The celebrated Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg will soon be demolished. After a 14-year heated debate about preservation of the 51- year-old building that houses many important artifacts and the famous Gettysburg Cyclorama painting by French Artist Paul Dominique Philippoteaux, the National Park Service has finally decided on taking down the historic building.
The Cyclorama is situated on the crest of the cemetery of the Gettysburg Battlefield and was built by modernist architect - Richard Neutra. The structure is circular and uses the complete Cyclorama painting to portray the "Pickett's charge". The building was a contribution by the National Park Service (NPS), which serves as a visiting center. The place also sports an observation deck.
The building has been closed since 2005. Plans of tearing the building down were being contemplated by NPS since 1999. However, due to protests and opposition from a group of preserving activists and architects led by Dion Neutra, Richard Neutra's son,the decision had been stalled, reports Cumberlink.
"The site is a key portion of the Union battle line and is important to the public understanding of what happened here, The Cyclorama building was a disruption to that" Katie Lawhon, spokeswoman of the park, told Philly.com.
According to the District court of Columbia, considering a detailed environmental analysis of the demolition as well as preservation alternatives, it was revealed that the best alternative would be to take down the structure, reports Philly.com.
As the 150th anniversary of the battle approaches, plans of clearing the place of the building and restoring the cemetery ridge to its previous appearance are being made. The complete battlefield's original look will be conjured back featuring the wooden fences and apple orchards, reports witf.org.
Now that the building is slated to be demolished by February 2013, the legendary painting will be preserved in another place, reports Curbed National.
