Brandon Auditorium and Fire Hall

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Brandon Auditorium and Fire Hall

| nrhp_type =

|image=Brandon Auditorium and City Hall restored.jpg

| caption =

| location= 105 Holmes Avenue, Brandon, Minnesota

| coordinates = {{coord|45|57|52|N|95|35|52|W|source:NRIS2013a|name=Brandon Auditorium and Fire Hall|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin =Minnesota

| built = 1935-36

| architect = F. Boes Pfeifer

|builder=Works Progress Administration

| added = August 29, 1985

| area = less than one acre

| refnum = 85001928{{NRISref|version=2013a}}

}}

{{Infobox museum

| name = Brandon History Center

| logo = File:Brandon_History_Center_Logo.png

| logo_upright = 0.8

| image = File:Brandon Auditorium & Fire Hall.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Building in 2013

| alt =

| map_type =

| map_relief =

| map_size =

| map_caption =

| map_dot_label =

| coordinates =

| established = {{Start date|2006|df=y}}

| location = 105 Holmes Avenue, Brandon, Minnesota

| type = Local History

| accreditation =

| executive_director =

| website = [https://brandonhistorycenter.org/ brandonhistorycenter.org]

}}

The Brandon Auditorium and Fire Hall, on Holmes Ave. in Brandon, Minnesota, is a historic fire station and other facility. It has also been known as the Brandon Auditorium and City Hall. It was built as a Works Progress Administration project during 1935–36. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

It is a unique municipal hall. It has been described as Minnesota's most creative WPA construction project and a symbol of its dual success in generating jobs and public buildings.{{cite journal |last=Granger |first=Susan |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination: Brandon Auditorium and Fire Hall / Brandon Auditorium and City Hall |url=http://nrhp.mnhs.org/nomination/85001928.pdf |publisher=National Park Service |date=July 1984 |accessdate=2014-02-05 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

It was designed by Minneapolis architect F. Boes Pfeifer to serve as a combination gymnasium/auditorium, fire hall, and village office. It had a {{convert|27|ft|m}} stage, and a balcony with a movie projection booth. The Brandon Auditorium was completed in 1936 and formally dedicated in October of that year with a crowd of 5,000 in attendance.

Current use and restoration

The building is still used for many purposes today, and serves as home to the Brandon History Center. The two-stall fire engine garage has been no longer operational since the 1970s.{{cite web |author=Susan Granger |date=July 1984 |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Brandon Auditorium and Fire Hall / Brandon Auditorium and City Hall |url={{NRHP url|id=85001928}} |accessdate=October 29, 2018 |publisher=National Park Service}} With {{NRHP url|id=85001928|photos=y|title=accompanying seven photos from 1983 and c.1936}} By the 2000s the building needed both upgrading and significant restoration work. New windows had been added in 1991. Restoration work began in 2008 and included a new heating and air conditioning system, replacement of exterior doors with historically accurate ones, tuck pointing and waterproofing the exterior walls, masonry cleaning and stabilizing, chimney repair, and railing repair. {{Cite news |date=Fall 2010 |title=Phase I of Auditorium Restoration Completed |url=https://brandonhistorycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2010-Fall.pdf |access-date=March 9, 2023 |work=The Center Piece}}

WPA artworks

The building features several WPA Federal Art Projects including a cast concrete relief sculpture of a male athlete and a musician flanking a stylized tree watching guard over the main entrance and two large wooden relief carvings frame the auditorium stage by artist Joseph Bergman. Artist Elsa Laubach Jemne created a large mural painting originally for the city council room. The mural is now on display in the building's auditorium. Elsa was commissioned to do several new deal mural projects around Minnesota and three of her works are in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. {{Cite web |date=March 5, 2012 |title=Brandon Auditorium |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpzUqjGxswY |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=LakesCountryTV, YouTube}} {{Cite web |title=Elsa Jemne {{!}} Smithsonian American Art Museum |url=https://americanart.si.edu/artist/elsa-jemne-2449 |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=americanart.si.edu |language=en}} {{Cite web |last=Betterman |first=Hilda |date=2018-09-22 |title=The artist behind historic Brandon mural |url=https://www.voiceofalexandria.com/everything_else/features/the-artist-behind-historic-brandon-mural/article_239ef4a8-be61-11e8-8257-2f672344d0ba.html |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=Voice of Alexandria |language=en}}

Gallery Restoration work

File:Brandon Auditorium and Fire Hall restoration - doors.jpg|Addition of period doors

File:Brandon Auditorium and City Hall restoration-06.jpg|Waterproofing work on foundation

File:Brandon City Hall restoration-04.jpg|Tuck pointing work on exterior

File:Brandon City Hall restoration-02.jpg|Installation of entryway doors

Brandon Auditorium and Fire Hall

Current use and restoration

WPA artworks

Gallery Restoration work

References

See also