level significance in the themes of industry and social history. [4] It was nominated for encapsulating the social welfare of the Progressive Era and the robust public spending funded by the mining boom, and the transition to a more gender-balanced population and need to diversify the economy. [3]
The St. Louis County government acquired the building in 2003 and repurposed it as the Northland Office Center. As of 2018 they are planning to demolish the building to construct a modern government service center. [5]
