Congressman Jim Gerlach joined U.S. Senator Rick Santorum and Franklin Institute President and CEO Dr. Dennis Witt in announcing today legislation authorizing up to $10 million for the renovation, restoration and potential expansion of the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial. The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemoration Act of 2005, introduced in the House by Congressman Gerlach, was recently signed into law by the President.
Featured in magazines, on television and in films, The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial was sculpted by James Earle Fraser who also designed the famous buffalo nickel. The statue weighs 30 tons and sits on a 92-ton pedestal of white Seravezza marble. Originally opened in 1938, Memorial Hall was designed by architect John T. Windrim and modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. The Hall is 82 feet in lenght, width and height. The domed ceiling is self-supporting and weighs 1,600 tons. The floors, walls, columns, pilasters and cornices are made of rare marbles from Portugal, Italy and France.
