Peale Renovation Update!
This week we opened a small hole in the ceiling of one of the Peale’s rooms to check on the load-bearing capacity of the adjacent wall. The wall divides the 1814 ground floor room (reportedly where the live animals were kept when Rubens Peale ran the museum), and which was originally the same size as the Picture Gallery above. The renovation plans call for opening the wall up again to create space for a café. In the meanwhile, we get a special glimpse at some original 1814 timber in the fabric of the building! Stay tuned to get weekly updates about our progress and other special insights into the country’s first purpose-built museum.