Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia - Campus

Campus

The school has a 14-acre (57,000 m2) campus in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia. (The site was formerly Mount Airy, the estate of William Allen, a prominent man of colonial-era Pennsylvania; the neighborhood gets its name from Allen's estate.) The oldest building on campus is the Refectory, built in 1792, now used as the dining hall. The Krauth Memorial Library, with 198,000 volumes, includes material dating back to the 16th century, including 18th century work Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, known as the Father of American Lutheranism. The 300th year of Muhlenberg's birth will be celebrated in 2011. The library 100th anniversary of scholarship and service fell during the 2008-2009 academic year, and the facility includes the original glass flooring and metal shelving in the main space. Also notable in the library is the Doberstein window. It is also part of the one library under three roofs of the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries, which includes LTSP, the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. The Cluster libraries share a single catalog and allow users to select materials from any of the libraries. The Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel, renovated in 2004, is the campus worship center, and is adjacent to the William Allen Plaza, completed in 2009 as a public space that is used by both the seminary and Mt. Airy communities. A peace pole was donated by the class of 2010 and erected on the plaza. There is also a bronze statue of Muhlenberg dedicated in 1917 to commemorate the 175th anniversary of his arrival in America. This statue was originally commissioned to stand on public land in Fairmount Park. Due to anti-German sentiment during the first World War, the City of Philadelphia sought out a less prominent location for the statue and gladly donated it to the seminary. An annual tradition at the seminary is for first-year students to decorate the statue early in the fall semester and at other times during the academic year.

The Brossman Center opened in the fall of 2005 and contains state-of-the-art classrooms, offices for student services staff including the admissions office and office of the registrar, as well as meeting rooms, and a large flexible space named Benbow Hall, which is used as assembly and lecture space, and for community gatherings and banquets. The Brossman Center has become a hub of activity in Northwest Philadelphia, hosting candidate nights, community forums and meetings, and celebrations of community groups, as well as private weddings and celebrations. The undercroft of The Brossman Center includes the Northeast Regional Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as well as compact storage for materials from the Krauth Memorial Library collection. The rest of the administrative and faculty offices, along with the Amphitheatre and gym, are in Hagan Hall. Wiedemann Hall contains student housing and the LTSP Books & Gifts store, and also houses the offices of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA and offices of East Mt. Airy Neighbors. Other students and faculty members live in "perimeter housing," single-family homes and homes split into apartments which are spread along the north and east sides of the campus, along with two properties across Germantown Avenue from the campus main entrance.