·        WORLD'S MOST MASSIVE GREEK DORIC COLUMN

Total height above lake level..............352 feet (107 meters)

Gallery height above lake level.............317 feet (96 meters)

Total height above Upper Plaza..........340 feet (104 meters)

Gallery height above Upper Plaza.........300 feet (93 meters)

Diameter of column at base...................45 feet (14 meters)

Diameter of column at top.....................35 feet (11 meters)

Gallery size 47½ feet square (4.41 meters square)

·        Constructed lasted between October 1912 and June, 1915 (32 months).

·        Architects: Joseph Freedlander and Alexander Seymour, Jr., New York, New York

·        Contractors: J.C. Robinson and Son Company, New York and Chicago The Memorial was built by the Chicago Office

·        The Monument was paid for with donations from nine states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Kentucky) and the Federal Government.

·        Total Cost:  Robinson Contract - 1912$357,588.00

Plaza (Gravel) - 1914.............................................$122,786.00

Landscaping - 1919..................................................$20,000.00

Plaza (Sandstone) - 1924........................................$100,000.00

Lights – 1928.......................................................... $14,000.00

TOTAL...........................................Approximately $614,374.00

·        The Memorial was dedicated on July, 31, 1931 and the ceremony broadcast live by NBC Radio.

·        Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial National Monument was established as a unit of the National Park Service on July 6, 1936 by Proclamation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The phrase "National Monument" was dropped in 1972.

·        The grounds of Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial today cover 25.38 acres.

·        The foundation of the Memorial column rests on solid bedrock (12 feet or 3.7 meters to bedrock).

·        The weight of the column is estimated as 36,800 kips or 36,800,000 pounds (16,692 metric tons). This includes the lantern, capital, column and foundation.  The foundation alone consists of a concrete ring 9½ feet thick (2.9m) and 12 feet deep (3.66m) with an outside diameter of 45 feet (13.7m).

·        The Memorial was constructed with Pink Milford (Mass.) Granite.  The pink granite gives a more true white appearance from a distance than would a more white stone.

·        The wall of the column is 9¼ feet (2.8m) thick at the base and 4 feet (1.2m) thick at the top.  The walls are reinforced with concrete locked into the granite blocks by "dovetailing"; above the rotunda the inner walls are lined with brick.

·        There are 78 courses (layers) of granite; 30 granite blocks in each course; a total of 2,340 blocks.  The weight of each granite block varies from 2-5 tons (1800kg-4500kg).

·        The elevator shaft is a constant 27½ feet (8.38m) in diameter.  It has always been equipped  with an electric elevator.  The present elevator went into service in 1939 and ascends at 256 feet per minute (2.9mph) and descends at 325 feet per minute (3.7mph).

·        Steps

There is an interior stairway around the elevator with.....427 steps

Upper Plaza to lower elevator landing has.......................37 steps

Upper elevator landing to Gallery has...............................3 steps

TOTAL from Upper Plaza to the Observation Gallery...467 steps

·        Bronze Urn on top of memorial:

Weight ...........................................................11 tons (9,900kg)

Height ...................................................................23 feet (7m)

Diameter .............................................................18 feet (5.5m)

The urn was designed by Freedlander and built by the Gorham company of Rhode Island.  Dismantled and sent to the island in sections, it was reassembled on top of the Memorial penthouse.

·        The floor of the rotunda is of Tennessee (white) and Italian (black) marble. The domed walls and ceiling are of Indiana limestone.  The stains on the ceiling are due to moisture penetration, possibly from the exterior.

·        Three American and three British officers killed in the Battle of Lake Erie are buried in the crypt beneath the floor of the rotunda.  They were originally buried in what is now DeRivera Park the day after the battle.  They were re-interred in the Monument on September 11, 1913, exactly one hundred years after their burial.

American

Marine Lieutenant John Brooks (Lawrence)

Midshipman Henry Laub (Lawrence)

Midshipman John Clark (Scorpion)

British

Captain Robert Finnis (Queen Charlotte)

Lieutenant John Garland (Detroit)

Lieutenant James Garden (Queen Charlotte)

·        Lightning struck the northwest corner of the Observation Gallery in July 1920, knocking a 200+ pound piece of granite through the Upper Plaza and into the basement. In 1923, a lightning arrestor system was approved by Architect Freedlander, and installed for $1,000.00.  The current system was installed in 1982.

·        The Column was opened to the public on June 13, 1915.  By season closing on September 16, 22,000 people had visited the memorial.  Adults paid 25 cents and children 15 cents to ride the elevator.  The elevator fee for adults was raised to 50 cents in 1983 and children under 16 were admitted free with an adult. The fee was increased to $1.00 for adults in approximately 1984 and again to $2.00 in 1993.

·        The interior steps were at one time open to the public. However, they were not designed them for public use, and due to safety considerations, they have been closed for many years.

·        The Memorial has had over 100,000 visitors annually since 1973. More than 150,000 people visited in 1983, and in 1991 over 195,000 people, the highest visitation since the column opened in 1915 (as of 1994).

·        The Monument was closed between the years of 1980-82 for major renovation.  During the first phase the column's exterior was cleaned and the 3½ miles of joints repointed. The Observation Gallery was renovated; concrete was replaced in the penthouse walls.  In 1982, the Upper Plaza was rebuilt with new concrete; the old sandstone pavers were replaced with Pink Milford and Blue Rockport granite. Cost: approx. $2.1 million.

  ·    Phase II was started in 1984, concentrating on the foundation room and inside the column.  New wiring, heating and a dehumidification system were installed, bricks and tile were replaced, and the Lower Plaza was rebuilt using Pink Milford granite instead of sandstone.  Additional landscaping was accomplished.  Cost: approximately $2.4 million.