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National Building Arts Center

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Coordinates: 38°35′42″N 90°10′06″W / 38.594927°N 90.168276°W / 38.594927; -90.168276
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
National Building Arts Center
Formation2002; 22 years ago (2002)[1]
FounderLarry Giles[2]
Founded atSt. Louis, Missouri, United States
TypeNon-profit foundation
Registration no.05-0545749
HeadquartersSauget, Illinois, United States
Coordinates38°35′42″N 90°10′06″W / 38.594927°N 90.168276°W / 38.594927; -90.168276
Region
Midwest
Executive Director
Michael R. Allen
President
Mike Jackson
Secretary
Mimi Stiritz
Treasurer
Jason Deem
StaffEmery Cox
Websitewww.nationalbuildingarts.org

The National Building Arts Center (NBAC) is a large collection of architectural, structural, and industrial items on a 12.5-acre (5.1 ha) site in Sauget, Illinois.[3] The collection, thought to be the largest amount of architectural artifacts in the United States, is the physical collection of the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation.

The Center salvages and stores important architectural and industrial elements to promote public awareness of architecture, manufacturing, construction, and urban design in the built environment. It also works to ensure historic preservation of existing buildings and maintains an extensive research library.

The foundation and center began as the personal collecting hobby and the architectural salvaging business of Larry Giles, a pioneering historic preservationist in St. Louis, Missouri. Giles also compiled a large collection of specialty books, manuscripts, periodicals, blueprints, drafts, and other documents.[4]

The Center started by saving architecturally significant pieces of historic buildings in the St. Louis region that were to be demolished. It now takes pieces from around the country and occasionally internationally.[5] It also collects artifacts before major renovations of historic structures.

The Center also holds the contents of other museums and collections. NBAC acquired most of the architectural collection of the Brooklyn Museum, which had obtained the "Little Liberty" statue at the insistence of New Yorkers in 2003 when the Liberty Storage & Warehouse Company in the Upper West Side was converted to condominiums. It was placed in the museum's sculpture garden and was sent to NBAC for repairs and a new home in 2023.[3]

The Center holds more of the physical history of New York City than is held in New York; It also stores materials from other cities, including Chicago and Philadelphia.[6] It lends out its materials to other museums and exhibitions, such as the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, the Missouri History Museum, and the World Chess Hall of Fame.[3]

Columns, beams, façades, stones, bricks, statues and monuments, signs, displays, and other architectural elements were initially stored in warehouse spaces around St. Louis. In 2007, the collection was consolidated and moved to Sauget, Illinois, after the former Sterling Steel Casting foundry property was acquired for about $1 million.[4] The collection's 300,000-plus items were moved in 1,600 wooden crates of 30 cubic feet (0.85 cubic metres)[7][8] in about 350 semi-truck loads.[7] The facility is located within sight of the Arch and with a partial view of downtown St. Louis.

The Center provides tours upon scheduled request. It plans to show their collection to the general public similar to a museum format. In the original plans for the Gateway Arch, there was an idea to include an architecture museum on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.[9] To raise money for the site and operations, the Center sells duplicates and doubles of artifacts, in addition to traditional fundraising, as well as some items (often duplicates, and including books, specialty periodicals, schematics, and rare maps, among others) from the library.[7]

Items in the collection include:

  • 8 foot (2.4 metres)-tall terracotta frieze from the 18-story Ambassador Theater Building[7]
  • Missouri Pacific Building
  • St. Louis Terra Cotta company
  • Soulard Station Post Office
  • Gaslight Square[10]
  • State Bank of Wellston sign and support mast (saved after Giles raised $19,000 to rent necessary equipment including a crane and flatbed trucks to salvage the rotating illuminated sign)[1]
  • Elements from the remodeled Globe Building
  • Cherokee Native Statue, which was removed from the Cherokee Street district to respect the original inhabitants of the land[11]
  • Most of the architectural collection of the Brooklyn Museum, including "Little Liberty", a 27 ft (8.2 m) pressed metal replica of the Statue of Liberty[6]

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Building Arts Center.

References

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  1. ^ a b Naffziger dlin, Chris (4 June 2014). "Historic Bank Sign That Served as Weather Beacon Saved From Scrapyard". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  2. ^ "National Building Arts Foundation Official". Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Neman, Daniel (June 20, 2023). "The Statue of Liberty has arrived in Sauget. Sort of". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  4. ^ a b Greene, Lynnda. "A Conversation with Larry Giles". St. Louis Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  5. ^ Holleman, Joe (20 August 2017). "Spotlight: National Building Arts Center in Sauget saves at least pieces of history". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b Fentem, Sarah (May 19, 2023). "Statue of Liberty replica makes 1,000-mile road trip to its new home in Sauget". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  7. ^ a b c d Sisson, Patrick (9 May 2017). "A salvager's decades-long dream to build a museum of architectural artifacts". Curbed. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  8. ^ Vespereny, Cynthia (22 August 2014). "St. Louis Character: Larry Giles". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  9. ^ "National Building Arts Foundation Website". National Building Arts Foundation Website. Retrieved 20 Nov 2018.
  10. ^ Medlin, Jarrett (22 August 2014). "The Collector: Larry Giles". Curbed. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  11. ^ Wicentowski, Danny (17 September 2021). "Cherokee Street Statue Removed After Community Vote". Riverfront Times.
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