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Description:
Dedicated in 1882, the Bowdoin College's Memorial Hall (now called the Maine State Music Theatre and Pickard Theatre) was erected by the alumni of Bowdoin College to commemorate the college's alumni who served during the Civil War. The project began in 1865 and was overseen by Professor William Smyth, and the Bowdoin Alumni Memorial Hall Association was able to raise $83,000 for the construction of the memorial. Designed by Samuel D. Backus and William G. Preston, the structure is in a French gothic style and accompanied with stained glass windows. Initially, the building contained two classrooms and a large lecture hall on the first floor, while the second floor contained a larger hall. By 1955, a donation by Fredrick W. Pickard allowed the building to be converted into a theatre, the work was carried out by the firm McKim, Mead and White. In 2000 the building was renovated and a pavilion, the Wish Theatre, was connected to the building by a glass atrium.
