{"nrhp_refnum":"94000053","name":"NAS Chase Field-Building 1040","other_names":["Auditorium/Gym/Chapel"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Enterprise St. 0.37 mi. SSE of the jct. of TX 202 and Independence St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Beeville","county":"Bee County","state":"TX","lat":28.375290458000052,"lon":-97.66213531599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-02-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Building 1040 is a one-story, L-shaped, wood-frame building at NAS Chase Field in Beeville, Bee County, Texas, built in 1943. It combines an auditorium, a gym and a chapel under one roof.","why_significant":"The building is significant under Criterion A for its association with Chase Field during World War II. Under wartime restrictions on materials and labor, the Navy combined three support functions in one structure to save time, expense and materials. It is an uncommon building form at the base and remains little changed from 1943.","narrative":"Building 1040 is a long, L-shaped, wood-frame building at the former NAS Chase Field in Beeville, Texas. Completed in 1943, it holds an auditorium, a gym and a chapel in a single structure. Its front has three parts: a barrel-vaulted gym to the northeast, a one-story auditorium in the middle and a two-story chapel to the southwest, with a 16-bay shed-roof porch across the front. Galbestos siding covers the exterior, and the gym interior has wood-arched trusses and hardwood floors. Robert & Company of Atlanta provided the drawings, and the Houston consortium Brown Bellows & Columbia was general contractor. Wartime limits on materials and labor led the Navy to combine three support facilities in one temporary frame building, which saved resources for more direct military construction. Banking facilities were added in 1973, and rooms for Jewish and Catholic worshipers followed in 1975 and 1976. The building served as a recreational, social and religious center until the base closed in 1993.","period_of_significance":"1943-1945","architect_builder":"Robert & Company/Brown Bellows & Columbia","architectural_style":"No Style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant/not in use; the Navy closed the entire base in 1993. The building is described as in good condition with very little exterior alteration.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:24.07447-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/9681/40968177/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/94000053.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000053/a56382c84f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000053/a56382c84f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":null,"credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southeast_side_of_Building_1040_(auditorium-gym-chapel),_looking_northwest_-_Naval_Air_Station_Chase_Field,_Building_1040,_Enterprise_Street,_.37_mile_South-Southeast_of_HABS_TEX,13-BEEVI.V,1D-2.tif\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southeast_side_of_Building_1040_(auditorium-gym-chapel),_looking_northwest_-_Naval_Air_Station_Chase_Field,_Building_1040,_Enterprise_Street,_.37_mile_South-Southeast_of_HABS_TEX,13-BEEVI.V,1D-2.tif"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40968177","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110001195"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bee-county/nas-chase-field-building-1040-94000053/"}