States Ballroom

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.

States Ballroom
States Ballroom is located in Nebraska
States Ballroom
States Ballroom is located in the United States
States Ballroom
LocationOff Nebraska Highway 15, Bee, Nebraska
Coordinates41°00′24″N 97°03′31″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1938 (1938)-40
ArchitectSobotka, Vladimir
Architectural styleModerne
NRHP reference No.81000375[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 14, 1981

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]

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]

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]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. 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, Jon (July 24, 2017). "17776: Questions and answers". SB Nation. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
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