Art, Culture, and Decrepit Eateries

 Howdy folks! Today's post is going to be for the most part another spread of photos from Philly, but by this point I was settled in more and was starting to scope out the retail scene around Center City a little more. Being Center City, there's a ton of restaurants- some of which are nicer than others. But first- Plaza ACME visited an art gallery?!

Fleisher Art Memorial, Bella Vista

One of my friends invited me to come see a Day of the Dead exhibit with him and his girlfriend. I obliged, as I was told there would be a taco truck outside. It was delicious, and it got me into an art museum for the first time in God knows how long. 

This museum has a neat history- it was originally built as the Episcopal Church of the Evangelist in 1886. The church was very short-lived, as the gallery has been here since 1922. Despite being inoperational for nearly a century, the interior is still very well intact. 

The church was built in the Romanesque style, perhaps to appeal to the large Italian population in the area. The space was cool to begin with, but the whole atmosphere of the exhibit fit the setting well.

Views from South Street Bridge

This bridge is pretty famous for the great view it has of the skyline, but here's the (understandably) less photographed view looking south. This view is going to be changing quite a bit soon, as the Children's Hospital seen on the right is currently adding two more towers to their complex between the river and their current buildings.

And here's the money shot! There's some debate as to whether South Street or Spring Garden Street's (to the north) bridges have better views. Personally I like this one better, since the taller towers don't block out the shorter ones here.

CVS, Graduate Hospital

This location was built new in 2013 on the site of a longtime parking lot. This area's getting a lot of higher-density construction recently, so I'm surprised a 1-story drugstore with its own surface lot got approval from zoning.

Thrift Drug/Eckerd/Dollar General/Unleashed, Graduate Hospital

Thrift Drug opened here in 1997, and only lasted a couple months before becoming an Eckerd. They closed in 2000, and it became a Dollar General. Surprisingly, DG closed in 2014. It's now Unleashed, Petco's brand for urban stores. My admittedly bad photo doesn't show it, but some of the bricks off to the left side of the building still have Thrift Drug's Mortar & Pestle, Rx, and Prescription reliefs.

Centennial Market/Best Market/Food Fair/Thriftway/South Square, Graduate Hospital
At first glance, this looks like your typical circa-1950 chain grocery store. I thought it did, at least. That's why I was surprised to learn that the building actually dates back to the 1870's! it began life as Centennial Market, which I don't have much information on but can infer it was a farmer's market. By 1942, it had become a Best Market. They're most likely the ones who added the current facade. Best got bought out by Food Fair in the 60's, who closed this store most likely before the Pantry Pride rebrand. It then became South Square Thriftway, and dropped Thriftway from the name after the IGA merger in 2016. The owners of this franchise also own Rittenhouse Market, a very similar grocery store in an old streetfront A&P a few blocks up from here.

National Penn, Morgantown, PA

I popped home for a weekend and we went apple picking up in Morgantown, hence the little break from Philly photos we're getting here. 

BB&T bought both Susquehanna Bank and National Penn almost consecutively. Morgantown happened to have both, so they opted to keep the old Susquehanna instead. This sat vacant for a while, but has recently become a veterinary clinic.

The Shopping Center that Never Was

This site was graded and laid out for a new shopping center development back in 2008. It was supposed to feature a few big box stores, restaurants, and a hotel. The recession squashed those plans, the sign was the only part ever built. They technically were still considering building it until recently, but officially changed direction last year when it was announced a new casino would be built here. The construction stuff seen here is unrelated; the site was being used as a staging area for a new natural gas pipeline.

Sheetz, Morgantown, PA

This is the closest Sheetz to Philly, it sits practically on the Berks/Chester county line, which Sheetz hasn't crossed. It opened in the late 90's, and was replaced with a new building on the site in 2019. I really like the new one, it feels a lot larger than this did and carries a better selection.

Vitamin Shoppe Construction, Exton, PA

The new façade on this center is nearing completion! Vitamin Shoppe's old sign was interestingly reused, even though their new logo had already come out by then.

Pier 1/TGI Friday's/Chop House, Exton, PA

This building was one of the more interesting retail reuses I've seen- Pier 1 moved to the Main Street shopping center in 2002, and the building was converted to TGI Friday's. They closed in 2017, and the building sat vacant for a while, but opened as upscale pork/steakhouse Chop House Grille earlier this year.

Wawa, Wayne, PA

This was one of Wawa's later old-model stores, it opened in the 80's and was given a massive remodel in the 90's. It was redone again to the current standards in 2016. This is one of the few old-model stores to have a rear entrance, which is pictured here.

The recent remodel was thorough, but they didn't change the layout too much from the 90's. I figure that's because they're desperately trying to replace this.

The ceiling was a couple different heights in here due to the new entryway the 90's added. I tried to get a picture of that but it didn't come out.

Fiat/Stonorov & Haws Offices, Rittenhouse Square

This building looked very midcentury, but it actually began life in the 1920's as a Fiat showroom and dealership. The current façade was done in the 1960's when architecture firm Stonorov & Haws (locally famous for their midcentury-modern designs) set up shop here. They operated until the early 80's, and it got tossed around as a few other offices in the following years. In 2017, work began on the building's next phase of life. Stonorov's façade was ripped off and four stories were added to the top. You wouldn't be able to recognize it as the same building today.

Some Contrast

One of my favorite things about this part of town is how old all the buildings are, despite being only a block away from the modern skyscrapers.

"Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia... Bad Things"

Ok, maybe an application for a liquor license getting rejected isn't the worst problem the city has, but it's still disappointing that this long-vacant storefront couldn't get approval. It's not looking too hot these days. This place looks like it could have been a 5-and-dime at one point, and was going to become a bar. 

Gap Outlet, Rittenhouse Square

Since I didn't include it last post, here's the 3-screen 70's addition Sameric put on the old Boyd Theater. It was gutted out and turned into a Gap Outlet more recently.

Aldine/Viking Theater/Cinema 19/Sam's Place/CVS, Rittenhouse Square

This building first opened in 1921 as the Aldine Theater. It closed in 1953 and was going to be demolished for a parking garage, but there was enough opposition to the project that it was sold and reopened the following year as the Viking Theater. In 1967, it was converted into art house theater Cinema 19. That closed in the late 70's, and it was sold to Sameric. They added a second screen and reopened the theater as Sam's Place, which too closed in 1994. By that point, they realized after 4 attempts maybe a theater wasn't going to work here, so it was then leased to CVS instead. This store has since been remodeled and given the new logo.

The Continental Mid-Town, Rittenhouse Square

This restaurant opened in the early 2000's, but like many Starr restaurants has a 50's theme. I'm not talking about modern diner cheesy pink neon and glittery vinyl seats style, but like an actually well thought-out design that looks like it could have been yoinked right out of the 50's... on the inside at least. The outside keeps up the design along the first floor but kinda loses it on the upper levels.

Aerosoles/Citizens Bank, Rittenhouse Square

Aerosoles closed this location alongside the rest of their brick-and-mortar operations in late 2017. It sat vacant for a little while, but became a Citizens Bank last year.

Dewey's/Little Pete's, Rittenhouse Square

This diner originally opened in the 60's as a Dewey's Lunch Counter. I don't know how big the Dewey's chain was, but they had at least a few locations back in the day. This one in particular got national attention in 1965 after denying service to a gay customer and then becoming the site of a sit-in protest. They closed about a decade later alongside the rest of the chain. Little Pete's opened here in 1978, keeping most of the original design intact. In 2017, they were forced to close as the garage they sat under was bought by Hyatt, who intended to build a new hotel on the site. Demolition began later that year, and the new hotel opened its doors a few days before this post went up. Funny how timing works out. The past few years have been rough for diners in Center City. Currently I believe the only two authentic ones left are South Street Diner and Little Pete's second location. Silk City and City Diner are two newer ones that have opened that do serve traditional diner fare, but they are way too upscale for me to count.

Bookbinder's/Applebee's, Rittenhouse Square

This building opened in 1870 as a police station, and is now believed to be the oldest remaining station in the city. It was decommissioned in the 1920's, and in 1935 became a second location for Bookbinder's Seafood House. Between a family dispute and financial troubles, they closed their doors in 2004 and it became Applebee's not long after. Even though Applebee's got rid of the iconic neon sign in front, they kept and reused the side sign frame. They closed earlier this year after their lease ran out, which was not a surprise as it's the only location I knew of that still had the old logo/2000's décor.

Cosi/Starbucks, Midtown Village

Cosi used to have a large presence in town, but has more recently scaled back to three. Almost all of the closures in town were prior to their bankruptcy filing in February. This location closed in 2018, and Starbucks moved in from across the street last year to make way for CVS.

CarePlus/CVS, Midtown Village

This store opened as a CarePlus, which was CVS's brand for smaller pharmacies, in 2008. It's unusual seeing these outside of hospitals, but I believe its purpose was to serve the Jefferson University Hospital nearby. In 2017, CVS rebranded CarePlus to CVS Specialty Services. This location will be closing shortly once a new full-scale CVS opens up nearby, part of which is where Starbucks moved out of.

Wendy's, Midtown Village

Similar to the University City McDonald's we saw a few weeks ago, here we've got a streetfront freestanding Wendy's. This one looks pretty old; I'm thinking it opened in the 70's. It hadn't been remodeled since the 90's, either. It closed suddenly last year. Plans hadn't been announced to the public yet, but since I was interning with the city I had early access to them when they were submitted for approval, which was only a week or two prior to Wendy's closure. They call for an 11-story apartment tower on the site. Construction hasn't begun yet, but usually the first applications to the city come years before they break ground.

Midtown II Restaurant, Midtown Village

This was the second location of the 4-restaurant Midtown chain. It opened in 1976, and closed its doors in 2016. It was a popular working-class diner, but between the neighborhood going upscale and some negative health department reports, the owner decided it was time to move on. This left Midtown III as the last part of the chain standing, which sadly did not survive the lockdown earlier this year. A week or two after I got this picture, it was announced the building would be converted to a small boutique hotel. The marble facing added to the restaurant in the 80's was pulled off and interior gutted. The for some reason work stopped. It sat for another year, and then a demolition permit was filed for the building and it was zoned to allow for a 14-story hotel. Work never began on that either, and the property was sold once again earlier this year. It's anybody's guess what will happen next. 

Taco Bell, East Market

The building on the end here is still owned by the estate of Samuel Rappaport, a slumlord infamous in the city in the 80's and 90's for buying up blocks and letting them rot. Given the condition of the Taco Bell building and the one to the right of it, I suspect he owned all three at one point. The ground level of Taco Bell was a low-end clothing store until 2011. They were replaced by Taco Bell and Robek's. Robek's closed in 2018, and has since become Pokéworks. The exterior of the building was restored when Taco bell opened, but the upper levels remain vacant and in decay. The new owner seems more invested in the property than Rappaport, so I'm hoping they can repurpose them into offices or apartments. Ironically the one still owned by Rappaport's successors was the first in this row to get restored. Work is underway turning it into apartments.

Horn & Hardart/Rite Aid, East Market

This space was originally home to a Horn & Hardart Automat, which opened in 1952. They closed in the 80's as the chain fizzled out, and became a Rite Aid in 1984, replacing a 60's store nearby. They closed this store in 1995 when a new one opened on the opposite corner of the block. Judging by the labelscar, it later became something else, but it's been closed since at least 2007. The garage above it is owned by the city, so I'm not optimistic it will be redeveloped anytime soom.

Armand's Records/PFCU, East Market

I don't know the full history of this building, but it was most likely originally all retail when it was built in 1900. In 1946, it was heavily remodeled and became Swartz Furniture. It spent most of its recent years as a record and musician's supply store, which closed around 2010. The rear half of the building was demolished in 2016, and the first two floors of the remainder were turned into a new PFCU bank. The upper levels are currently vacant and being marketed as offices. The ugly building to the right of it used to have a beautiful marble art deco façade, for which it was listed on the city's historic register. The owners removed it a few years ago because tiles were in danger of falling, but didn't get approval. The historic commission wants them to put it back up, but the owner is too cheap and wants to clean up the brick instead. For now, we're stuck with this gross mess until they can reach an agreement. I'm rooting for the historical commission here!

Generic Dollar Store, East Market

This entire building was originally home to Snellenburg's Department Store, who built this block-long structure as an annex and parking garage to their flagship store in 1942. I'm unsure when it was divided up, as they closed in the 60's but had been downsizing for a few years prior to that. After they went under, the parking was opened up to the public, the ground level and basement split up into smaller stores, and the upper floors became city offices. I can't tell who the first post-Snellenburg's tenant in this space was, but its successors kept the 60's look intact all the way to the end. Over the last few years it operated as a dollar store, changing names frequently. The sign said Dollar-O-Mart Plus at the end here, but I remember the receipts said a different name. It closed down in 2019 as they began emptying out the building for demolition, which happened earlier this year. Two towers are now being built on the site- a 23-story annex to the Jefferson Hospital on the east and a 24-story apartment building on the west.

Kinney Shoes/PFCU, East Market

This building's older than it looks, Kinney Shoes added the midcentury modern façade when they opened here in 1956. It clocks in at 4 stories, which I'm guessing was all retail space during Kinney's tenure. It became PFCU after they closed, who used the ground floor as the actual bank and had corporate offices on the upper levels. They relocated to the old Armand's building last year, leaving this vacant. The run-down Rainbow to the left has been closed since around 2008, and began demolition last year but as of yet hasn't been finished. I'm a little worried somebody's going to take the opportunity to buy both that and PFCU and tear it down too. Rainbow used to be a 5-story building, but the upper levels caught on fire in the 70's and were removed afterwards, hence the strange looking top. The building to the right was home to Rite Aid from 1968 until the one pictured earlier opened in 1984. Prior to Rite Aid, it was Martin's Wholesale Drug, which they acquired to expand into the city for the first time. Even though

Hale Building, East Market

This building was home to Keystone National bank when if was first built in 1887, and changed hands a few times prior to the 50's when  Franklin Simon & Co opened on the bottom three floors. The upper levels had been sitting empty since the 70's, with the exception of a spa on the 4th floor, which closed in the 80's. Franklin Simon later became a Valu-Plus, which was only using the ground floor by the time they closed in 2011. This was not one of their locations that Rainbow took over. Thankfully, restoration work began in 2017. Most of the building is being kept as offices, the first floor will be retail, and it will feature a restaurant on top. With regards to the street-level façade, Franklin Simon totally redid it when they opened in a shiny box of black marble. The restoration project brought back as much of the original stone as they could salvage, then where Simon ripped it out altogether they added a boxy modern entryway clad in a similar color stone to the rest of the building.

Meridian Plaza Memorial, Rittenhouse Square

The 38-story office tower Meridian Plaza caught on fire as a result of linseed oil left unattended in 1991. The fire consumed 8 floors of the building, caused serious structural damage, and cost the lives of three firefighters, to whom this memorial is dedicated. Prior to 9/11, it was the largest building to be destroyed by fire in the country. Even though demolition was the only way out, an insurance dispute led to the building sitting boarded up and abandoned  until 1998. It's partially to blame for Philadelphia's (admittedly deserved) reputation for being a terrible place in the 90's. It's in a pretty central location too, so every visitor and tourist would have had to look at the burned-out hulk. It's literally across the street from City Hall. Fortunately, we've come a long way since then. The 48-story Residences at the Ritz Carlton opened its doors on the site in 2009.

Center Square, Rittenhouse Square

This office tower opened in 1981, and at the time was home to Arco's headquarters- hence why their logo is set into the concrete wall. They pulled out of here not too long after when they exited the East Coast market and relocated to California, and this became successor Atlantic's headquarters. I don't believe Sunoco would have kept these offices after buying Atlantic. Comcast was also formerly headquartered here from when their previous HQ in Meridian Plaza next door burned to 2008, when they built their own tower.

Subway Neon

I found this neat neon sign down in the City Hall subway concourse advertising lottery tickets at one of the convenience stores down there. It probably dates back to when this area was last remodeled in the 80's or early 90's.

The frat house a few doors down from my new apartment had a lawn party the other night. They were blasting this song, and it's been stuck in my head ever since. It's not the kind of song you'd expect a frat to be blasting, but I like it much better than what they usually play.