Memorial Hall Floor Renovation - Please Touch Museum

Memorial Hall Floor Renovation - Please Touch Museum
Skip to primary navigation
PRESERVING HISTORY
Memorial Hall Floor Renovation
In Winter 2024, Please Touch Museum began a $4.2 million project to renovate the marble flooring in Memorial Hall in advance of the building’s 150th anniversary celebration in 2026.
About Memorial Hall
Memorial Hall was built as the art gallery for the 1876 Centennial Exposition, the first World’s Fair to be held in the United States.
Construction on Memorial Hall began in 1874 and was completed in 1876. Over 200 buildings were constructed for the Centennial Exposition; Memorial Hall is one of just two Centennial buildings still standing, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Over the past 150 years, the building has served as a museum, office space, a police station, and a community center. Memorial Hall has been home to Please Touch Museum since 2008.
About the Floor
Memorial Hall is an early example of monumental Beaux-Arts architecture. The floors are original to the building, and are comprised of white, red, and black marble.
Ulysses S. Grant, Frederick Douglass, Thomas Edison, and John Wanamaker are just a few of the famous figures who might have trod Memorial Hall’s marble floors during the Centennial Exhibition in 1876.
Underneath the marble is the building’s original mortar substrate, which has deteriorated over the decades and lost its adhesive powers, leading to wobbly and broken tiles.
Over the past 150 years, wear and tear has necessitated the replacement of many of the original marble tiles. Some replacement tiles are not close matches to the original tile grain. Many of the remaining original tiles are cracked, chipped, or otherwise damaged.
The Renovation Process
Please Touch Museum began the floor renovation project in Winter 2024, working in stages to preserve the floor’s original design.
Project managed by Aegis Property Group and conducted by Knapp Masonry, the renovation process took place one 200-square-foot section at a time. The marble was removed one tile at a time, and replaced with tiles that are close matches to the original in both appearance and origin, coming from quarries nearby the originals in France, Spain, and Italy.
The Museum remained open to visitors for the duration of the project, allowing families to view the construction and renovation work up close. The construction materials were removed from the floor completely during all private event rentals, so that weddings, proms, special occasions, and corporate events were not impacted.
Funding the Floor Project
Please Touch Museum raised additional funds to complete this important work.
The funding needed to complete this project has been raised thanks to generous support from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, the City of Philadelphia, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s
Save America’s Treasures
program, the Hamilton Family Charitable Trust, the McLean Contributionship, and Please Touch Museum trustees and other individual donors.
Please Touch Museum closed the funding gap through the support of individual donors committed to preserving this historic building.
Memorial Hall 2026
was a campaign to restore Memorial Hall to its original glory in advance of its 150th anniversary in 2026, and included the floor restoration and work on the intricate exterior facade.
Memorial Hall Floor Project FAQs
What is the history of Memorial Hall?
Memorial Hall was built as the art gallery for the 1876 Centennial Exposition, the first World’s Fair to be held in the United States. Construction began in 1874 and was completed in 1876. Over 200 buildings were constructed for the Centennial Exposition; Memorial Hall is one of just two Centennial buildings still standing, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Since the Exposition, Memorial Hall has been home to several organizations. From 1877 to 1928, the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art used Memorial Hall as its museum. Since 1958, Memorial Hall has served as the Fairmount Park Commission offices, a police station, and community center.
By 2000, the building had fallen into disrepair and was mainly used for storage. The Fairmount Park Commission sought a new tenant to help restore the building to its former grandeur. The Please Touch Museum signed an 80-year lease for the building in 2005 and began extensive renovations.
What is special about the floor and why was it renovated?
Memorial Hall’s marble floors are original to the building. Over the past 150 years, wear and tear has necessitated the replacement of many of the original marble tiles; some replacement tiles are not close matches to the original tiles. Many remaining original tiles are cracked, chipped, or otherwise damaged.
The floor is comprised of white marble, red marble, and black marble. Underneath the marble is the building’s original mortar substrate, which has deteriorated over the decades and lost its adhesive powers, leading to wobbly and broken tiles.
Who was involved in the floor project?
The Please Touch Museum, The City of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation have all been involved in this project.
Necessary oversight has been provided by the National Parks Service and the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office.
Who oversaw the floor project?
Please Touch Museum engaged Aegis Property Group to oversee the work.
Knapp Masonry was chosen to perform the renovation. Knapp Masonry has an extensive history performing historic projects, including work for Ellis Island, Independence Hall, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and Lambert Castle.
What was the process and how long did it take?
The entire process took 15 months. The work was done in stages, 200 square feet at a time.
Work that will produce air particulates will take place under tents fitted with a HEPA filtration system and will occur in the early morning hours, well before visitors arrive, and air filtration systems will vent outside.
The remaining work took place surrounded by clear panels so children and families could watch this construction and renovation work in process as an educational opportunity.
In each section of the floor:
• The marble tiles were removed.
• What remains of the original substrate was ground up.
This substrate has lost its adhesion over the decades, which has led to more breakage of tile. The material is organic and its disposal complies with EPA guidelines.
• A new substrate was poured and allowed to cure for 24 hours.
• New mortar was added, marble tiles were set in place in accordance with the original design, grouted, and allowed to set.
Where was the new marble sourced?
The replacement marble came from quarries in Italy, where it is believed the original marble was also procured, along with quarries in France and Spain.
What happened to the marble that was removed?
Marble from the original floor in good condition was retained.
Some original marble remains at Memorial Hall, used in Meeting Room West as part of an 1876 reflection space. This initiative is in the early planning stage for design and funding. Additional original marble in good condition was returned to the City of Philadelphia for future city projects.
Marble that was obviously used for repairs over the years and is not original to the building, along with original marble in poor condition, was disposed of in landfills designed to hold stone.
Was it safe to be in the Museum while this work was being done?
Yes. The flooring materials were tested and are safe.
Work that produced air particulates took place under tents fitted with a HEPA filtration system and occurred in the early morning hours, well before visitors arrived, and air filtration systems vented outside.
The remaining work took place surrounded by clear panels so children and families could watch this construction and renovation work in process as an educational opportunity.
Did the floor restoration affect one’s ability to visit the Museum?
No. Please Touch Museum remained open during the floor renovation process.
Will the floor project affect my wedding or private event at Memorial Hall?
If you have a question about your upcoming or future event, please contact RHC at
events@pleasetouchmuseum.org
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options
Manage services
Manage {vendor_count} vendors
Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title}
{title}
{title}