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C H A P T E R 9 THE U.S. MARINE HOSPITAL AT CARVILLE AND OTHER FEDERAL PROJECTS The projects reviewed thus far have all been what the Public Works Administration (PWA) called ‘‘nonfederal’’ projects. They were initiated at the state and local levels. Communities decided what facilities they needed, hired their own architects and engineers to design them, and, if the proposals were approved by the PWA, employed local contractors and laborers to build them. But nonfederal projects were only a part of the PWA’s responsibility. It also had ‘‘federal’’ projects. Federal projects were carried out by other agencies of the federal government that needed to construct and maintain facilities but couldn’t finance them out of their current regular budgets. The Treasury Department needed new post offices. The Commerce Department needed beacons and radios to guide airplanes carrying people and freight across the country. The Agriculture Department had research facilities studying crop production , soil conservation, insect control, and drug safety that needed maintenance and improvement. The Interior Department had to maintain national parks, historic sites, and military cemeteries. The U.S. Coast Guard, a division of the Treasury Department, needed boats and airplanes to patrol coastal waters and rescue imperiled ships. The War Department was repairing and expanding bases and airfields as the prospect of war grew. The PWA aided all of them. It even built aircraft carriers, destroyers, and fighter planes for the navy.1 One of the carriers, the USS Yorktown, was sunk at the battle of Midway after playing a key role in the sinking of four Japanese fleet carriers. In deciding what federal projects to fund, the PWA had a running start. The Employment Stabilization Act of 1931, at the end of the Hoover 129 130 PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE administration, created a Stabilization Board, which in June 1932 asked government agencies to prepare plans for construction and repair projects for the next six years. Seventy agencies replied.2 What a second Hoover administration might have done with this list will never be known. The Roosevelt administration gave it to the PWA, which proceeded to build. The short-lived Civil Works Administration also contributed to the PWA’s federal agenda. When this wide-ranging work relief program was terminated in the spring of 1934, many projects were left uncompleted. Among them were many airport projects. These included 537 airfields begun but still needing work, 404 sites where land had been purchased for fields but work had not begun on them, and 488 existing fields that remained torn up when the money ran out before repairs could be completed . Apparently, the PWA supplied materials to complete them, and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration supplied the labor.3 We may never know the full extent of the PWA federal projects because the files have been mostly lost.4 It might be possible to trace them on an agency-by-agency basis, but that would be a daunting task. The best picture we have of them is a series of weekly reports issued by the PWA in 1933 when the agency was just getting started and the federal programs were the center of attention.5 One of the biggest of Louisiana’s federal projects was at Shreveport’s Barksdale Field. Land suitable for an airport was acquired by the city in 1929 through a 1.65 mil bond issue for the purpose of hosting an Air National Guard unit. As the threat of war increased, it was turned over to the developing U.S. Army Air Corps. It became the headquarters of the Third Wing in 1935. One of only three divisions of the air corps, this unit was assigned to protect the entire Southeast and Gulf Coast. Basic facilities were constructed from 1931 to 1933.6 The PWA financed a sizable expansion of Barksdale; more than $2 million went into housing alone. The Signal Corps installed $4,800 worth of underground cable. A hospital, a headquarters and wing operations building, a garage, a warehouse, and night lighting were added. A barracks building and noncommissioned officers’ and officers’ quarters were begun.7 Barksdale Field continues to play a major role in U.S. Air Force operations . Units based there were an important part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) attack in the 1999 Kosovo conflict. It sheltered President George W. Bush, who spent the night here on his way [18.222.10.9] Project MUSE (2024-04-25 10:10...

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