Cyclorama in Distress

The year is 1961, and these men are working fast and furiously on Richard Neutra's Cyclorama Building. They probably would be pleased to hear that their work would come to be called "one of the showplaces of the National Park System" by the New York Times. The Washington post would praise it for being "quietly monumental but entirely unsentimental... and fearlessly modern." Eventually it would make the National Register of Historic Places for its "exceptional historic and architectural significance."

Neutra really put his heart into this one toward the end of his life. So you have to wonder what his reaction would be if he had any idea that the National Park Service was now rarin' to tear the place to the ground. It seems that somebody important prefers a "more appropriate" architectural style... and a big parking lot.

Please help protect Neutra's creation by signing this online petition.

Incidentally, the cyclorama displays a 40 foot high painting of the 1883 Battle of Gettysburg.