Also this issue: Can't Get There From Here How Philadelphia fails to capitalize on its walkability. -Steve Conn

June 19-25, 2003

cityspace

Addition or Subtraction?

by Daniel Brook

Historic preservationists in Philadelphia have a lot to be proud of when it comes to the adaptive reuse of old buildings. Just look at how the Reading Railroad’s train shed at 12th and Market was refurbished and converted into the Pennsylvania Convention Center during the 1990s.

But today, a plan to put a restaurant in the Engine House building of the Waterworks in Fairmount Park (by the Schuylkill River, just downhill from the Philadelphia Museum of Art) has preservationists arguing that this adaptive reuse plan calls for too much adaptation. The project, which would also add a greenhouse to the rear of the building, is currently snaking its way through the approval processes of the Fairmount Park Commission, the Historical Commission and the Art Commission. Critics maintain the addition is unnecessary and being done on the cheap.

According to Department of the Interior standards, which apply to historically certified buildings like the Waterworks, "an exterior addition should be considered only after it has been determined that the new use cannot be successfully met by altering non-character-defining interior spaces. New additions should be designed and constructed so that the character-defining features of the historic building are not radically changed, obscured, damaged or destroyed in the process of rehabilitation."

John Gallery, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, is concerned that the Park Commission would set a poor precedent by disregarding those guidelines. "I think one of the important issues here is, is the city going to follow the secretary of the interior's standards for the buildings that it owns? How can we ask [private developers] to follow the secretary of the interior's standards if the city doesn't follow them?"

Gallery says the restaurant owners haven't proven an addition is needed, which is required by those federal guidelines. He suggests that a restaurant could fit within the existing structure and argues that the quality is not up to snuff. "It's not a building that a well-qualified architect has designed to fit the uniqueness of these circumstances," Gallery says.

Catelli's, the South Jersey restaurant petitioning to open up shop in the Waterworks, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Fairmount Park Commission Director Karen Borski notes, "We're looking to act soon," but wouldn't reveal which way she's leaning by saying "we're here to preserve and protect the park" and are committed to doing right by "one of our landmark sites."