Philadelphia 2035 (York, Washington, Franklin: down payment, trucks, carrying) - Pennsylvania (PA) - Page 335 - City-Data Forum

MarketStEl · 06-07-2016, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyb01

It's still an open question as to whether the towers were a waste of money because the projects that will be enhanced by them are still either being constructed(Divine Lorraine to be finished by year's end)or still in the planning stages(Met at Broad and Poplar).

Of course Saffron rarely gives updates on anything she writes about or admits to mistakes at all. Thank goodness local developers seem to be over" her shrill "announcements".

Sorry, those light sabers aren't going to "enhance" anything on North Broad. They don't really harmonize with their surroundings, and they're out of scale with what's on the street now - as well as what's likely to be on that street in the foreseeable future. They need MUCH taller buildings surrounding them. No one's going to be building anything that tall on North Broad.

The city would have done better to put up the standard pedestal lights you now find on business strips all over the city. The only problem is that Broad Street's width would overwhelm them.

MarketStEl · 06-07-2016, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

I have not heard about Met....Hmmm must look for articles now!

Here you go. There are some inside-the-theater shots in the gallery at the end:

The Divine Lorraine, Getting Ready For Its Closeup | Property | Philadelphia Magazine

asiandudeyo · 06-08-2016, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Here you go. There are some inside-the-theater shots in the gallery at the end:

The Divine Lorraine, Getting Ready For Its Closeup | Property | Philadelphia Magazine

WOW!
It is such an abominable that a building like left abandoned and not being utilized?
I am interested in the history as why it is being abandoned considering that it can house one of the Broadway shows that are performing.

kyb01 · 06-08-2016, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Sorry, those light sabers aren't going to "enhance" anything on North Broad. They don't really harmonize with their surroundings, and they're out of scale with what's on the street now - as well as what's likely to be on that street in the foreseeable future. They need MUCH taller buildings surrounding them. No one's going to be building anything that tall on North Broad.

The city would have done better to put up the standard pedestal lights you now find on business strips all over the city. The only problem is that Broad Street's width would overwhelm them.

Spoken by someone who doesn't live anywhere near them, never has and probably never will in the future.
I, on the other hand, do live nearby and it might be wiser,imo, to wait to see how things actually pan out rather than jump on Inga belief-system bandwagon.

Hmmm, didn't Temple complete a pretty tall building at Broad and CB Moore? So, why rule out building height potential between there and Ridge Ave?

MarketStEl · 06-08-2016, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

WOW!
It is such an abominable that a building like left abandoned and not being utilized?
I am interested in the history as why it is being abandoned considering that it can house one of the Broadway shows that are performing.

It's not abandoned.

It had housed an evangelical church, which bought the building precisely to save it from the wrecking ball.

However, the church didn't have the money to restore it on its own. The church struck a deal with Blumenfeld that gave each a share of the ownership, with the understanding that Blumenfeld would perform the needed reconstruction.

As with the Divine Lorraine, it took Blumenfeld longer than (I suspect) he had hoped to find someone willing to finance the work - long enough that the church filed suit to take the building back. (The church has been holding services at Benjamin Franklin High School since vacating the Met, which had deteriorated to the point where it could no longer meet in its auditorium.) The two parties were apparently able to resolve their differences without going to court, for the suit was withdrawn before it went to trial. Blumenfeld is now beginning restoration work on the theater. As I reported in my article, he's in negotiations with a venue promoter to operate and program the facility. The church will return too once work is complete.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyb01

Spoken by someone who doesn't live anywhere near them, never has and probably never will in the future.
I, on the other hand, do live nearby and it might be wiser,imo, to wait to see how things actually pan out rather than jump on Inga belief-system bandwagon.

Hmmm, didn't Temple complete a pretty tall building at Broad and CB Moore? So, why rule out building height potential between there and Ridge Ave?

No, I don't live near there, but I get off the train often enough at Broad and [Spring Garden|Cecil B. Moore] to view the street and form an opinion.

Maybe I am premature in predicting that there won't be Morgan Halls lining North Broad Street some years down the road. After all, I'm no more clairvoyant than anyone else around here. Most of the urban advocates I know would welcome such a development, as the street is wide enough not only to support but to demand such density and it would make far better use of the four-track infrastructure beneath it. But what with the Beury Building still sitting empty at Broad and Erie, above the zone, and with such development as has been proposed so far on a scale far smaller than Morgan Hall or the Divine Lorraine, I'm not optimistic that they will get their wish, desirable as that would be.

cpomp · 06-16-2016, 11:55 AM

New Philadelphia tourism record: 41 million visitors in 2015

Always good to see this.

And this is from last month, but great to see the New York Times write a nice article highlighting Philadelphia, without a single mention of blue collar (to me that is exciting). The Washington Post always like to throw around backhanded compliments whenever they write about Philadelphia, but the Times did a much better job of showcasing some of what the city has to offer.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...phia.html?_r=1