Rape of our Heritage

by Amy L. Webb

So much for historical preservation.

The Philadelphia Historical Commission last week signed off on the oft-contested demolition of three historically designated buildings on the 1900 block of Sansom. Only the façade of one of those buildings -- The Rittenhouse Coffee Shop -- will survive, though it, too, will be altered to fit in with the rest of the design.

In their place: an 8,200-square-foot restaurant, eight-screen cinema and 500-space parking lot. The development, pitched by the Philadelphia Parking Authority, will cost upwards of $35 million and will create 500 temporary construction jobs.

The Parking Authority stands to gain income from the deal, though no one is saying how much just yet. Ritz movie theaters will add eight screens and two screening rooms to their collection. And Center City denizens will get 500 additional parking spaces in an area where the city already operates three parking garages and dozens of metered spaces.

So what if the city demolishes a few more historic buildings? It's not as if Philadelphia has none to spare. As long as there's some reminder of what used to be, best to develop now before everyone moves to Jersey.

"Wrong," says appointed commission member Harris Steinberg. "The Commission has to weigh the safeguarding of history with the needs for the city to grow and prosper. This project is a wanton destruction of our physical fabric for absolutely no reason -- the project could have easily been designed to protect the historic buildings and include the parking. It's not either/or, but both/and. That's what makes a city vibrant and alive and real."

Before the hearing, which included five hours of testimony, the architectural committee recommended that the buildings not be demolished. But the effort failed. Five commission members -- all appointed -- voted in favor of the recommendation: James Brown, L. Vincent Rivera, Thomas Sugrue, Norman Tissian and Steinberg.

Thomas Kilkenny, who represents the plaster union and is also an appointed member, voted for demolition. So did the five city office representatives at the hearing.

The commission then voted to approve the demolition -- subject to incorporating the Coffee House façade. This time, only Sugrue changed his vote.

Michael Sklaroff, who chairs the commission, did not attend the hearing because he is also the Parking Authority's attorney for the project.

"This was less about movie theaters and more about creating temporary jobs and adding parking spaces for Parking Authority revenue," said commission member Norman Tissian. "If they were bent on developing the land, it seems to me that it could have been for something other than more parking."

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