Sport: Tower at Nemours

Solemnest of man’s buildings, the mausoleum gets its name from the great tomb of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus (c. 353 B.C.). The favorite mausoleum of a generation ago resembled a Greek shrine; today’s favorite more appropriately resembles a Frigidaire. But last week near Wilmington, Del., a family noted for its independence was about ready to move the remains of the late Alfred Irénée du Pont into a tomb of quite original design and princely size. One of the largest concrete and granite towers in the world, 210 feet high, with an eventual capacity of six Du Ponts, it was planned by A. I.’s architect son, Alfred Victor du Pont.

This family memorial will not be isolated. When saturnine old A. I. du Pont died in 1935 he left a trust fund of $4,000,000, $1,000,000 in cash and “Nemours,” his 1,600-acre Wilmington estate, to establish a foundation for Delaware’s crippled children and aged poor. For this foundation, the $300,000 mausoleum will be the architectural centre. It was reported last week that as soon as workmen finish waterproofing the vaults, Jessie Ball du Pont, A. I.’s widow, may have a section of Nemours’ high wall knocked down to allow public inspection of the tomb.

The Du Pont tower is probably the first private mausoleum in history with a six-passenger elevator, beacon lights and a carillon. Four concrete eagles stare from the tower’s four corners, the Du Pont arms in concrete ornament the severe Renaissance façade. RECTITUDINE STO (“By rectitude I stand”) is the motto carved above it.