Descriptions

Avenue of American History

Description of the Avenue's Buildings & Contents

Building 26

The first Hall of History will cover the period 2001-2025 (January 1, 2001 - December 31, 2025). Because this Hall will formally open to the public in 2026, our Development Group, for convenience purposes, refers to this landmark structure as Building 26.
The time frame agreed upon was selected for two reasons:

The end date (December 31, 2025) allows a period of several months for running trials of all of Building 26’s architectural components before it opens to the public.
The end date also allows for any “last minute” modifications to exhibits, accounting for any absolutely critical end-of-the-year developments.

The design of Building 26 will be the result of an architectural competition open to architects and/or firms with an office in the United States. Although worldwide developments in architectural design throughout that quarter-century period would itself be one of the exhibits in Building 26, the design of Building 26 would be a reflection of the latest architectural design thinking at the end of that quarter century period. The design competition for Building 26 would be announced in July 2021 and the winner would be announced by the end of that year. Fifteen months would therefore be left for design and construction documents.
Unlike temporary buildings erected for world fairs, Building 26 would be designed and constructed to require the least amount of maintenance and provide the greatest longevity.
The maximum square footage of a Hall of History’s main level would be approximately 10,000 square feet. Additional exhibit space could be constructed on the concourse level. Depending of available funding, additional square footage could be constructed on floors above the promenade level.
Bidding for the construction contract would take place in the spring of 2023 and construction would begin in the fall of 2023 and end in late fall of 2025. The aforementioned time frame would also apply to the exhibits and the sunken garden for Building 26, as well.
The contents of Building 26 will in part be determined by some form of National Dialogue in which adults and children of all ages can engage. Discussions are currently underway with historians, museum curators, and ordinary citizens on how best to make the final determination as to what gets exhibited in Building 26 and how it is exhibited. Presumably, the latest exhibit technology will be utilized for this Hall of History, which will not be the case for the exhibits in the retrospective zone. In the earlier Halls of History, the techniques and mind set of each of those earlier periods will be employed

Gateway Building

The main entrance to the complex will house all of the functions normally associated with a museum entrance (i.e. ticket sales, restrooms, administration, theater, bookstore and gift shop, research offices and curatorial spaces, conference areas, and restaurants). The roof level of the Gateway building is envisioned as an open air loggia for dining, offering dramatic views out to Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, Center City Philadelphia, and the Avenue of American History itself.

The Gateway building has a large landscaped garden on the concourse level. This garden matches the sunken gardens associated with all the Halls of History but is larger in square footage.

Retrospective Halls of History

To the degree that funding becomes available, as many as ten Halls of History for quarter-century periods prior to 2001 will be constructed on the Avenue of American History. The first Hall in that retrospective zone will be of the time period 1751-1775. Not all Halls of History in the retrospective zone need be constructed at the time the complex opens, in fact there may be promotional advantages to having some of the retrospective Halls come on line sequentially some years after the Avenue of American History initially opens.
The Development Group is currently exploring the feasibility of attracting corporate sponsors whose companies were founded for each retrospective quarter-century period. Each corporate sponsors might be teamed with a university that also was founded in that quarter century period. Each university would assemble a national group of experts to decide upon the building design and the contents of that particular Hall of History.
Every effort would be made to distinguish between the first authentic Hall of History (2001-2025) and the Retrospective Halls that are located on the far side of the Gateway Building.

Sunken Gardens

A sunken garden is proposed for every Hall of History. The respective gardens face the main façade of each Hall. Each garden's design will represent the style prevalent during that quarter century. In this respect, both the architectural design of a building's exterior as well as its garden will express the aesthetics of each quarter-century period.
It is believed that the stone foundations from the 1876 Main Exhibition Building and Machinery Hall have been left untouched below grade on the parcels of land between Avenue of the Republic and South Concourse Street; those are the parcels earmarked for the Avenue of American History. If the City of Philadelphia approves use of the site for the Avenue project, the AAH Development Group will establish contact with the Philadelphia Historical Commission to explore what archaeological investigations must be conducted to study conditions below grade and to preserve relevant artifacts. If the above-mentioned foundation walls are found to exist, experts will determine whether sections of the foundation walls could be utilized as the exposed walls of the sunken gardens. Re-purposing the walls would contribute to a history-rich engagement of past, present and future.
Artifacts other than the walls that might be discovered during the archaeological investigations would presumably be turned over to existing historical institutions in Philadelphia. Some artifacts, however, might be deemed appropriate to exhibit in the small Centennial Exhibition Museum proposed at one end of the Avenue's walled compound as shown in the site plan above.
The sunken gardens bring daylight into the concourse level.

Concourse Level

A concourse level is proposed below the promenade level of the Avenue of American History. This permits visitors, particularly school children, to circulate conveniently from one Hall of History to another in inclement weather.
The concourse level also creates space for children-oriented exhibits and for the kind of free movement children require during a museum visit. It is on the concourse level that amenities such as restrooms and refreshments are provided without compromising the historical integrity of the Halls of History above. Also on the concourse level will be all necessary utilitarian spaces such as electrical rooms, mechanical areas and security stations. Access from the concourse level to the Halls on the promenade level will be by stairs and - for the disabled - concealed elevators.
Mini-theaters will also be located on the concourse level below each Hall of History. These theaters provide short introductory films about the historical periods. This approach will allow the exhibits in the retrospective Halls of History not to be compromised by modern communication technology. The exhibit techniques for each Hall will be true to what was utilized in each quarter century period, moving from the more static to the more animated and interactive as the quarter century periods followed one another through time.