Santa Fe, New Mexico: 23 June 2019: The
New Mexico Supreme Court
Building, 237 Don Gaspar Avenue, architect Gordon Street. Opened on
August 9, 1937, "the new building was constructed as a
Public Works
Administration project, one of many such public buildings that emerged
as a result of New Deal efforts in New Mexico. Typical of many of those
buildings, the Supreme Court Building incorporated a range of stylistic
elements associated with the region's architectural styles. One of the first
public buildings to employ details specifically ascribed to the Territorial
Revival style, it played a pioneering role in defining an architectural
vocabulary that has characterized much of New Mexico's public architecture
for the past six decades ... [the building] cost $306,000 to construct, of
which $171,000 was a loan made to the Supreme Court Building Commission by
the PWA and $135,000 a grant from the PWA ... Over the decades, the Supreme
Court Building has come to be appreciated not only for the legal traditions
it represents but also for its significance as a part of the New Deal's
legacy in New Mexico. The justices of the Supreme Court, the Building
Commission, and the Chief Clerk are proud of the heritage the building
conveys and are committed to preserving it."[1]
References
- New
Mexico Supreme Court Building, National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, #01001468, 3 December 2001: "Viewed from the Don
Caspar Avenue Bridge, the front elevation of the building framed by a ring
of conifers conveys a sense of scale, setting and composition characteristic
of many of the public landscape and architectural projects carried out by
the New Deal in New Mexico. The New Mexico Supreme Court Building was
constructed as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project (5544-R) between
1935 and 1937. Typical of many of the projects undertaken by New Deal
programs in New Mexico, the design of the building embodies a number of
elements associated with the Territorial Revival style for which the
building set a precedent in the state's public architecture. Typical also of
the larger PWA construction projects, the building employs a range of modern
construction materials and techniques."
- 50
Communities Benefit from PWA Costing Nearly 18 Million Dollars,
Albuquerque Journal, 12 September 1937, p.4: "...Santa Fe –
Supreme Court building $306,000.00..."
- C.W. Short and R. Stanley-Brown, Public Buildings: A Survey of
Architecture of Projects Constructed by Federal and Other Governmental
Bodies Between the Years 1933 and 1939 with the Assistance of the Public
Works Administration. Washington DC, Government Printing Office (1939),
p.64. "The new building ... is a semifireproof structure provided with a
sprinkler system. The floors are concrete on steel joists, sash are steel,
and exterior walls are brick covered with cream-colored stucco. Copings and
window sills are brick. It was completed in August 1937 at a construction
cost of $282.443 and a project cost of $316,233."
-
Supreme Court Building Information, New Mexico Courts website,
accessed 15 July 2019.
- New
Mexico Supreme Court Building photo gallery, National Park Service
NPGallery Digital Asset Management System, accessed 15 July 2019.