Quadrangle (Springfield, Massachusetts)

Quadrangle

Springfield City Library
Location	Metro Center, Springfield, Massachusetts
Type	Cluster of museums and cultural institutions

The Quadrangle is the common name for a cluster of museums and cultural institutions in Metro Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, on Chestnut Street between State and Edwards Streets.

The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, in the center of the Quadrangle, is surrounded by a park, a library, four active museums, a fifth museum due to open in 2017, and a cathedral. A second cathedral is just on the Quadrangle's periphery.

On the corner of Chestnut and State Streets, Merrick Park is distinguished by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens "The Puritan," a statue depicting one of Springfield's settlers, Deacon Samuel Chapin. Springfield Central Library and Christ Church Cathedral are adjacent to the park.

The Central Library, constructed in 1913, was paid for by Andrew Carnegie. It is the second library to be built at that location. The nonfiction department is based in Rice Hall (named for William Rice), consisting of a main floor and mezzanine. Opposite Rice Hall is the Arts and Music Hall, where multimedia, periodicals, and the computer lab are based. The circulation desk lies in the rotunda between the two halls. Fiction, children's literature, and community rooms are in the basement. The Central Library also has a Teen Advisory Board — a grouping of teenagers who help make decisions and organize events at the library geared towards teenagers.

The Roman Catholic St. Michael's Cathedral adjoins the neo-classical Springfield City Library at the southeast corner of the Quadrangle.

Also located near that edge of the Quadrangle is the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts' Christ Church Cathedral.