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Preservationists and Developers Say Pennsylvania Needs to Boost its Historic Tax Credits
The financing of a commercial development project is often a patchwork of funding sources: equity partners, bank loans, tax credits, and more. When it comes to the rehabilitation of historic buildings, the federal government and most states offer a special tax credit. While the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program provides a 20 percent income tax credit, there is a wide range among the states in their programs.
New Germantown Historic District Added to the Philadelphia Register
The Philadelphia Historical Commission approved the creation of the Germantown Urban Village Historic District and designated five individual properties at its monthly meeting on February 9. Dating back to the 18th century, the new historic district in Germantown is centered around Market Square along Germantown Avenue and includes Church Lane,...
Proposed PEP Redevelopment on South Broad Latest Challenge for Philly’s Modern Architecture
Humanity’s sloppy march toward progress is undoubtedly twisty. Every once in a while it hits a glorious and unimpeded sprint. But mostly, it winds serpentine around wars and famines, gets pulled backward by plagues of both body and soul. So what do a couple of straight lines on a...
Places to Save: Winter 2024
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published in the Winter 2023 issue of Extant, a publication of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Built in 1914 by Henry deCourcy Richards, Frankford High School exemplifies the late Gothic Revival architectural style. Frankford High began as the Northeast branch of Central High School. Set on a high point, the school, with its later additions built in the 1950s and 1960s, dominates the neighborhood’s landscape.
Restoration Role Model: Ralph J. Roberts Boys & Girls Club of Germantown
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published in the Winter 2023 issue of Extant, a publication of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Heckendorn Shiles Architects (HSA) worked with the Daniel J. Keating Company to restore the historic Germantown Boys & Girls Club, a building on the verge of demolition, into a 21st century facility for the Germantown community. Principal Matt Heckendorn talked with Extant about the challenges involved in preserving original features and creating new spaces in the project, which won a 2023 Grand Jury Award from the Preservation Alliance.
Unlisted Philadelphia: Bache-Martin School
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published in the Winter 2023 issue of Extant, a publication of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. The Bache-Martin School in Fairmount has a dual personality with two distinct buildings erected 30 years apart. On the east side of 22nd Street, the former Alexander Dallas Bache Public School, named for a scientist descended from Benjamin Franklin, was built in 1905 and is still an active middle school. Architect Lloyd Titus designed a three-story, somber stone edifice, perhaps in deference to the neighboring Eastern State Penitentiary, but he softened the facade with Romanesque arches over its central windows and student entrance.
A Neighborhood Strategy
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published in the Winter 2023 issue of Extant, a publication of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. It’s hard to watch pieces of a city you love get torn down. All over Philadelphia, centuries-old buildings with multifaceted histories and architectural significance are being lost, replaced with the same bland boxes popping up all over the country. Fighting the pressures of development can feel hopeless, but sometimes a loss strikes too close to home. That’s exactly what motivated residents surrounding the 1500 block of Christian Street to partner with the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia to nominate the area known as Black Doctors Row.
Awbury Arboretum: A Prescription for Well-being
Remember when your mother used to urge you to turn off the television or video game console and go play outside? Medical experts now agree mom was onto something. So is Awbury Arboretum, which offers an abundance of public programing to improve the physical and mental health of Philadelphia residents of all ages.
Roy Campanella House and Three Other Landmarks Listed on the Local Register
The Philadelphia Historical Commission added the childhood home of Roy “Campy” Campanella at 1538 Kerbaugh Street to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places during its monthly meeting on January 12. Campanella, a Hall of Fame catcher who helped break the color barrier in professional American baseball, lived there from 1928 until he left to join the Negro League, later joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. He returned for visits until 1988, when the family sold the property. The Historical Commission also voted in favor of designating three other historic sites.
Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way: Efforts to Preserve Historic Philly Documents Begin
Decaying in the attic of Philadelphia City Hall are mountains of historical legal wills, marriage licenses, and similar documents, some dating back four centuries and bearing marquee names from the Colonial era. There are also some in the basement and many more in a giant warehouse at 6th and Spring...
Reclaiming Philadelphia’s Forgotten Female Modernist Artist
Although she assumed a male name in order to be taken seriously and known as an artist, Peter Miller today has slipped out of the collective art memory, even in her hometown of Philadelphia. Miller was hardly a recluse in her lifetime. “Peter knew all the surrealists,” said art dealer...
A Sinking Feeling: Logan Triangle’s Past Leaves Neighbors Skeptical of New Development Push
In the two months since the City announced the release of a new Request for Proposals (RFP) to develop Logan Triangle, one of the most notoriously blighted areas in Philadelphia, a bevy of reporters have called up Charlene Samuels, chairperson for the Logan Civic Association, to get community perspective. With more than a hint of exasperation in her voice, she tells them all a version of the same thing: “Just sit and wait and see.” And also: “Hope and pray.”
Delco Sites Added to the Underground Railroad Network
When one thinks of the Philadelphia area in the 17th century, Old City, the Delaware River waterfront, and William Penn’s original grid for his “greene countrie towne” usually first come to mind. Yet, tucked away in a corner of Delaware County, a mere five miles from Center City, there is a small enclave that also dates back to the late 1600s.
New Book Celebrates 138 Years of Strawbridge & Clothier
For decades, Philadelphians have struggled over how to “fix” Market East. From The Gallery to the Fashion District, from the Pennsylvania Convention Center completed in 1993 to the imagined DisneyQuest that never came to fruition, and from minor disputes about digital billboards to major conflicts over a proposed Sixers arena, the commercial strip east of City Hall has been the focus of numerous rescue plans and development schemes. How refreshing it is to spend time reading about the days when the area was thriving.
Historical Commission Approves Demolition of Home Listed on the Philadelphia Register
The Philadelphia Historical Commission approved the demolition of a home listed on the local register in Germantown at its meeting on December 8. It also considered a request to paint a mural on the side of the William and Letitia Still House in Bella Vista, and denied a developer’s proposal to partially demolish and dramatically alter a protected brownstone in Rittenhouse Square.
New Project Honors Historic Black 7th Ward
As a city of neighborhoods, residents in certain parts of Center City might say they live in Society Hill, Washington Square West, Bella Vista, and so on. Today, not many would identify the area as the 7th Ward. But when it comes to the 19th century in Philadelphia, it refers to the neighborhood roughly encompassing Spruce to South Streets, from 7th Street to the Schuylkill River.
Mysteries Revealed as Old Philip’s Restaurant Eyed for Redevelopment
The flashing neon signs adorning various buildings in South Philadelphia have always meant to alert passersby to what’s inside. Bar. Billiards. Furs. And yes, something about a cheesesteak or two. But it is timeworn vestiges like the neon sign adorning the long-shuttered Philip’s Restaurant on South Broad that perhaps attract the most intrigue. Just what is going on inside that old ghost?
Lost Buildings of 2022
Historic preservation in Philadelphia can feel hopeless at times and comically at odds with a place that advertises itself as a “World Heritage City.” Yet, it is worth taking inventory of positive outcomes every now and then to mitigate the fog of doom and gloom and get a clearer view of the big picture.
Treasure Philly! Rethinks Historic Preservation in North Philadelphia
Seek out lists of historical neighborhoods to visit in Philadelphia and you’ll likely encounter the usual suspects: Old City and its charming alleyways, Center City and its various architecture, leafy “streetcar suburbs” in points west and northwest, with their summer estates and Victorian and Tudor-filled streets. But what about the intersection of Germantown Avenue, Erie Avenue, and Broad Street, deep in the heart of North Philadelphia and ringing the edge of the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood? The area is more likely to be listed on a crime map on the local evening news than any list of “must-stops” for a typical visitor to Philadelphia. But should it be that way? Some are thinking differently.
New Book Examines Urban Renewal and Innovation Districts in West Philly
A Philadelphia Inquirer headline recently caught my eye: “Scientists Earn Penn Prestige–and Money.” According to the piece, the University of Pennsylvania brought in over $1.2 billion in licensing revenue in fiscal 2022, a total that dwarfs the amount garnered by all other U.S. universities. This staggering figure represents money earned through payments made by private sector companies seeking to capitalize on the technical and scientific innovations of Penn doctors and scientists. The Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna using techniques developed by freshly-minted Nobel laureates Drew Weissman and Katalin Kariko represent a large chunk of the school’s current earnings.
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Hidden City Philadelphia of CultureTrust is dedicated to exploring Philadelphia’s urban landscape in all its complexity through journalism and public history.
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