Talk:Quadrangle (Springfield, Massachusetts)

Proposed renaming: Springfield Museums

It's what they call themselves. Thoughts? dm (talk) 07:24, 26 December 2013 (UTC)

Agreed. Should be Springfield Museums. Officially changed the name a while back. Printempokampo (talk) 04:22, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

I think they are actually called the Springfield Museums at the Quadrangle so having an article entitled The Quadrangle and describing the museums makes sense to me. Dbroer (talk) 16:51, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Official website clearly uses "Springfield Museums", no mention of "at the Quadrangle" that I can find there. Recent press coverage about Seuss museum also refers to the "Springfield Museums", not "The Quadrangle". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.218.86.103 (talk) 03:59, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

Sounds reasonable, both more descriptive and the name actually used by the organizations. Reify-tech (talk) 04:02, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

The official site DOES call it the Springfield Museums at the Quadrangle. You can see it on the map here: http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/sup/downloads/museum_directions.pdf The Quadrangle is where the Springfield Museums are located. Anyone from around the area would recognize that. For example, you can find the term here, here and here. Dbroer (talk) 20:27, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

There are lots of locations called "quadrangles", both in Wikipedia, and in the real world. "Springfield Museums" is a more unique name identified with a particular location, which is probably why they decided to give it top billing. Less confusion with The Quadrangle at Harvard, Louisiana State University, etc. The article should be renamed "Springfield Museums", with redirect pointers from "The Quadrangle" and other related names. Reify-tech (talk) 00:40, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

The article has an appropriate title. The Quadrangle is a local landmark that happens to be where the Springfield Museums are located. The two are synonymous. Where there are other "quadrangles", they are mostly referred to as the "quad" or are named after the place where they are located. They are not called "The Quadrangle" and are surrounded by museums. Anyone coming to The Quadrangle is coming to the museums as well. Simply renaming the article ignores that fact, particularly if you're doing it simply because the name is more unique. I would also submit that the name "The Quadrangle" is unique since there is no other place simply called "The Quadrangle" with museums. There is plenty of evidence to establish the fact that the place is known as The Quadrangle, both locally, regionally and nationally and that fact alone should be enough to keep the article as is. Dbroer (talk) 13:27, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Right, it's a local landmark. But this is a global encyclopedia. This is what my Google search points me to: The Quadrangle takes new shape as The Campus District, just east of downtown Cleveland (granted, my IP address prejudices Google's results). I see this, this, this, this, and The Quadrangle (Antarctica) and Quadrangle (geography) before I see any links to Springfield. Really, as wikt:quadrangle attests, it's a generic term which simply means "a courtyard which is quadrangular, or the buildings forming the border of such a courtyard." Springfield Quadrangle comes up on my third page of Google search results: Dr. Seuss museum planned at Springfield Quadrangle to celebrate city native Theodor Geisel: "The Springfield Museums announced that it will create the first museum dedicated to the life and legacy of city native Theodor Seuss Geisel, scheduled to open at the Quadrangle in 2016." Note the lower case "the", and see WP:THE. Really, The Quadrangle should just redirect to Quadrangle. Given Quadrangle (Harvard), Springfield's isn't even the primary topic in Massachusetts. Whether to move this to Springfield Museums is another question, but first I'll start by disambiguating links. – Wbm1058 (talk) 17:43, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

I see from Category:Museums in Springfield, Massachusetts that not all Springfield museums are at the Quadrangle (notably Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is elsewhere). Disambiguation simply by capital Museums is weak, and the official name per this appears to be Springfield Museums Corporation. Elsewhere they say Springfield Museums is "five world-class museums" ...and the Seymour Planetarium ...and Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden. So what is meant by "Springfield Museums" is a bit vague. Furthermore, their interactive map clearly shows the Quadrangle, but the term is no where to be found on the map! This omission really deflates the idea that there is a "The Quadrangle" in my mind.

Springfield City Library (Massachusetts) redirects to Springfield, Massachusetts § Library, and the content there doesn't overlap with The Quadrangle § Springfield City Library. Neither section cross-links to the other; that needs to be fixed. I suspect that the Springfield library has multiple branches, but the library on the Quadrangle is the main branch? See Indian Orchard Branch Library and List of Carnegie libraries in Massachusetts. Springfield Central is #32 on that list. The Springfield Museums' map's color-shading implies that the library is loosely associated with the museums, but I think if this is renamed to Springfield Museums or a similar variant of that, then the section on the library might be pulled from the article; it makes sense to centralize the various sections and articles about the libraries into a single main Springfield Library article.

On the other hand the museum's map color-codes the Christ Church Cathedral (Springfield, Massachusetts) grounds in white, implying that the church has nothing to do with the museum, even though it's on the Quadrangle. If we retain a disambiguated variant of "Quadrangle" as the title of this, then we should add a section which overviews the church. – Wbm1058 (talk) 20:10, 15 August 2015 (UTC)<b

• Checking the press release history on the official website, going back as far as 2005 they were calling themselves "Springfield Museums". I'm not finding any recent change to the official name. Unless they retroactively modified their old press releases.

• I'm generally only finding "Springfield Museums at the Quadrangle" used on third-party sites, not on the official site. So perhaps that might be their common name, but it's not the official name. The cited map was produced by http://www.valleyvisitor.com:

"Set around a tree-lined quadrangle, the four world-class museums that comprise the Springfield Museums..."

• "at" the Quadrangle is not the same as "is" the Quadrangle or a.k.a. the Quadrangle. It implies that the Museums are a subset of the Quadrangle – a subset that does not include the library and the church.

I don't think Metro Center, Springfield, Massachusetts § Culture is correct:

• "A block west of the Armory is The Quadrangle, an extraordinary grouping of world-class and regional museums..." should say
• "A block west of the Armory is the Quadrangle, which includes an extraordinary grouping of world-class and regional museums..." or
• "A block west of the Armory is a quadrangle, which includes Springfield Museums, an extraordinary grouping of world-class and regional museums..." – Wbm1058 (talk) 21:53, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

References

Connecticut Valley Historical Museum / Indian Motorcycle Museum

The CVHM seems to be effectively dissolved or merged into the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History. Can anybody find documentation of this in a WP:RS? Anybody searching Wikipedia for "Connecticut Valley Historical Museum" will arrive here at this article, but the former CVHM section has vanished down the memory hole. We should provide at least a short description of the CVHM, including where it was located, what happened to it, and where its various collections went. For that matter, the former Indian Motorcycle Museum seems to have been acquired by the Wood Museum, and needs to be similarly documented. Perhaps a "History" section needs to be written, describing the origins of The Quadrangle and its evolution over time? Reify-tech (talk) 18:48, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

I redirected Connecticut Valley Historical Museum to Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum and pulled the short bit about it from the memory hole. Was the Indian Motorcycle Museum also housed in this building? Wbm1058 (talk) 14:32, 16 August 2015 (UTC)