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Determining
the Significance of the Cyclorama Building
 Historic
Resources Committee, American Institute of Architects (AIA), 15 March
1997, Resolution
"We find the
determination of eligibility reports to be much more complete and balanced
in the areas reflecting Civil War activities...[rather] than in the
section concerning the building and its architects. ... the building
assumes an importance greater than the reviewer allowed...we request
a rethinking and reevaluation of the determination." Link
to text of document
National
Register of Historic Places Determination of Eligibility, September
1998
"While
it is undebatable that Neutra has been highly and widely acclaimed for
his earlier residential designs for some time, it is not unusual for
the significance of his later work to be gaining attention with the
passage of time. Scholars are now placing his later works too into the
context of modern architecture of the period. As such, the Cyclorama
Building is a rare example of Neutra's institutional design on the east
coast and one of his very few Federal commissions. While not currently
analyzed in detail in publications, it is one of a very few of his later
works often mentioned or illustrated. Similarly, the evolving scholarship
on the history and impact of the Mission 66 program on design in the
parks clearly indicates the seminal importance of the visitor center
as a building type and of the examples designed by master Modern architects
mentioned above, including the Cyclorama Building."
Link to text of document
Section
106 Case Report: Cyclorama Building, January 1999
Section 106 Case
Report, Cyclorama Building, Gettysburg National Military Park
(Full-Text Document--Released by National
Park Service, January 1999)
Description of Park Plan and their Analysis of the Building
"The NPS has determined that the removal of the Cyclorama Building
(and the visitor center) would result in a decided beneficial impact
to the historic landscapes of the Union battle lines of July 2 and July
3, 1863. ...Option D: (The Preferred Option) New Visitor Center and
Museum Complex. This option would provide a new complex to house the
park's Visitor Center, museum, cyclorama painting and collections storage,
located on a site within the area of consideration. All visitor functions
in the existing buildings would be relocated. Collections storage would
be incorporated into the new facility. The new museum complex would
allow the appropriate conservation and preservation of the cyclorama
painting. New permanent museum exhibits would allow the park to tell
the story of the Gettysburg Campaign in its broad context of the Civil
War and American history. This option proposed removing the existing
visitor center and Cyclorama Building and rehabilitating their sites
to reflect the historic landscapes of the battlefield setting."
Link to text of document
o Society
of Architectural Historians, President Richard Longstreth, Response
to S106 Report
"We must, however, register disagreement over many of the points
raised in your report and in the proposed General Management Plan. At
stake, we believe, are fundamental issues concerning the practice of
historic preservation in the United States that transcend the resources
involved." Link
to text of letter
o Richard
and Dion Neutra Architecture, Dion Neutra, Response Letter
"It is my regret that at no time during the nearly 40 years since
the completion of the Cyclorama Center, was our office ever consulted
when the myriad 'deficiencies' came to light, which are now so copiously
being listed. Undoubtedly much of this was before your watch. I am convinced,
however, that much of the degradation that the painting and other parts
of the project have sustained, could have been addressed, mitigated
and solved long ago." Link
to text of letter
o Preservation Pennsylvania,
President David L. Taylor, Response Letter
"Having reviewed the material provided, Preservation Pennsylvania
continues to believe that the future of the Cyclorama Building and its
relationship to the Cyclorama painting deserve a full and unbiased study
of alternatives to demolition, which we do not feel has occurred to
date." Link to text of letter
o National Trust for Historic Preservation,
President Richard Moe, Response Letter
"In summary, the National Trust supports the National Park Service’s
position that primary significance should be accorded thc original battlefield
landscape. We also agree that the removal or relocation of the existing
visitor complex would help the Park Service meet its objectives of restoring
the character-defining features of part of the historic landscape associated
with the Battle of Gettysburg, and improve public understanding of the
Battle. Because the Cyclorama Building is eligible for the National
Register as a structure of "exceptional" significance, however,
we believe that the Park Service's case for demolition of this particular
building should be a strong one. Assuming that the Park Service thoroughly
addresses the issues raised in this letter as it continues the Section
106 consultation process, the National Trust is prepared to fully support
the final decision of the Park Service." Link
to text of letter
National
Historic Landmark Nomination, Denial, & Appeal, 1999-2002
The National Historic
Landmark nomination for this building, completed by Richard Longstreth
and Christine Madrid for the Society of Architectural Historians in
1999, is available to the public. The NHL is broken up into three parts
for easier on-line reading and printing. Link to full-text online version:
Part I | Part II | Part
III. HTML files.
In November, 2000,
the National Parks Advisory Board refused to grant NHL status to the
Cyclorama Building, but approved the nominations for three other Mission
66-era visitor centers with identical historic contexts and statements
of significance: Dinosaur, Utah, Wright Brothers, North Carolina, and
Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Politics?
Letter
from Congressman James Hansen to the Department of the Interior supporting
a second review of the National Historic Landmark nomination for the
Cyclorama Building May
26, 2000
(see Hansen's previous letter regarding
the Cyclorama)
Letter
from Richard Longstreth, Society of Architectural Historians Appeal
of NHL determination, to
Fran Mainella, Director, NPS, 24 February 2004 "The failure of the National
Park Service to recognize this building as a National Historic Landmark
is without foundation. Furthermore, the loss of this building, which
is scheduled for demolition in the foreseeable future, would constitute
an impairment of the first order, in direct violation of the Park Service's
stated mission..."
Link to PDF Image of Letter page
1 | page 2
Other
Documents:
Landscape
Preservation and Interpretation: Issues of Use, Historical Experience,
and Myth at Gettysburg National Military Park. Thesis by Nathan
Jefferson Riddle (Columbia University, 1998). Critical analysis of National
Park Service interpretive policies at Gettysburg NMP with special coverage
of Neutra's Cyclorama Building (ca. 1961) and its place on the battlefield
of Gettysburg.
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