Bannock County Veterans Memorial Building
Pocatello, Bannock County
- Grants: 2023 – Roof Flashing Repair & Replacement
Location:300 N Johnson Ave, Pocatello, Idaho 83204
The Bannock County Veterans Memorial Building was completed in 1926 after two years of construction. The handsome brick structure was designed by architect Frank Paradice Jr. and built by contractor Alex Mathers. The $50,000 budget was met through subscription collected from residents of Pocatello and throughout the county. Since its inception, the building has served as a community center and hub for veterans’ support services, as well as a memorial for those who have served in all branches of the military.
The u-shaped structure is crowned with a tile roof and adorned with arched, multipaned casement windows, and there is a very pleasing dark-brick pattern offsetting the lighter brick of the rest of the building. It is built upon a relatively steep slope overlooking the Portneuf River, so much so that ground level drops nine feet as you move from the street-facing side of the building towards the riverbank, ‘revealing’ the lowest level of the three stories.
This site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Lincoln-Johnson Avenue Residential Historic District, though it stands in stark contrast to the typical craftsman/bungalow-style single family homes that typify the rest of the neighborhood. In addition to meeting and event spaces, the building hosts a collection of donated artifacts and personal belongings from servicepeople in the area, which serve to memorialize, honor, and tell the story of those who sacrificed everything to serve our country.
