The Wesleyan Chapel: 1985 to today

The Wesleyan Chapel: 1985 to today. Women's Rights National Historical Park. , Saving the chapel, At the urging of concerned citizens, Congress established Women's Rights National Historical Park in 1980. The federal government purchased the former Wesleyan Chapel in 1985. , All that remained, Very little of the original structure was left and no drawings or photos of the original chapel existed. Still, it was the site of the First Woman's Rights Convention. , A commemorative treatment, In 1987, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service held an international competition to create a design that would protect and highlight the remaining historic elements. The water wall and lawn are part of the winning design. , Back to basics, The National Park Service stripped away 140 years of alterations, remodeling, and subdivisions to return the chapel to the single, contemplative building it once was., Reweaving the historical fabric, In 2010, the National Park Service determined that the best way to protect the historic wood, bricks, and plaster from weather was to envelop them in a new structure, as close in spirit to the original as possible., (photo captions:), ·Superintendent Judy Hart receives keys to the Wesleyan Chapel from previous owner Frank J. Ludovico. , ·This diagram shows structural changes to the Wesleyan Chapel between 1843 and 1985., ·Design winners Ray Kinoshita and Ann Wills Marshall with the commemorative treatment that opened to the public in July, 1993. , ·Construction workers removed non-historic portions of the chapel., ·The restored interior chapel as of 2019.