Why Do We Construct The Athenaeum?

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The Athenaeum is a large multipurpose building located in the historic district of Lockerbie Square in Indianapolis, Indiana. The building itself has German roots and has a very distinct style, different from the buildings surrounding it. This building first piqued my interest when I visited it in my junior year of high school with my German class. Many of the different features were fascinating and beautiful, and they are just things that are not seen in new buildings constructed these days. These are reasons why I chose this building to be the topic of this paper. This paper is going to discuss the time it took to construct The Athenaeum, the architects, the original purpose of the building, it’s history, the special architectural features …show more content…

At the beginning of 1893 Benjamin Harrison was president, but then Grover Cleveland succeeded him. In May of the same year, the New York Stok Exchange collapsed, that in turn lead to a four-year state of depression (1893). This was a bad time for farmers and those in the agriculture field of business. Wheat prices fell and production of many crops was low due to storm and drought (Whitten, 2001). Prices of other crops followed suit, and farmer’s debts made things more difficult on them (Whitten, 2001). Investments in the railroad also contributed to the depression, as well as the European depression of the time (Whitten, 2001). European’s sold off their American investments to get fund for themselves, which did not do the American market any justice (Whitten, 2001). While this was not a time of war for America, it was not a time of prosperity. The depression led to a rise in unemployment, as much as ten percent more than what it had been, which lasted for five to six years, the only other time rates were like this was in the Great Depression of 1930 (Whitten, 2001). The depression was mostly during Cleveland’s presidency, who was a Democrat, which lead to the election of William McKinley, a Republican, during the next election. This was because many viewed the democratic Cleveland as the cause of the …show more content…

The building has two elaborate gables, a three-storied brick tower that has a conical roof, a semi-circular arched entrance made from limestone with two free-standing Roman Doric Columns and a limestone belt course to define the second-floor line (“History and Architecture”). It also has many different types of windows including; arched upper windows, bullseye gymnasium windows, stained glass windows, and transom windows (“History and Architecture”). It also features a steeply pitched huge Hipped roof, decorative stepped gable façade in stone and terracotta that rise into a baroque pediment above the cornice, above the middle gable there are sculptured panels, and alternating bands of horizontal stone (“History and Architecture”). The building also has some copper work with its small hooded-copper domed dormers with dwarf spires and copper covered cupolas with dwarf spires (“History and Architecture”). Some other stonework on the façade includes stone lion and shields with lyres, terracotta figures, stone columns with Doric caps, and faces of the alternating stone voussoirs are projected from the building (“History and

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