National Building Arts Center In Sauget's Executive Director Allen Takes New Role At West Virginia University

SAUGET - Michael Allen, Executive Director of the National Building Arts Center (NBAC) in Sauget, Illinois, has accepted the position of Visiting Assistant Professor of History at West Virginia University effective July 31. NBAC Board President Mike Jackson will assume the title of Interim Director pending a full search for Allen’s replacement.

“Michael Allen has been absolutely key to the NBAC’s success since he was named Director in 2021,” Jackson said. “Under his leadership the center expanded and diversified its board, established museum-standard bylaws and collections policies, and saw a steady increase in the numbers of people who are benefiting from access to its priceless architectural collections.”

Allen curated the exhibition “Urban Archaeology: Lost Buildings of St. Louis,” featuring NBAC collections, at St. Louis’s Pulitzer Arts Foundation in 2023. He also secured “Little Liberty,” a 30-foot-high steel replica of the Statue of Liberty, from the Brooklyn Museum for the NBAC’s permanent collections. Allen has presented the center’s collections to local audiences as well as to national groups ranging from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to Columbia University’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

“I’m delighted to have been able to carry forward the vision of architectural salvage specialist Larry Giles to the point where we now have a well-managed, publicly accessible collection tracing the evolution of the architectural and building trades--across the St. Louis region and beyond,” Allen said. “I look forward to continuing to engage with the NBAC through my research and teaching.”

Giles, who died in 2021, amassed the nation’s largest collection of architectural artifacts across five decades of active collection. He secured the former Sterling Steel Casting Company site in Sauget to house his collections and established the NBAC as a nonprofit organization to preserve and interpret his collections for public use.

The NBAC board will commence its search for a new Executive Director later this year.

In 2005 the National Building Arts Center relocated to the former Sterling Steel Casting Company foundry in Sauget, Illinois, directly across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis. The facility includes 13 casting, pattern storage, and office buildings, with ample space to display its large collection of architectural artifacts. Tours are offered the second Saturday of each month and tickets required. Visit http://web.nationalbuildingarts.org/ for more information.

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