Churbex

 

Welcome back to another thrilling installment of Philadelphia Retail! We're going to be taking yet another trip down to Penn's Landing, looking at one of the less-photographed parts of a church, and- spoiler alert- the Eagles won the Super Bowl, so we're going to another riot celebration.

2100 Market, Rittenhouse Square

Over the past decade, developer Brandywine has been buying up properties on this block to build a new skyscraper. They eventually accumulated everything except the firehouse, then hit a snag (well, actually, make that their second snag). Despite being offered a new station as part of the development, they refused to sell. Instead of giving up, they revised their plans. They were able to get the air rights to the firehouse, and now plan on building the base of their skyscraper on the larger western end of the property, and have it cantilever out this way. Two of these buildings, which were originally slated for demolition, saw some new investment. The one on the right got a total façade replacement and was retenanted with Pho Street, one of my favorite restaurants. I like the new look, but I'd say the old one was a tragic loss.

Center Square, City Hall

In preparation for a major renovation here, the Center Square towers kicked out Wells Fargo, uncovering a Wachovia labelscar. The remodel brought the glass curtain wall out a few more feet, creating a flatter exterior with a little more space inside.

City Hall Station, City Hall

In City Hall's courtyard, there are two easy-to-miss subway entrances. One is still in use, while the other has been out-of-service since the 1970's. Honestly, I didn't realize these were here despite walking past them several times. It took me finding someone else's photos before I saw them.

Here's the open one. Nothing too exciting.

On the other side, we have the abandoned one. This leads down to a section of the City Hall Subway concourse that's been closed to the public since the Commuter Tunnel was built in the 70's, and totally abandoned (2 links) since the 2000's. It's a popular urbexing spot, but at this point I think I know all the possible entrances and still have no clue how they get in.

Subway signage still adorns the outside of the escalator.

And there's even some terrazzo set in the sidewalk near it! From these pictures, this headhouse looks hard to miss, but trust me, it isn't. It's in a corner of the courtyard, separated from the main thoroughfare by a large planter.

The Ludlow, East Market

This tower is one of two apartment buildings that arose from the site of the old Snellenburg's department store. It drew some heavy design influence from the neighboring PSFS building. Of the new apartment towers in Center City, this one's among my favorites.

McMystery, East Market

I can't find any record of McDonald's ever having a restaurant here, but judging by the ghost sign on the side wall I'd say they have to have been here. McDonald's had another restaurant a few blocks down for several years (now a Panda Express), but that might have replaced this location in the 80's or 90's. This building sat abandoned for several years before becoming apartments around 2015. Despite the successes the apartments have had, they still have not managed to lease the presumable former ground level McDonald's space.

Here's a close-up of that ghost sign. Notice it says Playland instead of Playplace.

Five Below, East Market

After being kicked out of the Gallery for construction, Five Below moved into the ground level of the old Lit Brothers. Only this wasn't just a relocation- it became their new flagship store, featuring a ton of Philly-specific merchandise. It's also worth mentioning their corporate headquarters is on one of the upper floors of the same building.

Franklin Court, Old City

There are many places around here named after Ben Franklin, but this one actually had a legitimate claim to the name. Franklin actually built and owned this row of revolution-era storefronts, and lived directly behind it. His actual house was demolished in 1812, but was resurrected as an outline by postmodernist icon Robert Venturi in 1976. Around that time, these buildings were restored to their original appearance.

CVS, Old City

It's once of the fanciest CVS's now, but this property was once home to one of the tackiest buildings in Old City- The Shirt Corner. Shirt Corner is a neighborhood landmark and possibly the unluckiest store in the city. This store was destroyed by fire in 2014, and consolidated with sister store Suit Corner diagonally across the intersection. Suit Corner then burned to the ground too only a couple months later. They moved into a nearby vacant space for a few years, and finally this past summer reopened on a portion of the old Suit Corner site. This building went up on the Shirt Corner site not long after the fire, and houses apartments. The new building is named The Shirt Corner, which I thought was a nice homage.

Old City Food Market, Old City

Even though Old City is the most touristy part of Philly and has a vibrant restaurant scene, there's still a surprising number of blighted properties. This is one of the more noticeable ones. A small market, formerly known as Goldberg's, operates on the bottom. The four floors above that sit abandoned. As much as I'd hate to wish the store closes, its owners own the building (which dates back to at least the mid-1800's) as well and obviously don't care to maintain it. New ownership might be its only chance at seeing some new life.

The Continental, Old City

In 1995, then-unknown chef Stephen Starr bought a run-down old diner and reopened it as a Martini bar. It was an instant success, which Eater credits as starting the Old City restaurant revival, and allowed Starr to kick off opening his own restaurant empire. A second location of the Continental opened near Rittenhouse Square a few years later, and features more food options as well as the drinks they are known for. Sadly, this fell victim to the lockdowns last year and was closed in favor of keeping the Rittenhouse one. Starr made out pretty well though, of the several eateries he has in town, this was the only one to close. That's not the end of the story either- he plans on reopening this post-pandemic under a new name as a different concept. As to what that is, I'll just have to wait and see.

Christ Church, Old City

While the building dates to 1727, the Anglican Parish that originally owned it was formed in 1895. The 196-foot steeple was added on in 1754, making it the tallest building in the country. It held that title up until 1810. Following the American Revolution, it split from the Anglican church and became the first Episcopal church. It was the place of worship for many of the Founding Fathers, a few of which are buried in its graveyard (most notably Ben Franklin). It's still operational as a church, though masses have been suspended through this Spring due to the virus.

Penn's Landing

I spent quite a bit of time here Freshman year. It's going to be changing a lot soon, and for the better, but I've got a soft spot for it the way it is now.

Ben Franklin Bridge

Measuring nearly 10,000 feet in length, this was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time it opened to traffic in 1926. It carries a lot between Philly and Camden- 7 lanes of traffic, two walkways, and the PATCO subway line. Originally, the two center vehicle lanes were trolley tracks, but they were removed after Camden disbanded its trolley system in 1932. The PATCO tracks were added on in 1936 and rebuilt in 2014, but the rest of the structure is all original. While we're talking about this, here's an interesting/stupid bit of trivia- they chose this light blue paint because it was Ben Franklin's favorite color.

Betsy Ross House, Old City

I could tell you what the tour guides tell everybody about this place, but I won't lie to you. It's debatable Betsy Ross designed the American flag, but a known fact that she didn't live here. Records show her actual residence was right next door to this building. That being said, as this was once a rowhome, her house would have been more or less identical to it. Even if it's not her actual house, this 1740-built structure is still a great example of what a colonial house would have been like and is a perfect place for the flag museum it currently holds.

US Mint, Old City

If you've got any coins on you, take a look at the heads side. Notice it has a "P" or "D" stamped on it (unless it's a penny, in which case it's either D or blank). Those indicate where it was made. If it's a P and made after 1969, it came out of this building. This is the fourth location of the Philadelphia Mint, and up until 2017 held the distinction of being the world's largest mint. They do offer tours along an enclosed walkway, and have a gift shop. 

Gulf, Logan Square

I don't know who has enough time to survey every gas station, former or open, in the city, but someone did. They claim this was one of two surviving 1920's Hacienda-style Gulf stations left in the city (the other being in South Philly). I'm not about to go check every building in town to confirm, but I have reason to believe they're right. Abandoned as it is, it's still a beautifully preserved example. It sits on a property shared with Avis car rental, which was bought in 2017 by a developer. Avis was quickly razed, for a parking lot, while this was small enough they left it alone. It's a nice decoration, if nothing else. Their long-term plan is to build a new headquarters for Chubb on the site, but that won't materialize for a few years so this will stick around a while longer.

Avis, Logan Square

Speaking of the Avis, let's take a quick look at that before it comes down.

There were three small buildings on site, a gas station (pictured), car wash, and office. They were all gone within a few weeks of when I got these pictures.

Here's the rear of the property. The car wash was on the left and office towards the back.

Print Shop, University City

I posted this place a few weeks back. Since my last photo, the ominous Notice of Demolition sticker has popped up on the front door.

Here's a quick look inside. Not too much to see. Obviously the building underwent some heavy remodeling in the 60's.

Hamilton Court, University City

Hamilton Court opened in 1901 as a luxury apartment complex, but over the years had fallen into rough shape and mainly catered to students. Finally, they began a massive renovation in 2017. It's still student apartments now, but has regained the "luxury" status. Part of this renovation involved building a new fitness center in the courtyard, which originally was home to a fountain but in recent years was just used for parking.

St. James School, University City

While the associated church dates back to well before, this parochial school opened its doors in 1926. As the neighborhood changed to primarily college-age residents, the school closed in the 90's and sent students to the relatively close-by St. Francis school. The church then began leasing the space to UPenn. Finally in 2019, they took it back and heavily renovated it to serve as a new Newman Center as part of a large reinvestment project.

The thing that spurred this development was the sale of the existing 1971-built Penn Newman Center next door. A developer was willing to shell out several million dollars for the property, which funded an extensive restoration of the 130-year-old church in addition to the construction for the new Newman Center.

Quickly after it was sold, the old Newman Center was demolished and replaced by a 38-story apartment building. It was a very dramatic change for this block.

For the most part, there was nothing noteworthy about the interior aside from the lobby. The stained glass was salvaged, but most of the rest of this just came down with the building. Shortly before work began, the parishioners sent the building off by using it for a free-for-all paintball war.

Some parts of the building had been fixed up, like the kitchen, but for the most part it was identical to the day it opened inside.

Heading into (and under) the church next door, here we have the disused social hall. For the past several years, the post-mass luncheons had been held in the Newman center due to the larger kitchen. The renovation gutted out and rebuilt the space down here, adding a nice new kitchen so it could return to its original purpose.

Don't worry, the renovations kept these neat old architectural features.

The columns were just about the only thing here they left alone.

In the back, they had a creepy old single-use bathroom. The renovation brought nicer multi-stall ones.

The back had a ton of old hallways and oddly-shaped rooms that I'm not sure the exact purpose of. These were all gutted out to open up the floor plan more.

This doorway outside was opened up to a connector hallway, attaching the main church to the new Newman Center.

One of the random back rooms was already halfway gutted out. Not sure what the deal was with this.

Here's the old kitchen, which was understandably out of service for many years.

The only complaint I have with the remodel is that it got rid of these neat old doorknobs. They were cool, but I guess I understand why they came out.

Eagles Riot, Round 2

If you though the crowd I showed you last week was insane, here's the group that gathered after we beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Here, I'm at 20th and Chestnut, six blocks away from the epicenter on Broad Street.

To give you some idea what this sounded like, the crowd went from singing Fly Eagles Fly, to the E-A-G-L-E-S chant, to the infamous "Big D*** Nick".

Here's Broad Street. I could barely get on it and can guarantee I would have died trying to cross it. 

Among the lunacy here, many beer kegs, bottles, and cans were present. This led to several stoplight poles getting pushed over (one of which was then yeeted through AC Moore's front window), widespread street sign stealing, the Ritz-Carlton's canopy collapsing from people dancing on it, someone stealing and crashing a garbage truck, a few cars being burned, and someone (who may or may not happened to live down the hall from me and been my calc study partner) made it on both Jimmy Fallon and BBC after jumping off the top of one of the streetlight poles into the crowd. Keep in mind, the Streets Department preemptively greased the poles in Center City to keep that from happening.

There was more statue climbing this time around as well; this time on the surviving piece of Meridian Plaza.

Surprisingly, nobody died that night and only three people (one of which was the garbage truck thief and another of which was ironically an off-duty cop) got arrested.

The Super Bowl parade was the next week, during the day. This also happened to be my first (and only, I should add) daydrinking experience. It was a mistake. I don't remember taking these pictures, and I'll leave it at that.

...I don't even know what I was trying to photograph here. It came out cool though.

Have some Alanis Morrissette this week, for a change of pace.