March 10-16, 2005

city beat

It's Hall Gone

A judge clears Penn's bid to continue demolishing Convention Hall.

by Cory Frolik

A Common Pleas judge last week shot down preservationists' bid to stop the University of Pennsylvania from demolishing Convention Hall. Judge Albert Sheppard's decision, faxed to both parties Friday afternoon, effectively spells the end of the historic building on 34th Street.

The university, which has already started demolition work at the 19-acre site, plans to build a world-class cancer center in its place.

The Committee to Save Convention Hall sent a letter to 51 state legislators and City Council members asking them to step in on their behalf [Cityspace, "Hollowed Hall," Hannah Yi, Feb. 17, 2005]. That effort garnered a response from Penn President Amy Gutman on Feb. 17. She said she was "well aware of the history of Convention Hall, both locally and globally, and can assure you that we are carefully exploring avenues for its future." Five days later, the wrecking ball was swinging.

Seeking a legal injunction that would have halted demolition until further notice, the preservationists went to court March 2. Among other things, committee attorney Hal Schmirer argued Penn hadn't secured the proper clearance to start demolition work. Penn representatives said they'd done everything by the book.

Claiming Penn should have sought more public feedback, Schmirer called on preservationist Gersil Kay who, having previously worked to protect the Lit Brothers Building, maintained that the existing hall could have been incorporated into plans. (Over the past two years, Penn says they surveyed the structure to determine whether it could be salvaged; they decided it was too small and ill-equipped to be part of a medical complex.)

Sheppard, however, decided that intervening five months into the project would have caused "significant harm" to the university and its contractors. Starting over, the university said, would have cost tens of millions of dollars.

The committee, Sheppard wrote, "failed to demonstrate clearly that any legally recognized wrong has been carried out."

Though the demolition should be completed by late June with construction slated for the fall, Schmirer and committee members say they aren't done yet, as they claim the demolition violates the city's Home Rule Charter.

"If they [plan to] do grand things like cure cancer, they can do more modest things like preserve a building first," says Schmirer. As for specifically what they'll do next, all he offered was, "We'll see."