The Crothers and Chew Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, housed on its third floor a facility known as Center Hall, where on April 6 Lincoln gave his address "Inventions and Discoveries." Hoping to keep his name before the public after losing a U.S. Senatorial race to Steven A. Douglas, Lincoln went on the lecture circuit. His Bloomington appearance was marred by a number of mishaps that resulted in a small audience: the hall was hard to find, its entrance was on Washington Street, the newspaper published the wrong location for the speech, and a zealous and officious door-keeper locked the doors at the start of the meeting, barring a number of people who wanted to hear it. Lincoln's presentation hailed the genius of American inventors, and he believed such creativity would promote the expansion of the United States through industrial growth. The speech also represented a theme of the old Whig Party, of which Lincoln had been a member. The Crothers and Chew Building was restored by Wollrab Bros. Properties in 1996.