Commercial Building (Edinburg City Auditorium)

This small-town former auditorium is an interesting example of Art Deco motifs of Great Depression work relief initiatives. This is one of the better-preserved auditoriums finished in stucco, although there are other excellent examples in the state in concrete and several in fieldstone. Historic photographs show that the original entrance was elevated about six feet and accessed by a set of steps leading to a podium. The building’s exterior details, however, remain generally unaltered. On the interior, a floating wood basketball court floor preserves the names of local teams below an innovative longspan roof frame with suspended side balconies. Wells experimented with using such a less costly finish material as stucco here, as he did on the pavilion buildings at the Grand Forks County Fairgrounds (GF30). Now a hardware store, the building includes displays of ephemera that interpret many aspects of local history and also has become a meeting site for visitors who come to Edinburg for birdwatching in the Pembina Hills region.