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With the fence down at the new entrance to the Pennsylvania Convention Center and its 13th Street tunnel open to pedestrians, it's becoming more and more tempting to envision a new North Broad. Few people remember this neighborhood prior to the initial construction of the Pennsylvania Convention Center in 1992. Even fewer pictures remain. With the exception of Reading Terminal Market which sat below the rusted Reading Terminal Station next to its derelict head house, few residents strolled the streets just west of Chinatown. Historically this is Philadelphia's red light district, a legacy that continues to this day in its windowless massage parlors.
But is the Renaissance at North Broad and its adjacent blocks already starting to take root? To the naked eye, it's hard to see much more than the Convention Center's newly illuminated facade, particularly when so few are familiar with the surrounding blocks which, with the exception of parking, are all but forgotten by most Center City residents. Despite the fact that developers chose to continue with the center's monotonous Race Street facade which irresponsibly turns its ass to its neighbors, new businesses are already finding their way north of the Convention Center. Considering the transformation the neighborhood underwent following its initial construction in the 1990s, state officials who approved the plans may find themselves regretting the fact that they didn't make the Race Street facade remotely inviting.
Nonetheless, the Sheraton is thriving and a new convenience store is seeing business at 13th and Race. Drexel has dressed up one of its buildings with new windows and an illuminated crown and construction is underway on the Academy of the Arts' Lenfest Plaza. Nearby, construction continues on the infamous graffiti building at 12th and Wood, and even the Watusi Charter School is undergoing improvements. Undoubtedly business franchises are researching locations surrounding the center's North Broad facade which finally gives it a formal entrance. Previously the center felt incomplete, and the retail environment around it reflected its absent presence.
With its main entrance at the unassuming corner of 12th and Arch, it didn't supply as much demand for the larger chains that could benefit from the center's proximity to more than one or two venues. I know many Philadelphians are staunchly opposed to chains, but conventioneers eat them up, and this previously unused neighborhood is the perfect place to contain them. And perhaps if the market can support a number of tourist friendly retail establishments, it can drive the property value up enough to rid this neighborhood of the predatory land hoarders operating the surface lots that litter the surrounding cityscape, or at the very least drive them to build vertically.
I was never sure which Broadway that song was about, probably because I never really listened to the words.
But Broadway or Broadway, Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts is becoming more and more illuminated to reflect the great neon entertainment corridors that inspired our vision.
As I happened to pass the Pennsylvania Convention Center Saturday evening I was lucky enough to catch a nice little surprise. The center was testing the facade's lighting scheme.
With the construction of Lenfest Plaza and the PCC lighting up this once desolate neighborhood so close to City Hall, it will be exciting to see how the area continues to develop.
The transaction between Gerry Lenfest and Norwegian Cruise Line/Genting Hong Kong is complete. The ship was purchased for $3M by Gerry Lenfest on behalf of the S.S. United States Conservancy, who pledged $5.8M last summer. The transaction was awaiting approval from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Susan Gibbs is President of the Conservancy and granddaughter of the ship's designer, Philadelphia native William Francis Gibbs.
Because of the economic battle the ship now faces and the public funds that will ultimately be required, the ship may not remain in Philadelphia. With the second casino nixed by former Governor Ed Rendell, the largest opportunity for a privately funded waterfront entertainment complex is off the table. In addition to Philadelphia, the Conservancy is entertaining offers from New York City and Miami.
At 650,000 square feet, the estimated cost to restore the ship as a stationary attraction similar to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA is at $200M. The ship was originally outfitted with tons of asbestos which has since been removed. This leaves engineers and architects with the daunting task of rebuilding the interior instead of restoring it.
$2.8M remain out of Lenfest's pledge, the same philanthropist who donated $2M towards the Academy of the Arts' Cherry Street promenade, enough to maintain and store the ship for twenty months at its current South Philadelphia dock across from Ikea.
The official, and non-traditional, indoor groundbreaking at Lenfest Plaza took place yesterday at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts at Broad and Cherry. The $7.5M project will turn Cherry Street from Broad to 15th into a pedestrian promenade.
A Claes Oldenberg sculpture of a 53 foot tall paint brush has been commissioned for the site, just several blocks from Oldenberg's iconic clothes pin at Centre Square.
Lenfest Plaza's non-traditional groundbreaking symbolically took place on a scale model of the site rather than with shovels and hard hats.
The plaza, between the restored Hamilton Building and Frank Furness's original Academy building, will face the new entrance to the Pennsylvania Convention Center and open around the same time.
With the first major investments in North Broad Street in decades, developers and residents are eagerly anticipating what impact this new life will have on a stagnant section of Center City that has struggled with its identity as its deteriorated over the past 50 years.
As the Pennsylvania Convention Center prepares to open its new entrance on North Broad Street, its neighbors are already planning improvements to street that will soon be seeing a lot more foot traffic.
When Lenfest Plaza opens in the Spring of 2011, it will improve the pedestrian experience of North Broad Street by closing the street to a pedestrian mall directly across from the Convention Center, between The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, an architectural landmark designed by Frank Furness, and The Hamilton Building.
A restaurant (TBD) is planned for current gallery space in the Hamilton Building that will compliment the plaza and bring nightlife to an underused yet centrally located part of the city.
The Olin Studio will design the space, which will host a rotating series of outdoor art.
