

Memorial Hall's eastern lawn serves as the home field for Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia, a vintage base ball team which plays by 1864 rules.

The museum opened its doors to the public on October 18, 2008. In 2005, the Please Touch Museum began an $85-million renovation to convert it into its new home. Several hundred thousand people mourned his death as they walked by his casket in the Grand Hall. In September 1997, a viewing for former Philadelphia Phillies baseball player and long-time broadcaster Richie Ashburn was held shortly after his death from a heart attack in New York City. Memorial Hall was used because the Academy of Music, the orchestra's home at the time, was considered not resonant enough. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Philadelphia Orchestra made a number of recordings in a basketball court in Memorial Hall under the batons of Riccardo Muti and Wolfgang Sawallisch. Key Events and Usage Philadelphia Orchestra recordings The hall was used as a police station for a period of time and has also housed a gymnasium and a swimming pool in its wings. The Fairmount Park Commission took over the building in 1958 where it made its offices. The building closed it 1928 when the Philadelphia Museum of Art opened on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Memorial Hall reopened in 1877 as the museum portion of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. The hall was one of over two hundred buildings constructed on the property of Fairmount Park to display exhibits. Another building was built for the display of photography. The exposition received so many art contributions that a separate annex was built to house them all. Memorial Hall was designed to house the Centennial Exposition's art exhibits. Nearly 10 million visitors walked through Memorial Hall during the exhibition that lasted from May to November. The President was joined by both Houses of Congress, and Supreme Court, and the Emperor Pedro II of Brazil to kick off the event. Grant dedicated the building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Centennial ExpositionĬonstruction of the hall began on 6 July 1874 and was completed for the opening ceremonies on.

Vestibule, during the 1876 Centennial Exposition. Memorial Hall was the inspiration for the Reichstag building in Berlin. At the corners of the dome stand four statues symbolizing industry, commerce, agriculture and mining. Surmounting the dome is the 23-foot-tall (7.0 m) statue of Columbia (the poetic symbol of the United States) holding a laurel branch. 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 glass dome. The exterior is finished with granite and the interior is decorated with marble and ornamental plaster. The building cost $1.5 million to construct and was made without wood, making it fireproof, which was innovative for the time. Schwarzmann, the chief engineer of the Fairmount Park Commission, also designed the temporary Horticultural Hall for the Exposition. Schwarzmann, and is an early example of monumental Beaux-Arts architecture in the United States. Please contact us if we can provide our services in planning for your next event.Memorial Hall was designed by Herman J. We hope you will find the KEY ARTIST GROUP website helpful and informative. Wherever you find Excellence In Entertainment you will find KEY ARTIST GROUP! As experts in our field let us help you raise the bar at your next event. Our vast knowledge and experience along with our core principles and high ethical standards have made KEY ARTIST GROUP one of the most trusted resources for high quality live entertainment in the world. We are members in good standing with ILEA, MPI, and LVHA and a key sponsor at many high profile Special Event and Entertainment conferences each year. We strive to provide stellar customer service! We are honest and always think of the client’s bottom line. Our staff at KEY ARTIST GROUP understands the delicate nature of client/vendor relationships which is considered a major asset by our numerous longstanding clients. KEY ARTIST GROUP – an International Entertainment Company – is a prominent player in both the Business Theater and Live Performance arenas. Speakers / Meetings / General Sessions / Trade Shows/ Special Events / Festivals / Theme Parks International Talent Agency / Business Theater / Celebrities /
