HARRISBURG – Two Pennsylvania landmarks, both popular tourist destinations, have won the 2009 National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Bedford Springs Resort in Bedford County and the Please Touch Museum at Philadelphia’s Memorial Hall were honored for their historic preservation efforts and for profiling American history.
“These two destinations offer visitors a first-class experience and, through their preserved grandeur, several pages of history,” said Mickey Rowley, deputy secretary of tourism for the Department of Community and Economic Development. “Both destinations offer a refreshing experience while capturing the historical opulence of these irreplaceable landmarks.”
The Omni Bedford Springs Resort was once the summer White House of President James Buchanan and was visited by nine other presidents. In 1796, Dr. John Anderson purchased the 2,200-acre property and built a home there. As word spread of the supposedly healing waters on the land, visitors arrived.
The Stone Inn, added in 1806, was built using stone quarried atop the mountain next to the springs. Additions to the hotel include the Colonial House in 1824, Swiss Cottage in 1846, and the Evitt and Anderson houses in 1855. A recent $120 million renovation has restored the resort to its former grandeur.
The Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall in Philadelphia is an award-winning learning center for children. Memorial Hall is one of only two buildings remaining from Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition of 1876. The Hall was designed in Beaux-Arts style and housed the Centennial’s art exhibits.
After the exposition, Memorial Hall reopened in 1877 as the Pennsylvania Museum of the School of Industrial Art and also served as the first home of the Philadelphia Museum of Art until 1929. The Fairmount Park Commission began operating the building in 1958 and it became a police station in 1982. After the building fell into disrepair, the Please Touch Museum took over in 2005 and began an ambitious $85 million renovation.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation celebrates the best of preservation each year by bestowing these awards upon individuals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies and corporations whose contributions represent singular success in preserving, rehabilitating or interpreting America’s architectural and cultural heritage.
The Pennsylvania Tourism Office, under the state Department of Community and Economic Development, is dedicated to inspiring travel in and to the State of Independence.