Buildings For Credit Unions and Rural Electric Associations
One category of buildings which involved Sternberg in many new relationships and communities was that of credit unions, which some have called "peoples' banks." His first design in this category was for Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana. The rest of the buildings were in Canada – Richmond, Trail, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Vancouver - where credit unions are far more prevalent than in the U.S. Sternberg's last credit union project in Canada was an innovative master plan for False Creek, a large, neglected waterfront site in Vancouver that had been acquired by the British Columbia Central Credit Union. The plan provided for a handsome new headquarters building for B. C. Central on which Sternberg was the consultant architect. That building was completed in 1974.
Rural Electric Associations (REA's) were another type of organization that appealed to Sternberg because of the direct and valuable service they provided to small towns and rural areas, and the active participation of users.. These organizations grew out of the New Deal decision to stimulate the provision of electricity to rural areas. The Rural Electrification Administration, created in 1935, made long-term loans to state and local governments. farmers' cooperatives, and non-profit organizations. The REA's for which the Sternberg architectural firm designed headquarters buildings were cooperatives and took him to Nucla, Delta, Durango, Montrose, and Craig. He also did a remodeling and addition project for the Inter-Mountain REA headquartered in Littleton and for an Association serving the rural area around Grant, Nebraska.
Read more about this topic: Eugene Sternberg
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