The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is starting to take shape thanks our talented Construction Team. Crews are working very hard  to make sure that the museum will be ready to go on September 20, 2008, which is our Grand Opening Celebration.

 

 

 

Over the past several days, masons have been working to install the original 1913 pediment inside the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. The 1913 pediment and original 1913 cornerstone will be incorporated into permanent exhibits at the Cultural Center.

The brick work continues on the Broadway side of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. It's nearly complete!

 

Granite panels have been installed on the first floor of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

 

Views of the building from West Ninth Street

Detail of the Cultural Center's brick work.

At a planned meeting called by the Department of Arkansas Heritage, the fire marshal and the building's architects met to establish the requirements of occupancy loads for the Cultural Center's third floor auditorium.

A view from beneath the auditorium's balcony.

A view from the auditorium's stage area.

Spring has sprung, and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center's construction site is lively!  Brick work is nearing completion on the Ninth Street side of the Cultural Center, ductwork is being installed, interior framing is almost finished, and sheet rock is being installed at various locations in the building.

Ninth Street brick work

A view of the Cultural Center from Broadway

Framing installed in the educational space and main exhibit area.

Installation of ductwork

Framing of walls

View of The Cultural Center from West Ninth Street.

The installation of the Cultural Center's new pediment is nearly complete.

     

  

  

Before

 

After

After the brick was laid, workers began cleaning the brick. Above are before and after shots of the brick work on the south side of the Cultural Center.

        

Work on the exterior of the Cultural Center is well under way as the exterior sheathing is being installed on the building. Above are views of the Cultural Center from Broadway and from Ninth Street.            

 

Windows have been installed in the Center's third floor auditorium.

 

Workers set the base pre-cast stone at the front of the Cultural Center on Ninth Street and Broadway.

Brick masons began work on the south and west sides of the Cultural Center.

Construction is well under way on the structure to house the new Mosaic Templars Cultural Center . As planned, the structure will reflect the early twentieth century commercial-style architecture of the former Mosaic Templars Headquarters Building , including a red brick facade, square pilasters, and neoclassical style cornices. Building construction will cost approximately $6.5 million. While the Department of Arkansas Heritage has secured $6 million from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, $500,000 is still need to complete the Auditorium.  

Re-bar and forms are put into place for the floor of the southwestern corner of the Center.

Window frames are installed on the West Ninth Street side of the building.

Steel is assembled onsite for the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

The concrete foundation has been poured.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center building foundation has been prepared and is ready for the concrete to be poured.

Another milestone for the future site of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center -- the original precast concrete pediment and brick portico were removed from the construction site. The pediment, featuring the Mosaic Templars of America emblem carefully disassembled and preserved as an artifact.

Construction has begun on the new building that will house the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. The museum was originally supposed to be housed in the historic Mosaic Templars of America Headquarters Building located at West Ninth and Broadway Streets in downtown Little Rock; however a fire destroyed the ninety-two year old historic building on March 16, 2005. The new Mosaic Templars Cultural Center has been designed to reflect the architecture and vision of the original Headquarters Building, which served as an anchor to the thriving black business district along West Ninth Street.

The new structure will reflect the early twentieth century commercial-style architecture of the original building, including a red brick facade, square pilasters, and neoclassical style cornices. The new building design will incorporate two remaining portions of the original structure: the entry way consisting of original 1913 brick and the pre-cast concrete pediment as well as the Headquarters Building's original granite cornerstone. The exterior will closely resemble the original four-story structure, however the interior has been designed to house a 7,500 square foot exhibit space on the first floor; staff offices, an oral history studio, and a genealogy center on the second floor; and an auditorium occupying the third and fourth floors of the museum for public events. The Cultural Center's opening exhibits will interpret the business enterprise of Arkansas's African Americans as well as accomplishments in politics, civil rights, and the arts. The third floor auditorium will resemble the original Temple Auditorium, including a horseshoe-shaped balcony and a stage with proscenium opening.

The project will cost approximately $7 million. While the Department of Arkansas Heritage has secured $4 million towards the construction of the new structure, $2.5 million is still needed for the project's completion -- $1.5 million to finish the Center's third-floor auditorium and an additional $1 million to fund the Center's opening exhibits.

 

  

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, a Museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, along with architect, Tommy Jameson, unveiled the new plans for the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. The façade of the new structure will resemble the appearance of the original building. The first floor will feature immersive, interactive exhibits which document the Mosaic Templars of America organization from 1875 to 1935, the evolution of the West Ninth Street black business district, and the demise of the neighborhood.  Exhibits will interpret the social, cultural, and political development of Little Rock’s African American community during the late nineteenth and early twentienth century. Pioneering businesses such as a pharmacy will demonstrate an example of viable black entrepreneurship. An art collection by renowned sculptor, Isaac Scott Hathaway will highlight prominent black Arkansans. Cultural Center staff offices, conference rooms, and work areas will be located on the second floor. The large auditorium will again occupy the third floor and host live music performances, lectures and forums.

WHO: Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

WHAT: Public Meeting and Presentation of Construction and Exhibit Design Plans

WHEN: August 25, 2005 at 5:30

WHERE: Auditorium, Neighborhood Resource Center, 12th and Pine Street (former Lee Elementary School)

For more information, please contact the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center at 501.683.3593 or via emial at info@mosaictemplarscenter.com.

The granite cornerstone from the Mosaic Templars National Headquarters Building has been moved from its home at at West Ninth and Broadway Streets to the Department of Arkansas Heritage Collections Management Facility. The cornerstone was moved so that construction can begin the new structure that will house the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

              

On August 16, 2005, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center staff discovered several artifacts inside the cornerstone of the former Mosaic Templars of America Headquarters Building. Several documents and books, including a copy of M.W. Gibbs autobiography and the Rituals of the Mosaic Templars organization were placed in the granite cornerstone when the building was constructed in 1913. The 92 year old building was destroyed by fire last March. The artifacts were found while construction crews cleaned the site in preparation for the construction of the new structure to house the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, a Museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

An early morning fire today destroyed the Mosaic Templars of America Building at 9^th and Broadway in downtown Little Rock. Work had just begun to renovate the historic building for opening in late 2006 as the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the fourth museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage (DAH).

 

“We are completely devastated by this,” said Cathie Matthews, director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. “The building was a great piece of Arkansas history.”

 

“Our intent is to rebuild and continue our plans to open the museum,” said Cathie Matthews. “The next few weeks will clarify for us what we need to do. We have such a compelling story to tell about the Mosaic Templars and what that association and its leaders achieved during very trying times. We will let their determination inspire us as we move ahead.

 

“Many people and organizations have been involved in the plans for this building and museum,” Matthews continued, “including the City of Little Rock, the Arkansas General Assembly, Governor Mike Huckabee, the Mosaic Templars Building Preservation Society and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center Advisory Board. We will continue to look to them for help and support in the days ahead.”

 

The Mosaic Templars of America was established in 1875 as a fraternal organization to provide burial and other services to its members.  The Mosaic Templars provided services to black people in an era when few basic services were available to them.  By 1900, Mosaic Templars industries had grown to include an insurance company, a building and loan association, a publishing company, a business college, a nursing school and a hospital. The Mosaic Templars of America Building opened in 1911 and housed Mosaic Templars offices as well as other businesses.

 

The Department of Arkansas Heritage and its agencies and museums seek to recognize the state’s heritage and to enhance Arkansas’s quality of life through the discovery, preservation and presentation of the state’s natural, cultural and historic resources. The other agencies and museums of DAH are the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Arts Council, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and the Old State House Museum.