We are thrilled to announce the registration for the tour at the 2025 ACRA Conference is now available!
On Thursday, September 11, join us for a walking tour of two of downtown Raleigh’s prominent landmarks located only 3 blocks from the Sheraton. On your way to the tour, stroll along Fayetteville Street and take in the architecture of Raleigh’s historic “main street.” Tours will include both interiors and exteriors! Come learn about the architecture and history of these beautiful buildings.
The tour will include:
- North Carolina State Capitol: Erected between 1833 and 1840, the state’s chief architectural landmark was built for, what was at the time, an impoverished state with no tradition of monumental stone building. Historical accounts predicted the Capitol would be a building of “Durability and splendor, that will vie with the proudest specimens of European architecture.” Today, it is considered one of the nation’s finest and best-preserved Greek Revival buildings. Designed by architects William Nichol, Ithiel Town, and A.J. Davis, the building displays superbly crafted stonework of locally quarried stone. The exterior porticoes are rendered in the Doric order and were adapted from that of the Parthenon. On the interior, the central dome projects a dramatic core of light to the floor 90 feet below. Admire the antebellum decorative paint scheme with antebellum paint colors and the fine “granitizing” of the plaster walls.
- North Carolina Legislative Building: The white marble Legislative Building is set on an axis with the State Capitol—its classicized Modernism is both a reflection of and in contrast with its Greek Revival neighbor. Designed by Edward Durell Stone, one of the most famous American architects of the time and a proponent of the New Formalism style of architecture, the building was completed in 1963. Its broad colonnaded piazzas are an adaptation to Raleigh’s Southern climate placed on a geometric New Formalist facade. Enjoy the skylit interior, which echoes that of the Capitol, the interior brass-encircled rotunda, and, if luck is with us, the roof top terraces.
- Raleigh Scavenger Hunt: See even more of downtown Raleigh on this team scavenger hunt. The walking hunt will turn the capital city into your very own playground. Guests will explore the heart of Downtown Raleigh, including many of its most historical, unique, and artistic locations within its Fayetteville Street District. Find the treasure chest left behind by the city’s namesake, Sir Walter Raleigh! The scavenger hunt will end at Sheraton in time for the Opening Reception.
The tour will be on the afternoon of Thursday, September 11 and will cost $75 per person.
Tour space is limited, so register now to reserve your spot! If you have already registered for the conference and would like to add the tour to your registration, email Amanda at amanda@acra-crm.org for assistance.