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!!
  
     

Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- May 21st

Tun Tavern Reconstruction

109 Spruce Street

        

Old conjectural drawing of Tun Tavern superimposed (badly) onto the site of the proposed project.

               In last week's Empty Lot of the Week, I examined a dirty pile of empty land at the corner of Spruce Street and 38th Parallel Place, between Front and Second. At the end, I appealed to the sky for an answer as to why the city has been sitting on this space for the last 40 years without nary a sign of life, besides a brand new sidewalk that was just installed--the first one this lot has ever had! In the comments section of that piece, Philaphile Bob Bruhin brought up the fact that a re-build of the legendary Tun Tavern was once set to happen here but never happened. A Dead-Ass Proposal!
               Read all about it at the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!

LOST BUILDINGS ARE BACK!!!

           After an 8 month hiatus, Lost Building of the Week is back!!! They will be hosted by the Philadelphia Magazine's Property Blog!

Northern National Bank

2300 Germantown Avenue

Holy crap!!! Image from the Athenaeum of Philadelphia.

            The worst kind of lost building is one that survives and keeps on truckin', only to get unceremoniously demolished in the end. This, the Northern National Bank, is the quintessential exemplar of this phenomenon. A building that kicked ass all over the place until getting ripped the f down like a rotten old wooden shed.
            Read more at the Philadelphia Magazine's Property Blog!

Empty Lot of the Week-- May 14th

Hidden Grasshit Lot

Northeast Corner of Spruce Street and 38th Parallel Place

            This pile of dirt and grass is NOT part of the Korean War Memorial Park to the north and east. This is a straight-up empty lot that's managed to stay hidden due to all the open space around it, disguised as part of the surrounding park and plaza. Empty for over 50 years, this shitty patch of fuck has witnessed the entire history of our great city.
           Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!