BurtonHall

The Fort DuPont Post Exchange and Gymnasium: The Delaware Military Heritage and Educational Foundation Inc.
will operate a suitable museum and educational facility to interpret and display items from its collection to the general
public. The State of Delaware has provided to us the building once known as Burton Hall to house and display the
collections of the Foundation. Burton Hall is located at Fort D uPont in Delaware City, Delaware. Fort DuPont was
constructed in 1861 as a shore battery to augment nearby historic Fort Delaware in the Delaware River. Today it is a
state park.

The former Post Exchange, built in 1906 was constructed of brick in a style reminiscent of the Beaux Arts style. It is
majestically sited at the head of a very long greensward on the Fort duPont parade ground with the Delaware River to
its back. It is structurally sound but requires asbestos removal before repairs and renovations can begin on the building.
The first step in bringing this elegant structure back to life is to obtain a professionally developed concept plan from an
architectural engineering firm. When complete, further renovations and repair of infrastructure to bring it up to code
requirements will cost $1,590,000 (W.C. Gomez Associates, Inc.)

The Post Exchange, aka, Burton Hall, was built in accordance with Army Standard Plan number 175. According to the
University of Delaware’s Center for Historic Architecture and Engineering study, Fort DuPont Delaware: An Architectural
Survey and Evaluation, it is a five-bay, load-bearing masonry building…one-and-one half stories over a raised
basement. The hipped roof is covered in asphalt shingles; a box cornice decorates the eaves. Three-light frieze
windows are centered over the windows of the double-pile main block. Window openings have an all-header arch and
cast concrete sills. The type of window sash for the basement and first floor is concealed. The central door is three-
part recessed panel with sidelights and evidence of a fanlight; the door is part of a gable-roof projecting architrave
decorated with quoins and a keystone. The building has a sandstone water table and a brick belt course. A small
frame addition is located on the northwest elevation.

Fort D uPont was placed on the National Historic Register in 1999. The Post Exchange qualified under Criterion A for
national coastal defense and Criterion C for standard military architecture.