The Cyclorama Building is a mid-twentieth-century modern structure constructed primarily of concrete, with additional facing in stone and glass. The building is sited adjacent to the edge of Ziegler’s Grove on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania. The park, a unit of the National Park Service, is dedicated to the preservation of buildings, landscapes, and structures that are significant to the outcome and commemoration of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought during the Civil War from the first to the third of July 1863.

The Cyclorama Building sits on a rise near several notable landscape features that figured prominently in the last day of the battle. To the west of the building are rows of trees replicating Ziegler’s Grove, recently planted by the Park Service, and a reconstruction of the Brian Barn; to the south, accessed via a walking trail are "The Angle" and the "High Water Mark" of the Confederacy; to the southeast is the house that served as Meade’s Headquarters during the battle. A War Department-era road, Hancock Avenue (ca. 1895-1896), runs parallel to the west side of the building, connecting to a parking area to its north, that serves visitors both to the Cyclorama and to what is now the main Visitor Center, also known as the "Rosensteel Building" (as it will be referred to herein), which was acquired by the Park Service in 1974. Another separate parking area is located to the north of the Rosensteel Building. The Rosensteel and Cyclorama buildings serve as the primary public contact area for visitors to the park. The entire complex of buildings, parking lots, and nearby historic markers fits inside an angle of land bordered by Steinwehr Avenue (Route 15) to the west and Taneytown Road to the east, intersecting approximately a quarter mile north of the Park Service buildings. Downtown Gettysburg lies a little over one mile north of the Cyclorama Building.

The Cyclorama Building contains 32,000 square feet of space and consists of three parts: 1) a steel-frame and reinforced concrete drum, supported by reinforced concrete piers faced in fieldstone, housing an exhibit area and the Cyclorama painting; 2) a fan-shaped, two-story, reinforced concrete intermediary wing, housing the auditorium, a mechanical room, and corridors; and 3) a long, two-story, reinforced concrete wing faced in glass and fieldstone, with aluminum trim and louvers, housing two lobbies, visitor services, and staff offices. Exterior terraces lie on the east and west sides of the building at the dual-level entry points. A full-length observation deck on top of the visitor wing, accessed by a reinforced concrete ramp, provides views over the battlefield in three directions (east, south, and west). The ground surface slopes downward from west to east: the doors on the west side of the visitor wing enter the second floor lobby; the doors on the east side enter the first floor lobby. These lobbies are connected by an interior open stair set over a planting area.

The Cyclorama Building is oriented north to south on its site. The drum is located at the far north end; the visitor wing and observation deck stretch outward to the south. The building is notable for its clearly expressed design program, characterized by public spaces common to the Mission 66 model for visitor centers, and for the use of innovative techniques and forms developed by architect Neutra as a commemoration of Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address.

The architects, Neutra & Alexander, designed the interior spaces according to Park Service guidelines for visitor centers established under the Mission 66 program. Every visitor center constructed during the ten-year program included spaces for "reception information" (a lobby and information desk), "interpretation" (an exhibit area or museum), "administration" (staff offices), and restrooms (many accessible from both outside and inside the building). A number of the visitor centers also included an area for "assembly" (an auditorium), as well as a library and bookstore.

The Cyclorama Building, one of the largest and most visible visitor center projects completed during the Mission 66 program, contains all of the public spaces recommended by Park Service designers, uniquely arranged to satisfy not only functional purposes but also to create a sense of drama and expectation culminating at the Cyclorama painting gallery. Visitors enter the building at the north end of the visitor wing into a first- floor (east side) main lobby or a second floor (west side) lobby, both spaces connected by an open stair. Stacked corridors cutting through the auditorium wing connect the lobbies to the exhibit area and circular ramp of the drum.

Basic movement of people through the building follows an organized circulation pattern developed by Mission 66 designers for visitor center services. Beginning in the main lower lobby, tourists receive information about the park and the battle from the interpretive rangers and refresh themselves in the restrooms. The visitors then proceed down the corridor to the auditorium, where an interpretive film or slide presentation is shown. Exiting from the auditorium, visitors circle the exhibition area surrounding the central core of the drum on the first floor, arriving at the entrance to a massive circular ramp leading to the painting. Park Service planners dictated the ramp as part of the original design guidelines; the dramatic treatment, however, is uniquely Neutra’s own work. The long ramp guides visitors slowly up to the third floor, through a dark entrance, and into the upper gallery of the drum. Here is housed the ultimate experience for the visitor -- the enormous Cyclorama painting, accompanied by a sound and light show echoing the blasts of the cannon and the shouts of battle.

Visitors enter the main lobby of the Cyclorama Building through double glass doors with polished aluminum frames set into a vertically-segmented window wall. The floors are covered in polished gray and black terrazzo, a form of mosaic flooring made from marble chips embedded in a portland cement matrix over a concrete base. Thin brass strips divide the floor into sections and guard against cracking of the material. The walls of the lobby are untreated concrete duplicating the ribbed texture of the drum exterior. The ceilings are approximately 9' 6" high, treated with a white sprayed acoustical texture over metal mesh and plaster. Original signs pointing out visitor services hang from the ceiling on both the first and second floors. The steel lettering on these black placards is rendered in a sans-serif font of Neutra's own design. Two-story concrete support columns project through the ceiling into the lobby space above. The columns are of two types. The poured-concrete columns marking the east elevation, visible through the glass window wall, are square, painted in an almost black "Zolatone," a high-gloss, multi-fleck paint applied with a spray gun. The round columns on the west side of the building are composed of small-size, dark-colored aggregate embedded in light-colored concrete. The latter type of columns are repeated in the drum area, supporting the viewing area above and complementing the lines of the stainless-steel-tube cage encircling the ramp.

The entrance lobby is in original condition structurally, with no major additions or changes to the form or materials, although the interior arrangement of moveable features has been altered. The lobby is largely an open space intended as a gathering area and point of distribution to the other parts of the building. There is a small nook, measuring approximately twelve-feet square, to the south of the entry doors. The nook originally housed the information desk. The information desk served a critical function in Mission 66 visitor center design, providing everything necessary for tourists visiting a National Park Service site, including brochures detailing rules and regulations, lists of local accommodations, and maps of the park and surrounding area. The information desk space in the Cyclorama Building was remodeled at an unknown date and is now referred to as a "Sales Center," filled with books, maps, and other retail goods. The east and west sides of the space are bordered by square columns. At the top of the west column, facing the lobby, is a polished-steel wall clock, an original feature, with the face installed directly on the column. These two columns were originally coated in "Zolatone." Only the east-side column remains covered in this almost black paint. The west-side column has been repainted an off-white color to match the walls of the remodeled sales center.

To the north of the lobby entry doors are freestanding shelves with more books, maps, and souvenirs. This space was originally open, furnished with chairs and benches arranged on a square carpet overlooking the ground-level reflecting pool, now removed. The original furnishings were moved to other areas in the building when the space was made into an extension of the sales center. (At this writing, the original furnishings are located next to the segmented window-wall in the drum.) The north wall of the main lobby is a continuation of the ribbed-concrete exterior wall of the auditorium wing. The curved wing arcs into the lobby area, joining seamlessly with the glass window-wall near the entry doors.

Purchases are transacted and questions are presented at the main desk, which lines the entire rear wall of the lobby. Park Service interpretive rangers and bookstore employees for Eastern National, a private firm, man the desk during operating hours. The wall behind the desk is rendered in rough-textured ribbed concrete. A variety of permanent and temporary modern signs, including a red and yellow flashing message board, have been installed on this wall since the building opened and are not part of the original design.

The corridor leading through the auditorium wing and into the drum begins north of the main desk. South of the main desk is an open, half-turn stairway connecting the first and second floor lobbies. The handrails are polished steel, supported underneath by shiny stainless-steel tubes on both sides of the stair. The stainless-steel tube motif visually connects various parts of the structure, as seen also on the rooftop observation deck and around the circular ramp leading to the Cyclorama gallery. The stair treads are covered in terrazzo matching the main floor. The stairs have no risers. A tube of substantial diameter running up the center of the stair under the treads provides stability to the "floating" structure. Planting areas lie under the stair and at the landing. The plants thrive on western light from the second-floor window wall. The stainless-steel balusters were extended to the floor on the east side of the stairway at an unknown date to prevent children from climbing under the stair.

The southeast corner of the lobby becomes a corridor as it passes the stairway, leading to the restrooms. A water fountain designed by the architects in cast bronze is affixed to the wall near the restroom doors.

The southernmost portion of the visitor wing is occupied by a large storage area, accessible through a single door at the end of the corridor. The concrete-walled storage space was formerly a large fallout shelter. The Cyclorama Building is one of seven Mission 66 visitor centers equipped with a fallout shelter as part of the "Federal Fixed Monitoring Network" within the Department of the Interior. The fallout shelter was excavated ca. 1963, after completion of the building. A refrigerator-sized case containing controls for an electronic carillon, installed in 1965 by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865 is installed in the storage area (see details for the carillon under "Interior Description: Drum, First Floor").

The second floor of the visitor/office wing is accessed primarily by an on-grade entrance at the west side of the building. This entrance matches the character of the east entrance, with paired glass doors set in polished metal frames as part of a vertically-sectioned, full-height window wall. The second floor lobby is a light-filled and open space that remains largely original in form and materials. The lobby area is cut into two sections -- east and west -- distinguished by different floor and ceiling treatments. The west side of the lobby, nearest the entry doors, is a high-traffic transition area connecting the metal stairway at the south end, coming up from the first floor lobby, to the Cyclorama access corridor at the north. This high-traffic rectangular area is covered in dark gray terrazzo matching that of the first floor lobby. The plaster and metal mesh lathe ceiling above this strip is dropped slightly and covered with sprayed acoustic material.

The east side of the lobby overlooks the battlefield and serves as a resting area for tourists. This area is delineated by a different color and type of flooring material than that used in the high-traffic area. Alternating parallel bands of marbleized linoleum or vinyl tiles in cream and tan cover the floor, extending into the south corridor leading to the office spaces. The plaster ceiling above is simply painted white with installed downlights for illumination. Chairs and benches placed on a square carpet, part of the original furnishings for the building, provide seating for visitors at the junction of this wing with the ribbed concrete wall of the auditorium wing. Round structural columns composed of small, dark aggregate in a light-colored concrete (running from the first floor to the roof) reinforce the visual separation of the two lobby spaces. A large three-dimensional topographical map of the battlefield landscape occupies the southern portion of the lobby.

Significant details of the space include an original clock face installed on the south wall of the lobby (matching that on the first floor), and a water fountain in cast bronze (likewise matching that on the first floor). Original signs point to "Information/Restrooms," down the stairs, "Battlefield Overlook and Walking Tour," at the base of the concrete ramp just outside the doors, and "Cyclorama & Exhibits," in the north corridor.

The southern portion of the second floor is occupied by Park Service interpretive staff offices, bathrooms, and a library. A single corridor on the west side of the wing provides access to these areas, lit by a continuous row of windows. The east side offices are illuminated by floor-to-ceiling windows shaded by the vertical aluminum louvers described above. The visitor wing originally housed the entire administrative and interpretive staff for the park. As personnel needs at the park grew, many of the staff offices moved into the nearby Rosensteel Building and other structures on the battlefield. The Cyclorama Building offices now primarily serve the interpretive staff. Originally the walls separating office cubicles were moveable, composed of gypsum wallboard on steel studs. The walls were set over a vinyl tile floor and under a suspended acoustical ceiling. The walls appear to be of original material, but the means for moving them is not clear. The floors are now carpeted in this section, with the exception of the restrooms. At the end of the corridor is the park library.

Visitors enter the first floor of the auditorium wing at the north end of the main lobby. A short corridor bisects the wing, leading directly into the exhibit area at the base of the drum. The west side of the first floor contains mechanical and equipment rooms. Examination of these spaces was not possible. Immediately to the east of the corridor entrance is the door to the auditorium. The auditorium is a critical element of the design, both as a prominent feature of Mission 66 visitor center planning and also as a pivotal component in Neutra’s conception of a memorial space suited to lectures and assembly. Timed, regularly scheduled interpretive films were shown in the auditorium, a practice continued today, to introduce tourists to the significance of the battle.

The auditorium appears to be largely original and has not been significantly altered. The floors of gray terrazzo, matching the flooring elsewhere in the building, are now partially covered by brown carpet. The floor is slightly angled towards the front of the auditorium. The two hundred folding theater seats were originally black with gray cloth upholstery, though they may have been recovered since the 1960s. The walls of the auditorium are covered in light-colored wood panels. Lights projecting from the rear wall along the back aisle are original. This aisle provides access to three sections of seats: a large central section with aisles on either side, and two smaller sections of seating at the far walls. At the front of the auditorium is a lectern and a small movie screen. The projection room, accessed from the second-floor corridor, runs across the length of the rear wall elevated above the last seats. A secondary exit door is located on the west (left) side of the movie screen.

The auditorium originally featured moveable walls on two sides, a significant part of the commemorative aspect of Neutra’s design. The east wall panels slid back on tracks (to the southeast) to reveal the outdoor commemorative space. The north wall at the front of the auditorium pivoted to the west, connecting with a concrete aggregate wall of the central cylinder in the memorial drum to create a formal backdrop for events. The total effect was one of a partially-enclosed auditorium space facing the speakers rostrum at the north and open to the east towards the vast outdoor arena of the battlefield. Although the walls are currently not operated by the Park Service, the original hardware and system of moving them remains, evidenced by the soft rubber edges on the sides of the pivoting north wall.

The second floor of the auditorium wing serves primarily as a corridor leading to the drum, beginning at the north end of the upper lobby. On the west side of the corridor are the upper parts of the mechanical room and boiler room. At the end of the corridor on the west side there is a door leading to a smaller equipment room. A hatch in the ceiling of this room leads to the floor of the Cyclorama gallery for access to the rear of the painting. A much taller ladder leads to the roof of the building from the painting gallery. Immediately to the east of the corridor entrance is the access door for the projection room. The closed room overlooks the auditorium seats below. Examination of this space was not possible.

The corridor bisecting the second floor of the auditorium wing connects directly to the ramp encircling the central cylinder of the drum. The ramp leads to and from the Cyclorama gallery. Visitors are required to purchase tickets in the first floor main lobby to view the Cyclorama painting, then usually proceed up the length of the ramp from the first floor. The second floor circumvention point on the ramp functions primarily as an exit from the Cyclorama gallery. An elevated bridge forges the connection between the flat surface of the auditorium wing corridor and the rising surface of the circular ramp. The bridge overlooks the first floor exhibit area in the drum. This juxtaposition is expressed with an open steel-grate floor and a frosted glass, curvilinear side panel. The materials have a translucent quality, signifying a functional and ethereal shift from the viewing gallery of the Cyclorama painting to the second-floor lobby, thence outdoors to the ramp and rooftop observation deck.

INTERIOR DESCRIPTION: DRUM, FIRST FLOOR

Visitors enter the exhibit area at the south end of the drum. The floors are covered in gray terrazzo, continued from the main lobby and the connecting corridor. The exhibit area is darkened, illuminated only by indirect light both natural and artificial. Exhibit cases line the western and northern portions of the exterior wall under a cornice-like projection. The cornice cuts the wall into two sections at the horizontal mid-point. Bulbs installed along the upper side of the cornice, hidden from view, cast circles of light against the dark wall above. The plaster ceiling is painted white. Three-dimensional interpretive dioramas, part of the Mission 66 program, used to occupy open spaces between the glass cases. The dioramas are currently either covered up or removed. One diorama remains near the corridor entrance to the drum in its own curved display case.

Directly to the west of the corridor entryway are two metal full-size doors leading into a large safe room. The safe room was installed as part of a new exhibition area to display Lincoln’s written Gettysburg Address. The National Archives temporarily loaned the document to the Park Service for display in this building between Memorial Day and Labor Day during the 1980s. A closed room was created behind the two doors in what was originally an open lounge area. Visitors entered the darkened room through the east-side door, viewed the Address, and exited from the west-side door. Both doors were locked and secured during off-hours to protect the document.

Adjacent to the safe doors is a mounted plaque commemorating the dedication of an electronic memorial carillon installed in 1965 by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865 and dedicated to the "memory of those who lost their lives in the Civil War." Manufactured by Schlumerich Carillons, developers of the electronic carillon, this device came with two tapes featuring twenty-four selections at a cost of $4,865. The Daughters timed their contribution to coincide with the centennial celebration of the end of the Civil War, 9 April 1865. The control keyboard, for manual operation, rests nearby, adjacent to the utility access door for the central concrete cylinder. The carillon stopped working in the late 1970s. Sometime thereafter, a new digital carillon was installed by the Park Service. The control case for this carillon sits in a second floor mechanical room in the auditorium wing. Eventually the second device was also disabled. The electronic carillon played without bells, the sound transmitted through "stentors" which remain behind the parapet of the drum.

The eastern portion of the curved exterior wall on the first floor of the drum is clipped. Full-height windows connect the end of the curved wall of the drum with the flat northeastern wall of the auditorium wing. Together with the auditorium wing, this portion of the building was dedicated to commemorative gatherings. The enormous segmented windows, set on tiny wheels within parallel tracks at the floor and ceiling, slid to the north, opening up this entire section of the first floor to the outdoor spaces of the battlefield and assembly grounds. The north and east walls of the auditorium also slid open to incorporate that space into the assembly as well.

An elevated speakers rostrum was the focus of the auditorium and east side of the drum when the walls were opened for an assembly. Located at the junction of two curved, overlapping walls, the circular rostrum floats approximately four feet above ground level. A series of vertical stainless-steel tubes surround the speaker’s platform, repeating a pattern utilized along the ramp to the painting and on the rooftop observation deck. A light and flat surface for notes is installed in the rostrum. A small rectangle cut out just above the terrace roof hides an audio speaker for amplification in the exterior concrete drum wall. The elevated platform is accessed by a short stairway hidden behind one of the two curved walls. The walls, both composed of gray-colored aggregate in a concrete matrix, partially enclose the central cylinder to create a dignified background for commemorative assembly. Both wall surfaces are elevated slightly off the floor, with a dark molding below them. The north wall is taller, reaching from the floor to just below the ceiling. The wall provides a backdrop for an excerpt from the last line of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in raised, polished metal letters: "...SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH."

The south backdrop wall is not as high as its northern counterpart, but is much longer, extending from the speakers rostrum to the entrance corridor. The curved floor of the central ramp and railing of protective stainless-steel tubes are visible through an open clerestory space at the top of the wall. The north auditorium wall, when pivoted open, connects with this curved wall to separate the assembly space from the exhibit area. The moveable walls were immobilized at an unknown date and are currently not functioning. A sculptural bust of Lincoln, is installed in front of the north wall. The sculpture is not an original component of the building or of its concept.

The central portion of the first floor is a poured concrete cylinder, hollow on the interior, supporting the viewing platform in the Cyclorama gallery above. A wide, open ramp winds around the central cylinder twice before culminating at the viewing platform. The ramp is encased from top to bottom by a stainless-steel tube cage around the outside diameter, with cut-outs provided at the primary entrance and also at the second floor bridge entrance. The exterior walls of the concrete cylinder are covered in a tightly laid pattern of small, dark, tiles creating a rich texture in contrast to the smooth, steel-tube encasement. The ceiling above the ramp is white painted plaster. The base of the tile wall and floor of the ramp is illuminated by a continuous lighting panel that runs the entire length of the ramp. The floor of the ramp is composed of thin concrete slabs.

An artificial landscape area is installed around the base of the cylinder and ramp, complementing the exhibit cases lined against the outside wall. Rocks, portions of fences, and other materials are placed in the simulated landscape. Early photographs of the building show that this is an original display feature, unchanged even in the arrangement of the features since the opening of the structure. Round support columns project from the artificial landscape around the cylinder, disappearing above into the floor of the upper drum. The columns are composed of the same gray aggregate and concrete matrix utilized for the columns in the lobby area. A low bench, covered in terrazzo matching that used on the floor, borders the landscape and columns. Lighting fixtures hang from the ceiling on thin black cords above the bench. The fixtures are composed of a white metal disk above a polished metal cup that directs light from the bulb downward.

The interior of the concrete cylinder is occupied by office space and a multi-story, wood-frame stair and storage area. Access to the space is through a small door cut into the cylinder just west of the ramp entry. The concrete walls inside the cylinder are painted white on the lower third section only. The remainder of the walls and the ceiling are untreated concrete. The concrete ceiling of the cylinder acts also as the base for the viewing platform in the Cyclorama gallery. Fluorescent fixtures light the area. There are three safes in a concrete projection along the west wall. The original function of the safes is unknown. A small window built for ticket sales to the Cyclorama gallery faces out at the entry point to the ramp. This window is no longer used by the Park Service. Ticket sales are now handled at a larger desk installed parallel and adjacent to the beginning of the ramp.

The long ramp leading to the Cyclorama painting, winding around the darkly-tiled cylinder and lighted subtly at the floor, prepares visitors for their entry into the viewing gallery. The stainless-steel tubes encasing the ramp cast moving shadows and disperse light passing through the window wall on the east side of the drum. The design of the ramp amplifies strong vertical patterns -- seen in the stainless-steel tubes and tile wall — by setting them against the sloping surfaces of the floor, handrail, ceiling, and light strip.

Visitors enter the second floor of the drum through a pair of solid double doors, following the ramp into a dimly lighted circular room. The ramp terminates at a round viewing platform at the center of the Cyclorama gallery. The character of the ramp changes past the double doors. The floor is carpeted and the exterior wall is covered by dark brown panels separated by shiny metal dividers reminiscent of the steel tubes. The tile wall continues to the end of the ramp.

The Cyclorama gallery is spanned by a sophisticated system of steel girders and bridge strands held secure by a central 42"-diameter steel pipe -- the entire configuration similar to that of a bicycle wheel. No aspect of this significant structural feature is or was ever intended to be visible.

The space itself is visually defined by the 360-degree painting, which surrounds the circular viewing platform at the center. A two-foot-high concrete wall and metal handrail keeps visitors within the perimeter of the platform. The carpeted floor in the space between viewer and canvas slopes away from the platform toward the painting. Spotlights aimed at the painting are hidden in a drop-step in the floor, approximately ten feet from the canvas. A small area of the viewing platform is partitioned off for the ranger or interpretive guide. The guide directs the presentation of the painting, which remains darkened until the show begins. The pre-programmed "sound and light" show, consisting of a recorded narrative punctuated by timed spotlights illuminating portions of the painting, leads visitors through the events on the third day of the battle. This show, a much-hailed and appreciated "modern" feature at the time the building opened, remains virtually unchanged today. A new narrative, read by the actor Richard Dreyfuss, and sound effects were re-recorded ca. 1995. Shows begin on the half-hour throughout the day. The lighting schematics and mechanical system appear to be original. The lights are housed in a large central disk, hung from the ceiling to approximately fourteen feet above the viewing platform. The surface of the disk is covered in textured blown acoustic material. At the center of the lighting disk is a register, part of a relief ventilation system housed in the central steel pipe supporting the ceiling.

The inside diameter of the concrete drum encasing the Cyclorama gallery measures 123' 4". The painting itself has a diameter of approximately 112' 4" and is nearly 27' tall. The view of the painting is unobstructed by any interior supports. The ten-inch-thick concrete wall of the drum is supported by two-foot-thick concrete columns, spaced evenly around the inside perimeter. Heating and cooling vents are placed between the columns at floor level. At last inspection pieces of carpet covered the floor vent openings.

The design contract with Neutra & Alexander did not include the wood-frame support system for the enormous Cyclorama canvas. The painting was installed in the building after extensive restoration under the direction of Park Service conservator Walter J. Nitkiewicz in 1960. The canvas is secured to a heavy wood frame at its top diameter, falling freely to the concrete floor. Problems with stabilization of the canvas are a current concern. The supporting wood frame is not an integral part of the building.