Preserving the Voices of History

The Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum opened July 1, 2013 – 150 years to the day after the Battle of Gettysburg began.

Murphy & Dittenhafer led the six-year planning, design, and rehabilitation process of this National Historic landmark on the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, originally called Schmucker Hall. The $15 million museum project is a joint venture of the Adams County Historical Society and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.

A Storied Past

When Schmucker Hall was erected in 1832, it was the one and only building for all the seminary’s activities. In 1863, Union General John Buford spotted the Confederates advancing into Gettysburg from Schmucker Hall’s cupola, marking the beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg. The building became a field hospital, caring for 600 soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies. In 1914, a “Peace Portico” was added on the west side of the building as a tribute to the wounded soldiers who were cared for there.

Its historical significance saved it from a movement to tear it down in the 1960s, but its small rooms – originally used as dormitories for the seminarians – made it impractical for most potential uses. Eventually the Seminary worked out an arrangement that allowed the Adams County Historical Society to move in and use it as a repository for their collections.

Preserving the Past While Meeting Current Needs

The building, while largely intact, had fallen into disrepair when Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects were charged with coming up for a plan for its rehabilitation. They began by convening a group of representatives from various stakeholder groups, including the Seminary, the Historical Society, the National Parks Service, and the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission, to gather input to inform the repurposing of the building.

“The design preserved, repaired, and restored the building’s most significant character-defining architectural details,” says Frank Dittenhafer, “providing the appropriate balance of maintaining historical integrity while incorporating modern improvements to accommodate new building use.”

The design that resulted from the collective input from historians, seminarians, and exhibit designers is a visually striking interior with a completely new configuration that now features 20,000 square feet of interactive exhibit galleries and support space. The building now has an elevator connecting all four levels for accessibility, new life safety systems, new restrooms, energy efficient electrical and plumbing systems, and a geothermal heating/cooling system. It has been certified by the United States Green Building Council as LEED Silver.

Challenges and Opportunities

This success of this project didn’t come without its challenges and obstacles. The structure was a center hall building with many interior, load-bearing brick walls.

“This wasn’t a project where you could go into the interior and run pipes and ductwork anywhere you felt like it,” says Dittenhafer. “We had to maintain the center hall layout and the sense of the original layouts of the second, third, and fourth floor. We worked very hard with our engineering consultants to structurally stabilize things, to create new openings in the galleries, to hide sprinkler lines, to hide ductwork, to hide pipes. We were able to work an elevator in that you’d never know was there. There were some real challenges there that we successfully met.”

Historically Accurate Restoration

The exterior was also treated with Murphy & Dittenhafer’s signature care, creativity, and sensitivity. Façade repairs and restoration included windows, doors, dormers, and the famed cupola, as well as a return to the original historic paint colors – black-green and ochre colors. A new ADA-compliant entrance and terrace were delicately inserted beneath the repaired/reconstructed historic east porch and entry stair.

Careful consideration was also given to the reconstruction of the long-missing Peace Portico. The floor was still there, but the columns were gone, with pieces stored in the building’s basement. Painstaking research and measurements led to a very accurate reconstruction.

New Museum

Murphy & Dittenhafer’s leadership has resulted in a highly functional, energy-efficient museum facility well-suited for viable, active use and long-term stability.

The exhibits highlight the “voices of history” through interactive exhibit galleries and educational programming. The three major areas of emphasis – the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the care of wounded soldier’s during the building’s use as a field hospital, and the larger issues of faith and freedom – are not the focus of any other museum in Gettysburg. The Seminary Ridge Museum is a cornerstone of the Gettysburg historical tourism experience, making the building significant once again.

Funding Sources

Murphy & Dittenhafer also worked with fundraisers throughout the project to help tell the story of the building’s past and the adaptive reuse approach to its more efficient utilization. The total project cost was $15 million, funded by $4 million in RACP funds from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, $1 million in Scenic Byway funds, new market and historic tax credits, and support from more than 7,000 individuals, foundations, and organizations. The museum is operated by the Seminary Ridge Historic Preservation Foundation.

Marketview Arts

In its first two years, Marketview Arts has already established itself as a vibrant, collaborative community arts center. The building, located at 37 West Philadelphia Street in the heart of downtown 
York, went through a remarkable transformation after the York County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) purchased it in 2009. 
 
The former Fraternal Order of Eagles building was an underutilized property in a prime location, directly across the street from York’s historic Central Market. Like many older properties, the building had been reconfigured over the years for various uses without the benefit of being updated. The result was a disorienting maze that lacked any sense of orientation or excitement. 
 
The IDA enlisted Murphy & Dittenhafer to make sense of the hodgepodge of existing spaces, features, and structural concerns and find a way to maximize the underutilized property’s potential. Murphy & Dittenhafer solicited input from key stakeholders, including representatives from York College, York’s artist community, and the IDA’s private sector partners. This input informed Murphy & Dittenhafer’s considerations and decisions throughout the $2.8 million project. Funding for the renovation came from the IDA itself, private investors, and a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Project grant. 
 
The overarching goal was to create, in a simple, economical way, a facility that would provide 
memorable experiences for end users and visitors. Even the smallest details were carefully weighed to maximize their potential to push past the boundary of functionality into a higher level of engagement and excitement. 

Today, Marketview Arts has artist studios, classroom areas for York College art students, gallery space, an event space with adjacent restrooms, storage, and catering areas, a storefront that’s home to the westernmost point on the Pennsylvania Arts Experience’s Artist Trail, and two residential apartments. 
 
The diverse, mixed use of the property is supported by functional enhancements, such as an elevator connecting all six levels and making the facility fully handicap accessible and accessible for moving things in and out for programming and events. The renovation also included the addition of an entry at grade and on-site parking. 
 
The inherent challenges of the Marketview Arts project were fully intertwined with the inherent 
opportunities. For example, the new entry was constructed right on the property line for the parcel, next to the exit for the neighboring parking structure. Building codes precluded the ability to use any windows or glass in the wall. Murphy & Dittenhafer used the code-required blank wall as an opportunity for visual expression. They contacted Glen-Gery Brick to discuss what types of shapes and colors and finishes of brick they had in their scrap piles. Glen-Gery was inspired enough by the idea to donate all the brick that ended up in the east-facing wall of the entry, which is what passersby see when traveling past the building on Philadelphia Street. 
 
It’s this spirit of creativity and collaboration that earned Marketview Arts the prestigious 
Commonwealth Award from 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania. The annual awards recognize “Smart Growth” projects that revitalize communities, spur economic development, catalyze private investment, and serve as models of sustainable development. The recognition goes beyond architectural design and historic preservation, honoring projects that make a significant contribution to the city where they’re located. arketview Arts has not only brought life back to a vacant building, but also repurposed it in way that has made a major contribution to the market district and the downtown arts scene. 
 
Other Awards 
Prior to receiving the Commonwealth Award, the project also won a preservation award from Historic York for outstanding adaptive reuse in 2013; a Citation Award for architectural excellence from AIA Central PA in 2012; and the Trostel Award for Historic Preservation from AIA Balitmore for exemplary adaptive reuse. The jury commented that Marketview Arts is “an exemplary project involving the transformation of a vacant historic building to a community use. It is clearly a community-initiated project, rather than one driven by a developer. This project shows the virtue of doing a lot with a little, and the patina of the element of time.”

Central Market York

125 years into its storied life, York’s Central Market House has been enjoying a renaissance.

The historic property had a small but loyal following of visitors, and a wealth of untapped potential. Over the last few years, the market has made major changes and that following has grown considerably. The most significant and most tangible difference came with the physical improvements led by Murphy & Dittenhafer. 
 
Prior to the renovation, the market’s basic systems and environmental needs – including electrical, sanitary, fire protection, and temperature control – were considerable. Murphy & Dittenhafer estimated that it would cost about $4 million dollars to bring everything up to code and functioning in a way that would allow the market to better utilize their space and continue to grow. The challenge? They had only $2.2 million of grant funding to work with. 

There were two user groups to keep in mind: the market’s vendors and customers. There was a sharp focus on making improvements that would allow for easier accommodation of vendor requirements so that it would be possible for the market to be fully occupied with an appropriate mix of vendors; new utilities were brought to locations that didn’t have them before, and systems access congregated for specific types of vendors. 
 
The customer experience had to be enhanced, as well. Customer aisles were dark, existing gathering spaces were insufficient, and the entrances had heavy doors that made access difficult. The renovation included lighting for shopping, as well as accent lighting that added an element of romance to the historic facility. New doors eliminated the one-inch gaps at the entrance points, and matched the original Dempwolf designs. A new seating area was added along the market’s Beaver Street side and the underutilized mezzanine got a warm makeover. 
 
The project budget was wisely spent in a way that focused on operational improvements that maximized the market’s sustainability. The building is now much more energy-efficient, and poised for continued success now and into the future. 
 
One of the most remarkable things about this project is that the market stayed open the entire time. Much of the work was done at night in order to minimize the impact on operations. 
 
Historic York Award 
If you’d have asked Frank Dittenhafer 20 years ago what his favorite building was in York, he would tell you without a moment’s hesitation that it was Central Market. He had spent a lot of time there as a child, and was enamored of the architecture, the construction, and the façade. He has long believed that it is the most magnificent piece of architecture in York. 
 
And so he was honored to have the opportunity to work on a renovation project – even one with a tightly-constrained budget. Since many people shared in his admiration of this glorious building, there was a certain level of pressure to do the right thing in making improvements. 
 
The reverent consideration that went into the project was recognized with one of Historic York’s annual Preservation Awards. The award celebrated Murphy & Dittenhafer’s stewardship and careful decision-aking, and acknowledged the reality that the market had to change in order to remain relevant and useful to the community.