Credit: County of Bucks
The remaining iconic and historic dioramas at the soon-to-be demolished Neshaminy Mall will be saved.
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Bensalem Township Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo announced the three remaining dioramas at the mall, which will largely be redeveloped, will be “carefully” removed for preservation by the municipality.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
“The Native American statue/fountain is also a priority, and discussions are already underway regarding its future placement within the Township,” the mayor’s statement said.
Bensalem Township has already removed four dioramas from outside of the former Strawbridge and Clothier.
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One of the restored dioramas is at the municipal building and the other is at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown Borough.
Credit: Submitted
The pieces were commissioned in 1968 by Strawbridge and Clothier for the mall’s grand opening. The historical displays were crafted by Tommy Rowland Inc. as the firm’s first permanent series of such scale and were called the “Freedom Wall.”
The dioramas depict General George Washington and his troops in Valley Forge, Washington crossing the Delaware River in Bucks County, the Battle of Germantown, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, William Penn buying land from Native Americans, Ben Franklin gaining French support for early America, and the evacuation of the Liberty Bell.
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Designed for historical accuracy, the scenes featured electronically animated figures built from painted textiles, paper, feathers, wood, metal foils, and doll hair. They were originally equipped with audio narration and movement, but the displays stopped working inside the mall years ago.
Several years ago, Bensalem Township hired art conservators and preservation specialists at Albertson and Nunan Inc. to restore and repair the signing of the Declaration of Independence diorama.
In 2006, the Strawbridge and Clothier space became a Macy’s department store, which closed in 2017 and remained empty.
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The statue of Lenape Chief Tawanka was sculpted by Philadelphia artist Henry Mitchell and unveiled to shoppers in 1970. The mall property sits near the Neshaminy Creek on grounds once frequented by local indigenous peoples.
