Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- June 18th

Walnut Street Theatre Tower, World's Tallest Old Folk's Home

825 Walnut Street

                 This is the kind of Dead-Ass Proposal that really pisses me the fuck off. A highrise in a location that sorely needs it, a project that would have had huge success for multiple reasons, a replacement for a decades-old surface parking lot. This would have been a major landmark for the city and world record-breaker. What a disappointment.
              Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

Empy Lot of the Week-- June 11th

Pat's and Geno's Shame Lot

Corner of 9th/Wharton/Passyunk

Pitiful. Look how many out-of-towners see this lot at any given moment!

               What in the fuck? This area is a major Tourista Zone! Why has this lot been empty for over 20 years? Why was it ever allowed to get empty in the first place? What an embarassment. Hopefully, this shitty motherfucker can get filled in soon. Don't get your hopes up-- there's a mural.
               Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

Old-Ass Building of the Week-- June 10th

Banater Maenerchor Hall

2007 North 2nd Street

Pic by Brad Maule

                  Legendary Philaphile Brad Maule challenged me to find out as much shit as I could about this cool-looking bitch-bastard of a building. Check out the results at the Hidden City Daily!

Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- June 4th

Joint Library and Conservatory

Southeast Corner of 6th and Walnut



Holy Crap! Image from the Athenaeum of Philadelphia

           This would still be a landmark today if it was ever built. A massive Egyptian Revival library that would have become a National Treasure. Though it never saw a lick of construction, remnants of its near-existence can still be found today, 180 years later.
           Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

Lost Building of the Week -- June 4th

People's Trust Company

1133 Arch Street



This old postcard shows a rendering of the building from before it was built.

           Now here's a building from when they knew how to build buildings. The People's Trust Company Building ruled the corner of 12th and Arch for eight decades. Its unusual design and construction made it a marvel in its own time... but that crap didn't matter when the Pennsylvania Convention Center came along to knock it out of existence.
          Read more at Philadelphia Magazine's Property Blog!

Empty Lot of the Week-- May 28th

Washington Masonic Three Banks Lot

709-713 Chestnut Street

               This lot is the kind that lasts forever. Its not like there's a lack of parking around here-- there are parking garages and larger surface lots all over the place. Its that fucking mural. That's what will keep this shitty lot alive forever. Though the murals we find all over the city are meant more as placeholders than actual development, there have been plenty of incidents whereby development covering a mural has caused a NIMBY explosion.
              Read more at the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!

Old-Ass Building of the Week-- May 28th

Henry C. Lowden Residence

4424 Market Street

              Here's another one I've been researching on and off for quite a while... read all about it at the Hidden City Daily!!