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Memorial Hall | |
 Home of thePlease Touch Museum | |
    | |
| Location | WestFairmount Park 4231 Avenue of the Republic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°58′45″N75°12′35″W / 39.97917°N 75.20972°W /39.97917; -75.20972 |
| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1876 |
| Architect | Herman J. Schwarzmann |
| Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
| NRHP reference No. | 76001665[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 8, 1976 |
| Designated NHL | December 8, 1976 |
Memorial Hall is aBeaux-Arts style building in the Centennial District of WestFairmount Park,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. Built as the art gallery for the1876Centennial Exposition, it is the only major structure from that exhibition to survive. It subsequently housed the Pennsylvania Museum of Industrial Art (now thePhiladelphia Museum of Art).
Since October 18, 2008, the Hall has served as home to thePlease Touch Museum. It was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1976.
The building is located west of theSchuylkill River, at the corner of East Memorial Hall Drive and the Avenue of the Republic.[2]
Memorial Hall was designed byHerman J. Schwarzman, and is an early example of monumentalBeaux-Arts architecture in the United States. Schwarzman, the chief engineer of theFairmount Park Commission, also designed the temporary Horticultural Hall for the Exposition.[3] The building cost $1.5 million to construct and was made without wood, making it fireproof, which was innovative for the time.
The exterior is finished with granite and the interior is decorated with marble andornamental plaster. The building is 365 feet (111 m) by 210 feet (64 m) with basement and ground floor, and 150 feet (46 m) tall at the top of the building's most distinctive feature, an iron and glassdome. Surmounting the dome is the 23-foot-tall (7.0 m) statue ofColumbia (the poetic symbol of theUnited States) holding a laurel branch. At the corners of the dome stand four statues symbolizing industry, commerce, agriculture and mining. Memorial Hall was the inspiration for theReichstag building inBerlin.[4]
Construction of the hall began on 6 July 1874 and was completed for the opening ceremonies on May 10, 1876. PresidentUlysses S. Grant dedicated the building with aribbon-cutting ceremony. The President was joined by both Houses of Congress, and Supreme Court, and the EmperorPedro II of Brazil to kick off the event. Nearly ten million visitors walked through Memorial Hall during the exhibition that lasted from May to November.[5]
Memorial Hall was designed to house the Centennial Exposition's art exhibits. The exposition received so many art contributions that a separate annex was built to house them all. Another building was built for the display ofphotography.[6] The hall was one of over two hundred buildings constructed on the property ofFairmount Park to display exhibits.
Memorial Hall reopened in 1877 as the museum portion of thePennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. The building closed in 1928 when thePhiladelphia Museum of Art opened on theBenjamin Franklin Parkway. The Fairmount Park Commission took over the building in 1958 where it made its offices.[7][8]
The hall was used as a police station for a period of time and has also housed agymnasium and aswimming pool in its wings.[8][9]
The building was added to theNational Register of Historic Places on December 8, 1976.The building had fallen into great disrepair by 2000 and was used mainly for art storage. The Fairmount Park Commission sought a new tenant to help restore the building to its former glory. ThePlease Touch Museum signed an eighty-year lease for the building in 2005 and began extensive renovations.
In the 1980s and 1990s, thePhiladelphia Orchestra made a number of recordings in a basketball court in Memorial Hall under the batons ofRiccardo Muti andWolfgang Sawallisch. Memorial Hall was used because theAcademy of Music, the orchestra's home at the time, was considered notresonant enough.[10]
In September 1997, a viewing for formerPhiladelphia Phillies baseball player and long-time broadcasterRichie Ashburn was held shortly after his death from a heart attack inNew York City. Several hundred thousand people mourned his death as they walked by his casket in the Grand Hall.
In 2005, thePlease Touch Museum began an $85-million renovation to convert it into its new home. The museum opened its doors to the public on October 18, 2008.[11] Memorial Hall's eastern lawn serves as the home field forAthletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia, avintage base ball team which plays by 1864 rules.
Notes
Media related toMemorial Hall at Wikimedia Commons
