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Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
were restored, and some newer non-historic
windows were removed. The outdoor fire escapes
were removed and the multistory wooden back
porches were rehabilitated and strengthened for
continued use (Moravian College 1958).
Figure 8-121. Main Hall, north façade, view to southwest (JMA
2008).
as the Blue Parlors, were used as reception rooms
throughout the building’s history. The walls of
these rooms were decorated with scenic landscape
paintings by Gustavus Grunewald, a teacher of
fine arts at the school. Handpainted wallcoverings
adorned the headmaster’s apartment, also on the
first floor (Moravian College 1958). According to
the sign on the street front, Main Hall was the home
of headmaster Francis Wolle, whose son J.F. Wolle
was born in the family apartment and later went on
to found the Bach Choir.
Main Hall remained in use as a dormitory, staff
housing, and reception rooms throughout much of
its history. A 1947 fire insurance survey indicated
that the basement contained a home economics
kitchen, private kitchen and dining room, and
classrooms. The first floor contained administrative
offices, a private living room, and four bedrooms.
The second floor had classrooms, a library, and
dormitory rooms. The third and fourth floors were
exclusively dormitory rooms (Hampson 1947:5).
By the 1950s, the first floor was used as the school
president’s office. In 1958, following the merger
that produced today’s Moravian College, Main
Hall was the first of the historic Church Street
buildings to be restored to an earlier period. This
provided the reconfigured school with badly
needed housing space but also satisfied the need to
maintain a historic exterior appearance. Following
investigation of the building’s historic components,
exterior restoration work commenced. Multiple
layers of paint were removed from the exterior
brickwork and wood elements. Trim was removed
from the north window lintels, the rear cornice was
corrected, and all outside trim was painted white.
Original window spaces which had been infilled
The interior was modernized to create dormitory
space on the upper floors and a lounge and snack
bar on the basement level. The president’s office was
relocated and the Blue Parlors have continued as a
reception site for school functions. Restoration work
on the first floor refurbished the walls, ceilings, and
trim to original appearance. Fireproofing measures
resulted in the installation of six vent chimneys and
two new fireproof stairwells inside the building,
including one at the rear ell.
A College family day program from 1958 described
the rehabilitation and restoration work in detail
and mentioned that the building still lacked three
original exterior features: a rooftop belvedere with
balustrades, exterior shutters for all windows
except the Church Street façade (where original
interior shutters were extant), and a “reconstructed
Figure 8-122. Main Hall, south façade and ell, view to northeast
(JMA 2008).
Figure 8-123. Main Hall, south façade and ell, historic view to
north (Moravian College Archives).
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 8 • Historic Buildings • 210