Colonial City Sees Battle of Historic Proportions : Philadelphia: In a town bulging with landmarks, officials say it’s too costly to retain them all. Preservationists are pushing for tougher codes.
PHILADELPHIA — Nobody is rushing to tear down Independence Hall, or Carpenters Hall, or Christ Church. But in a city that trades heavily on its Colonial image, lesser known historic buildings are falling to the wrecking ball.
The problem, activists say, is negligent property owners and a city not committed to preservation. City officials, in turn, say tight budgets, trimmed staffs and a slow economy make saving buildings difficult.
“Other major cities in the country have a greater public and private commitment to preservation than Philadelphia, and I think it’s ironic because the resources in Philadelphia are in my estimation richer than in other cities,†said Brent Glass, executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Harrisburg.
Preservationists are especially concerned about lively old neighborhoods that give the city a unique flavor and human scale.
“Once they come down, 150-year-old buildings never come back,†said architect Richard W. Thom, vice president of the Old City Civic Assn. In 1955, Philadelphia became the first U.S. city to enact a broad historic preservation law. But today, Boston, Baltimore and New York have larger preservation staffs than Philadelphia’s three professionals and one clerical worker.
Preservationists say they are encouraged by Mayor Edward G. Rendell’s moves to promote tourism in the Independence Hall area and to curb “demolition by neglect.†But some doubt the efforts will reverse a destructive trend.
In Old City, a neighborhood of 18th- and 19th-Century commercial buildings near Independence National Historical Park, four locally registered historic buildings have been torn down in the last nine months, with city approval.
It started in October, when officials reversed policy and quietly allowed demolition crews to raze the Elisha Webb Chandlery, an 18th-Century warehouse, to make way for a restaurant parking lot.
City officials said Philadelphia generally loses two or three such buildings a year, while preservationists estimated five to 10.
The city grants demolition permits for a historic building when the structure is dangerous or the owner demonstrates economic hardship. Preservationists said some owners purposely allow the buildings to crumble, giving owners the chance to clear the land for more lucrative ventures.
Developer Peter Taraborelli recently demolished a historic building he owned in Old City after advertising unsuccessfully for a tenant for five years. He said the building had rotten beams.
“This building . . . wasn’t anything that you would consider old-looking. It was just a building, nothing you would consider fancy, no artwork,†he said. “I want to build something that is beautiful in today’s world.â€
He advocates replacing dilapidated historic buildings with “old-looking†modern ones. Preservationists, he said, don’t pay the property taxes.
“Fixing up a building that should be torn down is ridiculous,†he said.
City officials insist they do not share Taraborelli’s views.
Wayne Spilove, Historical Commission chairman, emphasized that the administration is committed to preservation, and Bennett Levin, the city’s licenses and inspections commissioner, denied that his office allows building to deteriorate by failing to enforce codes.
The Historical Commission, which oversees 5,000 local landmarks and two historic districts, is preparing to designate six new districts encompassing 10,000 buildings. The designation means owners need commission approval for any changes to building facades.
Spilove and Levin said a new committee formed by Rendell to prevent demolition by neglect will enable the city to identify problems in historic buildings before it’s too late. If the owners refuse to make repairs, a new law allows the city to step in.
The plan requires private preservationists to raise $1 million for the city repair fund, which officials plan to replenish with liens on the repaired buildings.
“It’s like getting the cancer before it metastasizes,†Levin said.
Preservationists, although encouraged, voiced concern about raising the $1 million. Jennifer Goodman said her peers want the city to improve building code enforcement before they start raising money.
But they feel a sense of urgency.
“In Williamsburg, they spent millions of dollars creating phony buildings,†said Thom, of the Old City Civic Assn. “We’ve still got (the genuine ones) here.â€
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