Wrigley Memorial

Wrigley Memorial. . , There are five panels at the memorial. The first panel is in front of the memorial to the right. There is a duplicate panel located at the entrance, left of the walkway: , Wrigley Memorial is dedicated to the memory of Wm. Wrigley Jr. It was designed by the architectural firm of Bennett, Parsons and Frost of Chicago., Excavation for the building began in July 1933, actual construction was started in October of that same year, and the building was completed in June of 1934., This structure stands 232 feet wide, 180 feet deep, and 130 feet high from the bottom of its circular stairway to the top of its main 80 foot tower., Second panel on the stairway to the right: , This building was constructed as nearly as possible from Catalina materials. Aggregate stone, all of which was quarried and crushed in Catalina, was the principal building material. It was bonded with white cement and sandblasted to reveal and accent the colors and textures of the stone and to expose as little of the cement as possible. Nevertheless, 13,400 sacks of white cement from the East Coast were needed to bond the aggregate in addition to 9,900 sacks of gray cement from the Pacific Coast used for the foundation and other non-exposed parts of the building. There are 114 tons of reinforcing steel in the structure., Third panel at the entrance of the left walkway: , The arches and red tile roof of this building reflect the Spanish influence that dominated the architecture of Early California. To help retain the Early California look in Catalina, Wm. Wrigley Jr. established a tile plant in Catalina which subsequently produced much beautiful tile, including all the red roof tiles and all the colorful hand-made glazed tiles used for decorative effects in this building., Fourth panel located to the left of the bronze doors: , These bronze doors, created to exact specifications for this memorial building by the Coleman Bronze Company of Chicago in August of 1934, are made of only the best quality architectural bronze and the best quality statuary bronze (90% copper) and the castings are no less than 3/16" thick at any point., The blue flagstone rock on the ramp to the left and on both the terraces of the tower is a natural product of Catalina. It came from Little Harbor., Fifth panel located on the inside of the arches: , Although handsome marble has been quarried in Catalina, pink and green marble from Georgia was used in this structure for certain desired finishing effects.