by Christina Estes | KJZZ
Artistic rendering of the renovated WPA building at the Arizona State Fairgrounds.
Mayor Greg Stanton calls it a deal the state can’t reject. On Wednesday afternoon, City Council approved a plan to help stabilize the WPA Building located at the south end of the Arizona State Fairgrounds near 19th Avenue and McDowell Road.
Built in 1938, the WPA Building served as the state headquarters for a federal agency that created public project jobs during the Great Depression. In 2014, the Arizona Exposition and State Fair Board planned to demolish it and replace the building with a parking space that could be rented to vendors during the fair.
“As a longtime resident of F.Q. Story [neighborhood], I have watched the fairgrounds fall into an asphalt jungle even as our neighborhoods stabilized and thrived,” Steve Dreiseszun told the council.
