Armstrong Auditorium

Armstrong Auditorium is the finest structure on the Herbert W. Armstrong College campus. The $19 million performing arts facility opened in September 2010, providing a theater for the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation and other performances, and Philadelphia Church of God and Herbert W. Armstrong College events.

Armstrong Auditorium is modeled after Ambassador Auditorium, which Herbert W. Armstrong completed in 1974. The lobby includes three large Swarovski Strauss crystal chandeliers, Asian and Spanish marble pillars and floors, feature walls of caramel onyx from Azerbaijan and American cherry wood paneling.

The Philadelphia Church of God began planning an auditorium in 2005. Pastor General Gerald Flurry broke ground on the building on Jan. 6, 2008. He told the members who had gathered to view the ceremony that this auditorium would bring more glory to God than any other building project the Church had undertaken.

The auditorium was built with 750 tons of structural steel (1.5 million pounds), at least 10,000 bolts and anchors and 2,142 cubic yards of concrete (almost 6 million pounds) and has four stories of lobby glass and five tons of chandeliers. It is 100 feet in height at its highest point, and its floor space spans 44,775 square feet.

The chandeliers were custom designed and were manufactured by Picasso Lighting of New Jersey. The crystal is two-thirds Swarovski Strass Crystal from Austria and the rest is “full lead” crystal. The center chandelier is 12 feet diameter and 10 feet in height, containing over 21,000 pieces of crystal and weighing 2.25 tons. The side chandeliers are 10 feet diameter and 8 feet tall, contain more than 15,000 pieces of crystal, and weigh 1.75 tons. They are cleaned once a year.

Two candelabras each contain 802 pieces of crystal from Baccarat, France. They are 7 feet in height, and each weighs 650 pounds. They were purchased on July 13, 2004, at an auction in Pasadena, California, of furnishings from Ambassador Auditorium. The PCG also purchased a 1983 Model D Hamburg Steinway piano from Ambassador at the same auction.

There are 13 wall sconces in the building. Each has over 300 pieces of crystal. There are just over 70,000 pieces of crystal on the ornaments in the building.

Mr. Gerald Flurry told PCG members in 2007 before construction began that this building was to be a “magnificent jewel,” an edifice standing as “a monument to the living God.”