Schmoe House to open in November as exhibition facility affiliated with Peace Memorial Museum
Sep. 7, 2012
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
On September 5, the City of Hiroshima announced its decision to make Schmoe House an exhibition facility affiliated with Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The late Floyd Schmoe (1895-2001) built Schmoe House in the Eba Nihonmatsu area in Naka Ward for A-bomb survivors who lacked housing after the atomic bombing. The facility will open on November 1 as a place for providing information on foreign nationals who have supported Hiroshima’s postwar reconstruction.
The one-story wooden building, constructed in 1951, has a floor space of about 55 square meters. The space will be used to display photo panels and information on the contributions made by Mr. Schmoe and others, such as Dr. Marcel Junod, a Swiss doctor who delivered medical supplies to Hiroshima shortly after the bombing.
Schmoe House will be open every day of the week except for Monday. A staff member from the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, an entity of the city government and the administrator of Peace Memorial Museum, will be dispatched to Schmoe House to receive visitors. Admission is free.
Between 1949 and 1953, a total of 21 buildings were constructed by Mr. Schmoe and his volunteers with funds raised mainly in the United States. The buildings were used as residences or meetings places for survivors.
Schmoe House is now the only one of those 21 buildings to survive. Because it was located on the construction site of the planned Hiroshima South Road, the city government initiated an effort in 2010 to relocate and preserve the building by purchasing a plot of land owned by the central government which lies about 40 meters northeast of the original location. Reinforcement work on the deteriorated structure, and its relocation, were completed in March of this year.
Schmoe House will be the first facility affiliated with Peace Memorial Museum. A staff member of the city’s Peace Promotion Division commented, “Schmoe House will be administered in coordination with the museum, and we hope to improve the exhibition content and promote the use of the facility.”
(Originally published on September 6, 2012)
On September 5, the City of Hiroshima announced its decision to make Schmoe House an exhibition facility affiliated with Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The late Floyd Schmoe (1895-2001) built Schmoe House in the Eba Nihonmatsu area in Naka Ward for A-bomb survivors who lacked housing after the atomic bombing. The facility will open on November 1 as a place for providing information on foreign nationals who have supported Hiroshima’s postwar reconstruction.
The one-story wooden building, constructed in 1951, has a floor space of about 55 square meters. The space will be used to display photo panels and information on the contributions made by Mr. Schmoe and others, such as Dr. Marcel Junod, a Swiss doctor who delivered medical supplies to Hiroshima shortly after the bombing.
Schmoe House will be open every day of the week except for Monday. A staff member from the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, an entity of the city government and the administrator of Peace Memorial Museum, will be dispatched to Schmoe House to receive visitors. Admission is free.
Between 1949 and 1953, a total of 21 buildings were constructed by Mr. Schmoe and his volunteers with funds raised mainly in the United States. The buildings were used as residences or meetings places for survivors.
Schmoe House is now the only one of those 21 buildings to survive. Because it was located on the construction site of the planned Hiroshima South Road, the city government initiated an effort in 2010 to relocate and preserve the building by purchasing a plot of land owned by the central government which lies about 40 meters northeast of the original location. Reinforcement work on the deteriorated structure, and its relocation, were completed in March of this year.
Schmoe House will be the first facility affiliated with Peace Memorial Museum. A staff member of the city’s Peace Promotion Division commented, “Schmoe House will be administered in coordination with the museum, and we hope to improve the exhibition content and promote the use of the facility.”
(Originally published on September 6, 2012)
