March 25, 2015 at 4:06 p.m.
Hodag Park beach house serves as a reminder of Depression era, FDR's New Deal
Hodag Park beach house serves as a reminder of Depression era, FDR's New Deal
By By Kyle Rogers-
But in 1935, the spring construction season opened with something more than just progress in mind. The nation was still in the heart of a depression, and the Works Progress Administration - part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal - began not only to spur on public works projects but to provide some relief to the unemployed. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) became the largest of the New Deal agencies and, in total, spent $13.4 billion from 1935 until its end in 1943. In that time, it provided almost 8 million paid jobs.
There are structures across the country still standing today that mark that period in history. In Rhinelander, there remains one: the Hodag Park beach house. The rustic style building has stood for nearly 80 years now and has well outlasted the other major WPA projects that took place in the city. In a Daily News column in 1985, Kris Gilbertson recalled that in addition to the Hodag Park beach house, major WPA undertakings in Rhinelander included Roepcke Hall and the Wisconsin River Memorial Parkway.
Roepcke Hall was constructed at what is currently the site of the old South Park School building. It was constructed in a manner similar to the beach house - natural stone and concrete - and was named in honor of Christ H. Roepcke, a longtime businessman and alderman who first came to Rhinelander in 1896. The structure replaced an old wooden building at the site and was intended to be a voting place for what was then designated the Sixth Ward. But Roepcke Hall didn't even make it two decades. It was demolished to make way for South Park School, built in 1952. Because of its heavy stone construction it was not possible to save the building and relocate it.
The Wisconsin River Memorial Parkway had an even shorter life span. Portions of the road built along the east side of the river, running from Davenport Street north to Phillip Street, washed away within a few years due to high water. Later, some of the land was deeded to the Rhinelander Paper Company for further development of its facilities.
But the Hodag Park beach house has stood the test of time. The WPA was at its peak toward the end of 1938, employing 3.3 million people. But construction on the beach house began more than two years prior, not long after the WPA's creation in April 1935. WPA workers even continued work on the beach house that winter. Progress was slow, as workers had to battle frigid conditions. The water, sand and cement had to be heated before it could be mixed, and workers did all of this in a temporary wooden and tar paper shack that housed the beach house walls as they built them up from the foundation. But the project was one of several that kept local people working and taking home a wage. For example, in the two-week pay period ending March 10, 1936 - about a year into the WPA program - 728 workers in Oneida County received almost $17,000 in wages through the WPA.
As winter turned into spring, workers were able to take down the temporary shack and work more comfortably on the beach house. It was one of several projects being worked on in the park at that time. WPA workers did filling work and other park improvements, and WPA funds paid for new playground equipment that was installed in the spring of 1936.
The beach house is also noteworthy because it was around the time of its construction that the park actually became Hodag Park. It was known as Mary Didier Memorial Park, but in the spring of 1939 city officials decided to go with a name change. The park had initially been named in memory of the late wife of former alderman John Didier on the assurance that he would donate $1,000 toward the park's development. He later reneged on his promise, informing city officials he was not in a position financially to make such a donation. Officials agreed that a shorter name not associated with any one citizen would be a better fit, and in May 1939 a unanimous City Council vote officially made it Hodag Park.
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