Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Cyclorama Center (Gone)

The old Cyclorama Center building (formerly the Visitor Center) at Gettysburg has been mostly demolished in the past week. The entire office wing has been reduced to rubble and is being consolidated and cleared, and the upper "drum" portion of the building is swiftly being gutted. Demolition will probably be complete in the next 2-3 days. It will probably take several weeks to remove the rubble, but all remains should be gone by late April.

The Cyclorama building was designed by the late architect Richard Neutra as part of the National Park Service "Mission '66" program, which aimed to place distinctive, modern buildings in several National Park sites as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916.

The Cyclorama Center, formerly home of the famous Cyclorama painting of Pickett's Charge, opened at Gettysburg in 1962 as the Visitors Center. It has a distinctive 20th century appearance and was designed by the late architect Richard Neutra as part of the "Mission '66" program to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service. As part of the Park's General Management Plan of 1999, the building is now being prepared for demolition this spring.

The painting, exhibits, and other property were removed some years ago, and the building sat vacant and subject to the vagaries of weather, storms, and varmints for the past five years. Now it is undergoing several weeks of asbestos remediation (The building was heavily contaminated with asbestos, having been constructed long before asbestos was identified as a health hazard), and once that is completed, the Park's contractor will move immediately into the demolition phase. Demolition will probably be complete by early to mid-May, but no specific timeline has been set.

The building is currently unapproachable, surrounded by chain link fencing at a distance of 50-75 feet as a safety precaution. The next few months will be the final opportunity to photograph the building before it is removed from the landscape.

According to a recent story in The Evening Sun newspaper (Hanover, PA), the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation just held a cultivation event for 60 big donors who walked the grounds, toured historic homes, and heard the Gettysburg Address recited by game show host Alex Trebek.