Andrea Lowery, Executive Director at PHMC | Lowery
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) and the Department of General Services (DGS) have started construction on a new roundhouse at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The groundbreaking ceremony marked the beginning of work on a 16,000-square-foot, six-stall structure designed to preserve important pieces of the state’s railroad history.
Officials from both organizations attended the event. Participants included Andrea Lowery, Executive Director of PHMC; Patrick Morrison, Director of the Railroad Museum; Greg Kirk, Deputy Secretary for Capital Programs at DGS; Dr. William Lewis and Randell Spackman from PHMC; David Dunn, Director Emeritus of the museum; and Pat Browne, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
The roundhouse is being designed by Erdy McHenry Architecture in Philadelphia. Its fan-shaped layout will be built with brick, steel, and glass and feature a clerestory-style roof to allow natural light inside. When finished, it will provide climate-controlled space for six historic steam locomotives from the Pennsylvania Railroad that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building will also have an ADA-accessible pathway for visitors as well as areas for viewing and photography.
During the ceremony, speakers discussed how this project would help protect valuable artifacts and make them more accessible to visitors in future years.
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