Salina Municipal Building and Library

History

According to the Utah State Historical Society’s 1986 National Register application, the Salina Municipal Building and Library is one of 232 structures built in Utah during the 1930s and early 1940s through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Of those, only 133 remain and are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Just 22 of these buildings originally served as city or town halls—Salina’s is one of only 19 still standing. In Sevier County, nine WPA buildings were constructed; this is one of five that have survived.

Constructed between 1936 and 1937 for approximately $18,400, the building replaced Salina’s original city hall, which had stood since 1897. The local newspaper at the time noted that the older structure “lacks modernized equipment and style,” while the new facility promised to be “modern in every particular.” The design called for a one-and-a-half-story brick building featuring library rooms, council chambers, and city offices on the upper level. The basement included a public meeting space and a small, discreetly located city jail. The contractor, M.W. Brienholt of Venice, Utah, won the bid for construction at $18,407.34, with nearly half of the funding provided by the WPA in cash, materials, and labor.

Beyond its role as a library and town hall, the building also served as the administrative headquarters for WPA Zone Five, which oversaw federal relief programs across six counties in south-central Utah. These operations were housed in the building’s spacious basement, which was described at the time as offering "ample space" for managing New Deal projects.

The Salina Municipal Building and Library is part of the Public Works Buildings Thematic Resource nomination and is a testament to the New Deal’s transformative impact on Utah. The state was among the hardest hit during the Great Depression. In 1933, Utah’s unemployment rate reached a staggering 36 percent—the fourth highest in the nation—and from 1932 to 1940, the state averaged an unemployment rate of 25 percent.

Federal relief programs were not only necessary—they were prolific. Utah ranked ninth among the 48 states in per capita federal spending during the 1930s, and the proportion of Utahns employed in federal work projects exceeded the national average. Public building construction became a hallmark of this era. Virtually every government structure built in Utah during the 1930s—including courthouses, city halls, fire stations, armories, and schools—was funded through federal programs such as the CWA, FERA, NYA, WPA, or PWA.

The Salina Municipal Building and Library is a rare, intact example of this legacy—a symbol of community resilience, federal investment, and architectural continuity during one of the most challenging periods in American history.