Vladimir Sobotka (1895-1990), Architect and Builder
Vladimir Sobotka was born on February 14, 1895 in Dwight, Nebraska. His father was Frank Sobotka, who was born in Strevic, Moravia and came to the United States in 1879. The family moved to Bee, Nebraska in 1908. At the age of 15 in 1910, Vladimir organized the first Bee Fire Department. He was Fire Chief from 1910 to 1940. He built the original brick portion of the Bee City Hall and Fire Hall. In 1911, half the town center of Dwight burned, and Vladimir, securing a job with Frank and Joe Maly, helped rebuild parts of it. In 1917, he was drafted into the armed forces, and upon returning to Bee in 1919, he decided to study a trade. He took a course in drafting, which he didn't finish, but he took up the trade "as a matter of second-nature" quickly, and got his architecture license in the late 1930s. In 1940, he moved to Seward, and again in 1943, he moved to Lincoln. He supervised construction at the Lincoln Air Base, and was later Post Engineer, until the Air Base closed in 1947. He worked in several other Lincoln partnerships until his retirement. He designed and built buildings in Bee, York, Grand Island, Columbus, and Lincoln, Nebraska, as well as Chicago, Illinois. Sobotka died on January 30, 1990.[4]
This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the format and contents page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
Contents
Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
Hastings, Nebraska, 1942
Lincoln, Nebraska, 1943-1949, 1950-1959, 1960-1961, 1963-1969, 1970-1976
Chicago, Illinois, 1962[4]
Educational & Professional Associations
1910: tenth grader, Bee Public Schools, Bee, Nebraska.[4]
1913: architecture and building, self-study.[4]
1915-1916: F.E. Dobe School of Drafting, Chicago, correspondence course.[4]
1916-____: architect-builder, self-employed, Bee, Nebraska.[4]
1919-____: post-war correspondence course in mathematics and architectural work.[4]
1919-____: architect-builder, self-employed, Bee, Nebraska.[4]
1938: project Superintendent, W.P.A., Seward County, Nebraska.[4]
1941: Registered Professional Architect, Nebraska, A-127; December 2, 1941.[4]
____: architect, Schaumberg & Freeman, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska.[4]
Buildings & Projects
Bee High School (ca. 1926-1927), NE corner 3rd & Ash, Bee, Nebraska.[4] (SW02-013)
State's Ballroom (1938-1940), Bee, Nebraska. (SW02-008)
York Auditorium, York, Nebraska.[4][a]
Memorial Stadium, Grand Island, Nebraska.[4][a]
Entry Pylons, Columbus City Park, Columbus, Nebraska.[4][a]
Notes
a. This work was done while Sobotka was with Schaumberg & Freeman, Architects.[4]
References
1. Jim Reisdorff, “Sobotka recalls designing David City Memorial Park,” David City Banner Press (April 23, 1981).
2. Alfred Novacek, “Profiles of our Native Sons: Vladimir Sabotka,” Dwight Doodles 3:3 (March 13, 1979), 1-2.
3. D. Murphy, Notes From a Conversation with Vladimir Sobotka, 1642 Sumner (July 28, 1981). In Nebraska State Historical Society file.
4. “From the Files: Vladimir Sobotka,” The Nebraska Professional (June 2002).
Page Citation
D. Murphy, “Vladimir Sobotka (1895-1990), Architect and Builder,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, March 11, 2015. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, April 20, 2024.
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