The Universal Preservation Hall, located at 25 Washington Street in Saratoga Springs, NY is a year-round arts and community events venue. It currently has a 300-350 seat performance space, as well as a large, open, community room. It also houses the worship space for the Universal Baptist Church – an historically African-American congregation.

The building is currently being restored and re-fitted as a performance hall and rental venue. The Hall, though not yet complete, continues to host a wide range of events from music, to theatre, to lectures, to weddings, to conferences, to classes, to exhibits.

History

The Hall was built in 1871 by Elbridge Boyden

Elbridge Boyden

Elbridge Boyden was a prominent 19th century American architect from Worcester, Massachusetts who designed numerous civil and public buildings throughout New England and other parts of the United States. Perhaps his best known work is Mechanics Hall in Worcester.Boyden was born in Vermont on July...

 and is one of the earliest and finest examples of High Victorian Gothic architecture anywhere in the country. Borrowing heavily from German and Italian Gothic Styles, Boyden created a remarkable structure. He contrasted the rose colored brick with light Ohio sandstone to define the pointed Gothic arches that frame the doors and windows and he used horizontal bands of this sandstone to unify the entire building. Inside, two walnut and ash staircases lead upstairs to the main theatre. The ceiling of this awe-inspiring room is forty-five feet above the floor. The balcony, which when in use, can seat two hundred, wraps around three sides of the auditorium. All of the supports that define the balcony and the ceiling beams feature gothic arches that echo those in the tall, abstract, Tiffany-inspired, stained-glass windows which dominate the room. The majestic bell tower, which is the tallest structure in Saratoga Springs, houses a 3,000 pound Meneely bell cast in nearby Troy, New York.

Originally constructed for the Methodist church to host their annual regional meeting – the Hall has hosted such luminaries as William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...

, Henry Ward Beecher

Henry Ward Beecher

Henry Ward Beecher was a prominent Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, abolitionist, and speaker in the mid to late 19th century...

, Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...

, Senator Edgar T. Brackett and President William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

 amongst others. In 1976 the Methodists sold the building to the Universal Baptist Church, who inhabited it until the building’s deteriorating state made it unsafe. In 1999 citizens of Saratoga Springs joined with members of the Baptist Church to rescue the Universal Preservation Hall from collapse. They formed a partnership to rebuild the building as a performance and events center while also creating separate worship space for the Baptists within the building. This relationship between a religious group and a secular arts organization is unique and will hopefully serve as a model for other groups hoping to restore and adapt worship spaces as arts venues. The new sanctuary for the Baptist Church was completed in 2004 and services are held there every Sunday.

Since the reconstruction began the hall has received generous donations from local individuals including a $1,000,000 gift from an anonymous donor to kick off the reconstruction. The Hall has also received support from The Landmarks Conservancy, the State of New York, the City of Saratoga Springs, the Adirondack Trust Company, The Swyer Foundation, The Universal Baptist Church, and The Saratoga Foundation. In 2006, Universal Preservation Hall was named an “Official Project” of Save America’s Treasures and received nearly $200,000 from the U.S. Federal Government.

Spearheaded by Jeff Pfeil, Tom Lewis, and Reverend Dr. Minnie Burns, repairs began in earnest in 2003. The wooden beams, which had almost completely failed due to water damage have been replaced with new steel structure. The floor of the balcony has been rebuilt. The ceiling supports in the main auditorium have been reconstructed using nineteenth century techniques and tools. Over two tons of waste have been removed from the building. Masonry repairs are ongoing.

External links

• http://www.universalpreservationhall.org/ Official Universal Preservation Hall page