Board of Education Building (Philadelphia)

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Board of Education Building
File:BoardOfEdNorth2cropped.jpg
Location 21st St. and Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Area less than one acre
Built 1930
Architect Irwin T. Catherine; Jules A. Melidon
Architectural style Classical Revival, Moderne, Neo-Classical
NRHP Reference # 83002266[1]
Added to NRHP August 25, 1983

The Board of Education Building, also known as the Board of Education Administration Building, is a historic building in the Logan Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. As the long-time headquarters of what is now the School District of Philadelphia, it was a center of the city's educational system. It was completed in 1932. In recent years, it has been converted to residential use.

The Board of Education Building was added in 1983 to the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

Design

The building's design was selected by jury. Its style is a combination of Art Deco and Classical Revival, commonly known as Moderne[citation needed]. It was part of an early revitalization scheme for the city that resulted in the building of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Bas relief sculptures on educational themes are incorporated into the building. These were first sketched by the architect Irwin Catherine, then executed in plaster by Jules Melidon, before being sculpted by the stone cutters. Melidon reportedly was in Europe while they were being sculpted and installed, and sued Catherine and the Board of Education upon his return.[2]

The four columns on each side of the central tower are topped by busts of great thinkers, educators, and statesmen:

Gallery

  • View from southeast

  • BoardOfEdNorth2cropped.jpg

    North elevation and main entrance

  • BoardOfEdSouthwest.jpg

    View from southwest

  • BoardOfEdNorthCropped.jpg

    View from across the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, showing the building in context between the Franklin Institute and the Cira Centre

  • BoardOfEdEntry.jpg

    Main entrance

  • BoardOfEd21stDoor.jpg

    21st Street entrance

  • BoardOfEdServiceEntrance.jpg

    The designation of this door onto Spring Street a "service entrance" is quite literally carved in stone.

  • BoardOfEdHallway.jpg

    Interior hallway

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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