Watch as Historic Founder's Hall Gets a New Roof

To view a live, streaming video of the Founder's Hall (at Girard College in Philadelphia) roof replacement project:

1. go to the school's web-site, www.girardcollege.com
2. On the right column, click on top item "Founder's Hall Roof Project"
3. If prompted, enter "demo" as user ID and no password (you should only have to do this once).
4. Select "ok"

Many know that Founder's Hall (1833-47) is a National Historic Landmark and was designed by AIA founding member, Thomas U. Walter. The original roof (34,000 square feet!) is marble tiles. When it started to fail in the 1880s, the school placed a standing seam tin roof on top of the original marble tile. The tin roof started to fail several years ago.

This project removes the second roof (tin) and replaces it with a standing seam roof of terne-coated stainless steel. The work is made possible through generous donations from Girard College friends and alumni, PHMC's Keystone Historic Preservation Program, and the 2nd largest Pennsylvania grant in the history of the Save America's Treasures program. Girard College is pleased to work with Vitetta as architect, and U. S. Roofing as contractor.

Please be aware that there will not be action every moment (especially since you can only see the west side of the roof), so check back often to see our progress!

Elizabeth Laurent
Associate Director for Historic Resources
Girard College #116
2101 South College Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19121-4857
215.787.4434
fax 215.787.4404
elaurent@girardcollege.com

Return to Top | Return Home