{"nrhp_refnum":"83002266","name":"Board of Education Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"21st St. and Benjamin Franklin Pkwy.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.959009657000024,"lon":-75.17523986799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-08-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A nine-story Neo-Classical administrative building of Indiana limestone on the edge of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dedicated on February 20, 1932, that housed the city's public school board administration.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building represents the center of public education in Philadelphia, is an excellent example of neo-classicism executed during the Art Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s, and contributes to the planning of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, framing the view toward the Art Museum from Logan Circle.","narrative":"Dedicated on February 20, 1932, the Board of Education Building in Philadelphia is a nine-story Neo-Classical structure of Indiana limestone that occupies an entire city block on the edge of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Designed by Irwin T. Catherine, it rises to a low two-tiered tower with eight-sided upper section, topped by carved heads of educators and statesmen on sixteen columns. Before its completion, the school administration had been scattered across several city locations, and the new building allowed those services to be consolidated under one roof. The building is regarded as a clear example of classical design executed in the Art Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s, with Art Deco lighting, grilles, and signage in its corridors and auditorium. Its west-side placement frames the view toward the Art Museum from Logan Circle and balances the Free Library on the east, making it a significant component of the parkway's civic composition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catherine (architect)","architectural_style":"Neo-Classical","criteria":[],"status_note":"Exterior unaltered apart from metal panel sheathing added to the penthouse; interiors relatively unaltered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.941435-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/83002266.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83002266/e2e71d75d1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83002266/e2e71d75d1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"TypoBoy","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoardOfEdNorth2cropped.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">TypoBoy</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoardOfEdNorth2cropped.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"72001151","name":"Fairmount Park","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/fairmount-park-72001151/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997230","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_Education_Building_(Philadelphia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4931316"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/board-of-education-building-83002266/"}