The Ford Rotunda was a
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural ...
that was originally located on the
South Side of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, and later was relocated to
Dearborn,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
. At one point in the mid-20th century, it was the fifth most popular tourist destination in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The futuristic structure received more visits in the 1950s than did the
Statue of Liberty.
The Rotunda was built for the
1933 World’s Fair—“A Century of Progress International Exposition”—in Chicago. After the World’s Fair, the Rotunda was dismantled and rebuilt in Dearborn, serving as the visitor center for what was then the equivalent of Ford Motor Company’s world headquarters.
Albert Kahn, who designed the Rotunda for Ford’s exposition at the World’s Fair, was also called upon to update the design for its new purpose. Its ultramodern design, elaborate shows, and spectacular Christmas displays contributed to the Rotunda’s extreme popularity among tourists during its existence. The Rotunda was destroyed on Friday, November 9, 1962, by a fire.
1933–1934 Chicago World’s Fair
The Ford Rotunda (also referred to as the Ford Pavilion, and the Ford Exposition Building) was built by the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
for the Century of Progress International Exposition (the Chicago World's Fair) held in 1933 and 1934 to house installations depicting man’s developments in transportation. The Rotunda was situated within of the
Lake Michigan shoreline on the South Side of Chicago, where
Burnham Park is now. Ford did not participate in the 1933 World's Fair. This building was constructed for the 1934 World's Fair.
Relocating to Dearborn
Rotunda in Dearborn, across street from Ford headquarters, over river from the Ford Rouge factory
Late in 1934 it was announced that, following the World’s Fair, the Ford Rotunda would be dismantled and shipped to Dearborn, Michigan where it was to act as a visitor center and be reconstructed using more permanent materials. It was constructed on a site across Schaefer Rd. from the original Ford Administration Building and near the later
Ford World Headquarters
The ''Henry Ford II World Center'', also commonly known as the ''Ford World Headquarters'' and popularly known as the Glass House, is the administrative headquarters for Ford Motor Company, a 12-story, glass-faced office building designed to accom ...
. It was constructed with a steel framework weighing with of Indiana
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
attached to it, matching the administration building. It stood 10 stories high and measured at the base and had a center courtyard with a diameter of . Two additional wings were also added to the permanent location in Dearborn that anchored the center section.
The Rotunda had a completely new look after being reassembled at its new location; the building resembled four gears stacked in decreasing sizes. Inside the Rotunda were murals showing the River Rouge assembly line. On the grounds of the Rotunda was a track were 19 reproductions of what Ford called the Roads of the World, including the
Appian Way
The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, ...
, the
Grand Trunk Road
The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...
, the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...
, and Detroit’s
Woodward Avenue
A woodward is a warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to:
Places
;United States
* Woodward, Iowa
* Woodward, Oklahoma
* Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place
* Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which bisects th ...
where visitors would be driven in the latest Ford vehicles. The Rotunda was reopened to the public on May 14, 1936 after more than a year of construction.
Fred Waring
Fredrick Malcolm Waring Sr. (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was an American musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing". He was also ...
’s band played for more than 22,000 visitors at the grand opening. Movie stars, celebrities, business leaders, heads of state, and millions of people came to learn about and celebrate the Ford Motor Company.
It became the fifth most popular tourist destination in the 1950s, after
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
, the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, w ...
, the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
and the
Lincoln Memorial. It was more popular than
Yellowstone Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
,
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
, the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...
and the
Statue of Liberty. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, attendance dwindled due to gas rationing
so the Rotunda was closed to the public and served as office space and a school for the
Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps:
* Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army
* Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941)
* United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
, with barracks set up across Rotunda Drive. The theatre inside the Rotunda was used as a movie hall to entertain soldiers. In 1946, ten young army officers, soon to be known as the Whiz Kids, first met
Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president ...
over lunch at the Rotunda.
In anticipation of re-opening in 1952, the Rotunda underwent extensive remodeling. Seeking to enclose the open center court with a roof, Ford engineers calculated the weight of a conventional steel-framed dome at ,
which the Rotunda structure could not support. In its first real-world application, inventor
R. Buckminster Fuller designed a lightweight geodesic dome weighing ,
solving the problem, and becoming a tourist attraction in its own right.
On June 16, 1953, the rotunda was reopened to the public as a part of Ford’s 50th Anniversary celebration and as a highlight included 50 huge birthday candles, mounted and lit along the rim of the rotunda.
Ford utilized the Rotunda’s popularity to call attention to new model introductions, and was used as a venue to photograph its automobiles and hold special events. The Rotunda was used for dealer presentations, press events and other business meetings. In the first 12 months of re-opening nearly 1.5 million people visited the Rotunda to see the displays, ride the cars, and tour the Rouge. In 1958 the new
Lincoln Continental
The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a personal vehicle for Ed ...
was introduced to the press under a model of the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "' ...
and in 1959 just after
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
became the 49th state, a display was built featuring mountains, fisherman and a stuffed grizzly bear in the Rotunda. Flower shows and custom car shows were also held in the Rotunda.
One of the brands introduced at the Rotunda was the ill-fated 1958
Edsel
Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effor ...
, introduced during the late 1950s, a depressed economic period where buyers wanted smaller, more economical cars. This was the start of the American compact car race and the Edsel division was discontinued shortly after the 1960 models and a production run of two years.
In 1953, the annual Christmas Fantasy was held for the first time at the Rotunda and nearly half a million people visited that year. A
Christmas tree was displayed. An elaborate Santa’s workshop and a life-size nativity scene that the
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Un ...
called the “largest and finest” in the country, as well as animated characters from children’s stories, a per scale 15,000-piece miniature circus with 800 animals, 30 tents, and 435 toy figurines of circus performers and customers. The Christmas Fantasy was held for nine years at the Rotunda and in that time nearly 6 million people visited.
Destruction
On Friday, November 9, 1962, shortly after 1pm, a fire began on the roof of the Rotunda. The fire started as workers were waterproofing the building in preparation for that year’s Winter Spectacular. The alarm rang at 1:12pm and, despite efforts of the entire Dearborn fire brigade, the walls of the Rotunda collapsed at 1:55pm.
The official report from the Dearborn Fire Department read: "Plastic dome on light aluminum construction over interior court of building collapsed spreading fire to combustible content (Christmas Fantasy display).".
A group of 118 schoolchildren from
South Bend
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, had just exited the building and, from the parking lot across the street, witnessed the first flames as they appeared; also present were two truant students from Detroit who were arrested at the scene.
Around 60 employees escaped safely, with the only casualty being John Riley, 58, of Dearborn, a building engineer, who suffered a burn on his arm and shoulder and was treated for smoke inhalation.
It was estimated that damages totaled over $15 million
(equivalent to nearly $115.5 million in 2013 when adjusted for inflation). Along with the destruction of the Rotunda, the fire consumed each of the 1963 Ford models which were on display, several one-of-a-kind “dream cars,” each valued at $100,000 in 1962, and $250,000 worth of Christmas decorations intended for the Winter Spectacular.
The Ford Rotunda also housed the Ford Archives, which survived the blazes intact due to a special carbon dioxide (cardox) fire protection system.
These archives – then considered the most complete single collection of its kind – consisted of over 14 million items, including business papers, memorabilia, and over 250,000 photographs. A year later, in December 1963, these archives were donated to the
Edison Institute
The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains ...
(known today as the
Henry Ford Museum
The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains ...
).
The site of the Ford Rotunda was left empty until the Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC) opened on the site in 2000.
The road in front of the Rotunda's former location retains its name, Rotunda Drive.
Second Ford Rotunda at 1964 New York World's Fair
The building itself was a 900-foot-long building with a 12-story glass rotunda at its center, hence the name. The building also contained 65 towering pylons at one end and a large exhibition hall at the other, requiring enough steel to erect a skyscraper 125 feet square and 22 stories high. Since the emphasis was on the automobile, part of the tour of the Rotunda took place in automatically operated Ford-built convertibles riding on a special roadway. The pavilion featured a number of exhibits designed by Walt Disney. This exhibit was seen by over 12 million visitors.
Rides
* Magic Skyway: Fair-goers, seated in convertibles, were first taken for a ride through plastic tunnels around the outside of the Rotunda for a sweeping view of the grounds, then onto the exhibit building and the fantasy-land within.
* City of Tomorrow: a futuristic city with towering metal spires and the glittering glass of bubble-shaped buildings.
* Hall of Science: highlighted Philco-Ford laboratory research projects, like laser light, sound of stars being picked up with a radio, and a display of new materials Ford would use in later cars.
* Ford World: a 20-foot-diameter, 12-ton, rotating globe highlighting the Ford Motor Company’s operations around the world.
* Drama of Transportation: a collection of chronologically-arranged vehicles–from an Egyptian chariot, to horse-drawn carriages, to the latest automobiles of the day.
References
External links
*
The Ford Rotunda
{{Authority control
Century of Progress
Demolished buildings and structures in Michigan
Ford Motor Company facilities
Infrastructure completed in 1933