For nearly a decade, the Please Touch Museum has been raising money to replace its old marble floors.
The marble slabs date back to the late 19th century, when they built for the Centennial Exposition and were laid down in Memorial Hall in 1876.
However, after decades and decades of foot traffic, the floor expectedly started to deteriorate, with much of the marble slabs becoming loose, cracked, and crumbled to the point where some had to be taped.
Fast forward to February 2024, and the Please Touch Museum raised enough money to start a new project to restore its marble floors.
About 18,000 square feet of marble out of the original 70,000 had to be restored, and for the marble slabs that were too damaged to keep inside Memorial Hall, they are now appearing at Philadelphia restaurants, writes Peter Crimmins for WHYY.
For instance, The Bread Room by James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Ellen Yin has countertops made from those marble slabs.
Kampar, which was damaged due to a fire last year, will use some of that marble to rebuild its bar, which is set to reopen this summer.
Read more about how the Please Touch Museum’s old marble floors are being restores elsewhere in the city at WHYY.
_____
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on PHILADELPHIA.Today in May 2026.
