Barnes County Municipal Airport (Valley City Airport Terminal Building)

Barnes County Municipal Airport (Valley City Airport Terminal Building)

Barnes County Municipal Airport (Valley City Airport Terminal Building) Photograph by Steve C. Martens
1942. Airport Rd.

This airport terminal was one of the last projects constructed under New Deal funding programs that focused on improving airport landing strips and facilities in anticipation of World War II. Constructed of concrete that was cast on-site, the building’s ornamentation of raised and recessed horizontal bands that wrap around each volumetric section is a hallmark of Streamline Moderne, as are the stacked horizontal-profile steel sash windows. An upper-story control tower is ornamented by a single round window. Recessed Art Moderne letters spell out “Municipal Airport” on the south facade of the building. The design is similar to airport terminal buildings throughout the United States that were built at about the same time. The airport terminal continues in use, is well maintained, and remains in an astonishingly unaltered condition.

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