A guide to visiting the National Building Arts Center in Sauget, Illinois

With a wide array of architectural collections, artifacts and resources, the center is a repository of information about historic preservation. See story for upcoming events at the NBAC.

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The National Building Arts Center, the brainchild of Larry Giles, is the result of “unbounded curiosity,” says Michael Allen, the center’s executive director. Giles, a renowned preservationist, began building his architectural trove while operating a salvage business in the 1970s in St. Louis. As his collection grew, so did his passion for preserving historic structures. He became committed to the idea of creating a public museum, and in 2002, founded the NBAC—located in Sauget, Ill.—donating his entire inventory to the center. His goal was to foster appreciation for all aspects of the built environment and to educate the public on how to preserve it. “Like everything he did, it grew beyond the immediate. ‘Here’s what I need now to solve these problems,’” Allen says. “He couldn’t stop learning about the built environment.”

Giles passed away in 2021, but his vision lives on at the NBAC, which is now led by Allen. Located in the old Sterling Steel Casting Company foundry, the property includes 12 buildings encompassing approximately 80,000 square feet. With both a museum and a library, the center is a repository of information on historic preservation—not just for architecture, but for the building trades as well. “A lot of the techniques [for] keeping buildings standing are in books here, but they’re not necessarily alive and well,” says Allen, an architectural historian. “Not everyone who works in carpentry knows how to fix old woodwork in a Victorian house. Not every brick layer would necessarily understand how these old walls are built. So our long-term goal is to really educate people.” 

Although there is value in seeing these architectural artifacts up close, the NBAC would prefer they remain intact in place. “It’s really a conservation project,” says Allen. “Our purpose is to prevent more materials from coming into our museum. We want to educate people on the durability and histories of the built environment so that more of it gets saved in place.”

Good to Know 

The NBAC isn’t just for architects and those in the building trades (i.e., plumbers, painters, plasterers, woodworkers). It’s for rehabbers, remodelers, students, architecture enthusiasts, historians, people interested in history—anyone who is curious, says Allen. “We have something for everyone,” he says. But, as docent Lynn Josse points out, “It’s not really suitable for small children.” Not to mention, the restrooms are not wheelchair accessible. 

Just one of several docents trained in architectural history who gives tours of the center, Josse urges people to come prepared for the weather. She recommends wearing comfortable, sturdy shoes as the grounds cover more than 12 acres. While most tours are conducted indoors in the winter, in warmer weather, expect to be outside. “There’s a lot of walking, and the outdoor surfaces are gravel; they’re not necessarily even. In some ways, it really is a construction site,” she says.

While no prior knowledge or preparation is required, Allen encourages people to look at the NBAC website before they visit to make for a more authentic onsite experience. “If you’re interested in a certain building or style and you see that we have parts of it—we don’t show everything on the tour, so it might help your guide; they can probably find it for you to look at,” says Allen. This customization is what Josse enjoys most about giving tours. 

While tours typically include two of the buildings where collections are housed as well as the library, the focus can vary greatly as the tours largely revolve around visitors’ questions and interests. “This month, a woman mentioned that Louis Sullivan was her favorite architect, so we were sure to point out artifacts from the Wainwright Building, which we might not otherwise do,” says Josse. “One time, there was a guy who talked about all of the stories his father had from when he was a kid playing in clay mines in St. Louis.” This type of engagement, she says, is what makes every tour different and fun. 

Josse wants people to take home a new-found appreciation for the built environment. “I personally hope they come away thinking more about the people who were involved in building what we see around us every day,” she says.

Collections 

With the nation’s largest collection of architectural pieces—an estimated 200,000 artifacts—the NBAC has everything from masonry (including 100,000-plus brick and terracotta pieces) to cast iron, to building hardware, to all types of stone. “We also have some significant collections in woodwork and stained and other forms of glass, at least one complete facade and some near-complete facades, and we have a few entire building elevations,” Allen says. Items, as well as library holdings, come from St. Louis and beyond, including cities such as Chicago and New York—made possible by donations from individuals and organizations. A relationship with the Brooklyn Museum has yielded several large donations to the center, with one more yet to come. 

One popular collection includes three different elevations, two two-story arches and hundreds of crates of terracotta salvaged from the Ambassador Theatre, which once sat at the corners of Locust and Seventh streets in St. Louis. “We believe it is the largest terracotta recovery project that’s ever taken place. It was just massive,” says Josse. “The terracotta collection really attracts people because they can see detail in it up close that … you wouldn’t be able to see [otherwise].”

The NBAC also has a large collection of signs. According to Josse, one of the center’s biggest draws is the State Bank of Wellston sign, an all-in-one neon rotating sign and weather beacon. Referred to as a “rotating spintacular,” the sign sat atop the bank, which was located at 6313 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in North St. Louis. “It’s from 1954—this was as drive-through banking was becoming a bigger thing,” says Josse. “You actually had to drive up to drive through the bank, so they called it ‘banking in the sky.’ [The sign] says ‘Banking in the sky, State Bank of Wellston.’” Visible for eight miles, the sign was said to be a landmark for approaching pilots.

Sometimes people request to see items from specific buildings, Josse says. “Like last week, we had a visitor who wanted to see pieces of the World’s Fair Pavilion that we have,” she says. 

Josse has her preferences as well. “I always like to point out our sewer pipe collection. It’s not something people think about very much,” she says, “but we have the visible environment, and then we have artifacts from the infrastructure that people don’t see and never think about.” The collection boasts the oldest item in all of NBAC’s holdings: a wooden sewer pipe from 1799. 

Tours & Library

When: second Saturday of the month, 11 a.m.

Length of Tour: 90 minutes

Price: $15 general adult admission, $10 for students and seniors

Group Tours: 10 or more people, everyone pays $10

Size of Tour: outdoor tours (warmer weather), 1-30 people; indoor tours (colder weather), 1-12 people

Where to Buy: NBAC eventbrite page

Library: Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by appointment; free admission

Fast Facts 

Location

2300 Falling Springs Road, Sauget, Illinois 62206

Parking 

Gravel parking lot out front

Nearby

For a bite to eat on the way to or from the NBAC, check out The Sauget Diner, a classic American diner with daytime hours; Stingers Restaurant & Pizzeria, offering fresh hand-tossed pizza and other fare; and the welcoming and highly rated Sawmill BBQ. During baseball season, catch a Gateway Grizzlies game at the minor league stadium nearby. For some French colonial history, head just a few miles south to Jarrot Mansion or Old Cahokia Courthouse. 

Library/Research 

The center’s library is a part of its allure. Originally the foundry showers, this nearly 5,000 square foot space houses the NBAC’s collection of more than 300,000 items related to architecture, the building arts, urban planning, vocational training, building materials and more—both historical and practical knowledge, including how to preserve both residential and commercial structures. The non-circulating collection (meaning nothing can be checked out) includes books, periodicals, trade catalogs, photographs, blueprints, corporate records and other documents and features many rare books and manuscripts, particularly those with a St. Louis focus. “If you are coming from Waterloo, Ill., or Wentzville and live in an old wooden house, some answers might be here,” says Allen, noting that most of their holdings are not available anywhere online. The library is open to anyone—researchers and enthusiasts alike—and is available Tuesday through Saturday, by appointment only. Contact Emery Cox for an appointment.

Coming Up in 2023 

There are many things to look forward to from the NBAC in 2023—perhaps the most notable of which is the long-awaited transfer of the 30-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty, called “Little Liberty.” Commissioned by the auctioneer William H. Flattau to top his eight-story Liberty Warehouse on New York’s Upper West Side, the statue was constructed by W.H. Mullins around the turn of the 20th century, using galvanized sheet iron on a structural steel frame. “Little Liberty” will be the final gift on the original list from the Brooklyn Museum. Its transfer and installment—which Allen says will take place sometime before July—will conclude what NBAC founder Larry Giles started more than five years ago. “We’re fulfilling this long relationship with the Brooklyn Museum, but we’re also finishing something our founder started and didn’t get to see,” says Allen. “It will be a real eye-catcher. It will add a lot of visual interest and a sense of curiosity to our place.” He anticipates creating programming that ties into the symbolism that the “Little Liberty” represents.

Kicking off in September 2023 and running through February 2024, a major exhibition of the NBAC’s collections will take place at Pulitzer Arts Foundation. Items will be on display, along with text panels and photographs for context. “People will see some things at the Pulitzer that they would never see on our tours,” Allen says. 

Visitors to the center can also expect a lecture series and some social programming this year—perhaps with drinks and music. Designed to attract a younger crowd, these events, Allen hopes, will provide a unique way to experience the museum and its collections. “I want people to have experiences with these artifacts that they didn’t expect,” he says. “So, not just some expert telling you how it was made, when it was made and what it is, but thinking about what it means to you personally, how it affects you.”

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