Major breakthrough

By Elizabeth Stieber
Times Staff Writer

Memorial Hall, a monument of the centennial celebration of 1876, stands with worn but fixed pride in Fairmount Park, in the Parkside community of West Philadlephia.
By 2007, the austere building will be lavishly adorned with all things kid-friendly and reverberate with the sounds of youngsters milling through the spacious halls.
Earlier this month, dozens of people packed into the chilly, yet breathtaking, grand entrance of Memorial Hall to celebrate the beginning of the Please Touch Museum’s move into the Fairmount Park landmark.
With a thunderous pounding of drums and rhythmic dance moves, the children from the West Philadelphia Conestoga Angels Marching Unit and Drum Corps helped officiate the groundbreaking.
A little boy in a hard hat rode a scooter through a foam brick wall to symbolize the start of construction.
"It is now time to start the transformation of Memorial Hall," said Nancy Kolb, the Please Touch Museum president and CEO, during last week’s groundbreaking ceremony.
Workers are preparing to remove small amounts of asbestos, pipe insulation and two heating-oil tanks.
Next month, demolition crews will begin removing the indoor swimming pool and basketball court and clearing out the basement to make way for the four main gallery spaces.
Crews will also begin excavating and removing debris from the east side of the building, where the new carousel house will be built.
In the spring, the outside of the building will be cleaned and the front steps will be reset.
The museum signed an 80-year lease on the building in February and plans to be up and running there by 2007.
The museum has raised more than half of the $82 million cost to take over and restore the landmark building according to federal historical standards.
The new Please Touch Museum will spread out along 135,000 square feet of space, which is three times the size of the current location on 21st Street near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
With this expensive move, the Please Touch Museum will restore Memorial Hall to its original use, Kolb said.
"It was originally designed and built as a museum, and it’s going to once again be one," she said, "with much noisier participants."
When the museum’s transformation is complete, children will play and learn among improved versions of its current attractions and new exhibits, as well a new performance area, a full-service restaurant and a restored 1903 Dentzel Carousel.
A 40-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty torch made out of found toys and games will tower in the Grand Hall entrance.
And there will be parking available in the lot next to the building.
It’s quite a makeover for Memorial Hall, which has withstood a century of numerous uses in Fairmount Park. The building was constructed to be the art gallery of the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, and was built as a permanent gift to Pennsylvania.
"In addition to creating a wonderful learning environment, we are saving a historical landmark," Kolb said.
The building served as the first home of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. For the past 50 years, the Fairmount Park Commission had office space there; however, the hall has fallen into disrepair.
The Please Touch Museum CEO believes the move will create a "major tourist attraction" in Parkside.
In joining the Philadelphia Zoo, the Mann Music Center, the Japanese Tea House and Pennsylvania Horticultural Center, "We’re creating a family destination for the city," she said. ••
Reporter Elizabeth Stieber can be reached at 215-354-3113 or estieber@phillynews.com