Please Touch Museum Memorial Hall Floor Renovation
Please Touch Museum Memorial Hall Floor Renovation
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Opened in 1876, Memorial Hall was built as the art gallery for the Centennial Exposition. Over 200 buildings were constructed for the Centennial Exposition and Memorial Hall is one of only two buildings still standing. Throughout its history, it’s served as a museum, police station, office space, and community center. Please Touch Museum acquired Memorial Hall as its home in 2008.
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. 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.
In winter 2024, PTM began a full renovation of Memorial Hall’s original marble floors ahead of the Hall’s 150th anniversary and the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026. Managed by Aegis with floor work conducted by Knapp Masonry, the renovation process took place one 200 SF section at a time, preserving the floor’s original design and utilizing tiles sourced from French, Spanish, and Italian quarries that are a close match to the originals.
Please Touch Museum remained open to visitors throughout the process, with clear panels on the sides of tents where the work was being done turning preservation into a learning opportunity, The Museum Learning team also offered pop-up play opportunities around construction, fossils, and other related themes, aligning beautifully with the Museum’s Mission to “Change a child’s life as they discover the power of learning through play,” and Vision of “a world where all children are creative, compassionate, confident and curious.”
View our client’s website about the project.
