New Phone, Who Dis?

 This is the first post of entirely cell phone pics I've done in a while. In the past, pictures I took with my Samsung Galaxy S3 and later S5 weren't as good as the ones from my camera. This time is going to be different- I had recently upgraded to the S7 and took it out on a test run. I'm really happy with how it did.

UPenn Singh Labs, University City

This might be my favorite picture I've ever taken. Everything kinda just happened to come together- the angle and lighting just happened by chance. The building opened for the 2013 fall term on the site of a smaller laboratory space.

Cira Center South, University City

The two towers and parking garage in between were slowly built over the course of eight years on the site of the Philadelphia Post Office Annex. The city's central post office (who's original building can be seen on the right) relocated to a modern complex in the early 2000's and sold the old buildings to a developer. Taking advantage of the prime real estate, they turned the historic main building into offices, then ripped down the 1960's annex. The parking garage was the first new building to go up on the site in 2008. It was followed by Evo, luxury student apartments (because apparently some students can afford those?), on the right in 2014, and by west Philly's tallest building- the FMC Tower, which is mostly offices [FMC's headquarters, UPenn, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange] with a few apartments at the top, in 2016.

Schuylkill River Trail, Rittenhouse Square

An ongoing project for the city has been converting miles of abandoned B&O Railway along the river into trail. Further north, the line merged with the Reading Railroad line, which the trail continues along through Phoenixville. The plan is to get it all the way to the rail's end in Pottsville, but that won't be for a while. Currently, it is being extended to the south, across the river and down to Bartram's Gardens.

Condos, Rittenhouse Square

Don't worry, they didn't tear down any of this 1870's Furness-designed row to build this. The building that stood there previously disappeared sometime between 1962 and 1996, presumably due to a fire, and served as a small parking lot in the interim. The new building going up in its place clocks in at 75 feet, technically making it a mid-rise. The way it steps back from the road makes it hard to tell. It was given a modern front on the street level, but kept with the basic shapes of the adjoining houses. The one on the left was also part of this project; it had a large rear addition put on. The storefront is now a Bang & Olufssen showroom, which was announced during construction, after numerous delays finally opened last year.

Carlo's Bake Shop, Rittenhouse Square

Apparently the Cake Boss's bakery is now a chain. They've got 12 locations, about half within driving distance of the original in Hoboken, and the rest spread out across the country. This particular location opened in 2015 in a space that was formerly home to a Hollywood Tans.

McDonald's, Rittenhouse Square

I've posted about this location before, but this picture's much better than my last. To recap: It opened in 1989, though the building it occupies has been here since 1872. It started out life as a rowhome, but had the ground floor converted to retail in the early 1900's. McDonald's was planning to remodel this store last year, but before construction could begin the George Floyd riots broke out. A fire was set in the Vans store next door, which badly damaged it and the stores on either side of it. The properties were in limbo for most of the year- the original plan called for saving the facades since the buildings were historic, but last month the historical commission determined the buildings were unstable enough they would allow complete demolition.

Little Pete's Demolition

My previous coverage of this place was just one distance shot, so I figured I should get a couple more close-ups before this old diner comes down. The inside has been mostly gutted, but the tile and spotlights have survived so far. I figure these must have survived since the Dewey's days.

It sat at the bottom of a 4-level parking garage. Philly's lost a number of these lately. Most large-scale new construction here includes underground parking, so garages like this have been rendered more or less obsolete. Two garages on Sansom Street have recently filed demolition permits, which will likely begin work this winter.

Most of the garage is still intact at this point. I'm not quite sure what the delay in work was. These pictures were from January and my previous visit was November.

One bay has been removed, but that's definitely not 2 months worth of work. I don't imagine there was asbestos or anything in here, but maybe it had something that had to be remediated.

The original brick garage next door was not included in this project and remains vacant, but the fact that they didn't tear it down with the newer concrete portion makes me think they're planning on reopening or repurposing it at some point.

In fact, part of me wonders why they closed it in the first place. They could have easily kept it in operation while working on the other part of it.

Mi Lah, Rittenhouse Square

This building was most recently home to Mi Lah, a vegetarian Asian restaurant which closed in 2015. Not long after they closed, it was turned into an... interesting public art display. It stayed up here for a few years, but has since been peeled down in preparation for a new tenant to take the space.

PNC, Rittenhouse Square

I'm sure this building's got a neat history, but there's not much out there on it. PNC has been here for a while. They've got an interesting gold tile ceiling and funky lights over the entryway that I figure has to be from the 60's.

Bookbinders/Applebee's, Rittenhouse Square

This building was originally constructed as a police station in 1870 and operated as such until 1924. It's currently the oldest surviving former police station in the city. Old City seafood house Bookbinder's opened their second location here in 1935, and had an impressive 70-year run before closing in 2005. Applebee's opened later that year. The Inquirer wrote an article comparing the two Bookbinders in 1999, praising the original and totally bashing this one, so maybe its closure wasn't the worst thing. Applebee's removed Bookbinders' neon in front, but kept the corner sign frame. I ate at this location this past February, and if the logo wasn't indication enough, the place hadn't been updated since it opened. It closed last summer, not because of the lockdown but rather because the lease was up and rent was going to increase significantly. The space had actually been advertised as for lease for about a year before it closed.

Max Brenner, Rittenhouse Square

Honestly I thought this was just a candy shop at first. Apparently it's a full restaurant specializing in desserts (they do have a candy store inside too though). It's supposed to be really good, but they're expensive too. They're Brenner's second restaurant (the first is in NYC) and have been here since 2009.

Fidelity/Wachovia/Wells Fargo Building, Midtown Village

This building was first constructed in 1928 as the headquarters for Fidelity Bank, which was bought out by First Union in 1995. Despite the tenant change, the building's original name was preserved. They were bought out by Wachovia in the early 2000's, who did change the name. They even went as far as to replace the stone above the entryway. Wells Fargo followed suit when they bought out Wachovia. They operated a museum on the ground floor, which permanently closed last year. While this building houses most of their regional headquarters, another building on Independence Mall has more offices. There has been talk of them moving out of these buildings into a new one to consolidate, but so far no action has been taken. If this building looks familiar, you may have seen it featured in the 1983 Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd movie Trading Places.

Wawa, Midtown Village

This location opened in 2015 as Wawa's flagship store. It marked Wawa's re-commitment to downtown Philadelphia. They opened a number of stores around here back in the 60's and 70's, but scaled back on openings after that and even actively began closing them, including the profitable ones, in the mid-2000's since they wanted to shift their focus to suburban stores with the potential to add gas stations. That will probably go down as the worst decision ever made in company history. Many people who worked downtown relied on them for lunch. After an insane amount of public outcry, Wawa stopped the planned closure of their 16th and Arch store, and later reversed course. The Arch Street one was expanded and remodeled, and this location opened on Broad Street. Since then, they've opened 7 other new ones in Center City, including their new flagship/largest store adjacent to Independence Hall. Now here's the sad part- in spite of Wawa's success in returning, this location quickly developed a bad reputation. Being next to a subway entrance, the store began to attract an assortment of beggars and junkies. Two people were stabbed in the store (on separate occasions) within the course of a year. The general fear of this location coupled with the absence of people working in Center City over the past year led to its closure over the summer. The fact that a brand-new store opened one block diagonal from here in 2019 didn't help its case. It's both a sad and surreal sight now.

Dunkin Donuts, Midtown Village

Even though it feels like there's a Wawa on every block, Dunkin's got them outnumbered at least by 2:1. This is one of their smaller, older locations, which was last remodeled in 2013.

Witherspoon Building, Midtown Village

Originally home to the Presbyterian Board of Publications, this eleven story office was one of Philadelphia's largest steel frame buildings when it opened in 1897. The Presbyterians moved out in 1961, and it was subdivided into office suites. The first floor office was vacated about a decade ago and is now being marketed towards a restaurant. Despite being in a great location, they still haven't filled it. This building has one of my favorite exteriors in the city.

IHOP, Midtown Village

While IHOP opens up on Walnut Street, this building was originally a strip mall built facing Juniper Street in the 70's. It was mostly occupied by low-end tenants by the time IHOP took over the northern 2/3 of it in 2009. The southern end still contains a hair salon and adult store. IHOP remodeled this location in 2015 and again in 2019.

Hotel St. Francis/Rodeway Inn, Midtown Village

This hotel has gone by many names since it first opened in 1903. St. Francis, who operated here from the 30's to 1976, still has their name painted on the west wall. From what I can gather from the historical register nomination, it sounds like they were pretty low-end, at least towards the end. They rebranded to Hotel 76 to shed their bad reputation after a number of deaths occurred here (It doesn't say why but I'm inferring they were OD's). It became a Rodeway Inn in 1999, which despite usually being a low-end chain actually had this place looking really good. Since the pandemic broke out, the city has been using most of the downtown hotels as quarantine sites. Smoking was not permitted in them, but someone quarantining here in November apparently didn't listen. The building suffered a major fire as a result and now remains in jeopardy.

The Printer's Place, Midtown Village

Walnut Street is one of the nicest streets in Center City. There are very few low-end stores on it and even fewer (semi-)abandoned properties. This was one of them. An old print shop operated out of the bottom floor of this circa-1830 converted rowhome. The second floor was most recently a tailor shop, which appears to have been closed a solid 30 years or so. I was worried the roof was going to fall in at some point, but am pleased to report the building's currently undergoing a major renovation. The ground floor will become a seafood restaurant and upper levels turned into apartments.

Starbucks/CVS, Midtown Village

This location opened in the 90's as part of Starbucks' initial push into the area. They were evicted from the building in 2019 alongside most of the ground floor tenants, and relocated to the former Cosi diagonally across the intersection. The old space was gutted out to make way for a new full-size CVS, which replaced the pharmacy-only store half a block down from here.

Qdoba/Spicy Memory, Midtown Village

While the façade of this building was likely done around 1900 (when it was converted from a rowhome to retail), this building dates back to the mid-1800's. It operated as a tuxedo shop for several decades before becoming a Qdoba in 2007. They were gone by 2014, and were replaced by a Chinese restaurant called Spicy Memory. Their absolutely ridiculous name got them immortalized as a meme. A developer bought this building and the Wendy's next door in 2019, evicting them both. They will come down soon for a 10-story apartment building. Demolition permits were filed last month. Interestingly, that's only one of three large projects planned for this half block. The old Midtown II Diner and a parking garage on the opposite corner are all scheduled to come down for two other large projects.

Wawa, Washington Square West

Sorry I cut out part of the sign. A homeless guy was by the door and for the sake of his privacy I didn't want to get him in the picture. This has historically been one of the more regularly updated of the Center City Wawa's, though it's now one of two without the current décor. It was given a gut remodel in the mid-2000's and renovated again in 2014, so it's probably lower priority. Somehow, the original 1972 sign survived up until the 2014 remodel.

Walnut Street Theater, Washington Square West

Dating back to 1809, this is not only the oldest continuously-operating theater in the United States, but in the entire English-speaking world. It features three stages, and has been expanded a few times over the years. Currently, the theater is planning on expanding once again into the parking lot to the right of it.

Testa Building, Jeweler's Row

Here's one of Jeweler's Row's more unique storefronts. I'm surprised there isn't any history published on the building, but it appears to be from around 1930. It's currently leased by three different jewelers.

Ritz 5 Theaters, Society Hill

This originally opened as a 3-screen theater in 1976, but expanded to 5 in 1985. They only show arthouse and foreign films. I've never been there, it just sounds incredibly pretentious, but apparently in 2015 the Inquirer named it the best theater in Philadelphia.

Positano Coast, Society Hill

Styled similarly to the Ritz, this Italian seafood restaurant stands on the other side of Dock Street from it. While it also looks pretentious, I'd be willing to give this a try. It sounds delicious. A lot of cities claim to have the best Italian food, but Philly can actually back that claim up. Dock Street was formerly an industrial area that was cleared out for urban renewal in the 60's. Just about everything except the cobblestone has changed since then.

City Tavern, Old City

As the restaurant claims, "Established in 1773, City Tavern was where the nation's founding fathers dined, drank & celebrated. Join us for the most authentic 18th century dining experience in America." That's half true. The City Tavern was opened on this site in 1773, in a building that's identical to the one there now. What they don't tell you is that the original City Tavern burned down and was demolished in 1854. Flash forward a little over a century, and the site it once occupied is now part of Independence National Park. In preparation for the Bicentennial, the park painstakingly recreated the tavern from old paintings and reopened it in 1976. It was typical Aramark-type park food then, but in 1994 control of the restaurant was granted to chef and culinary historian Walter Straib. From his knowledge of colonial cuisine, he successfully turned the restaurant into (a more upscale version of) what the original City Tavern would have been. Sadly, this is one of the many restaurants throughout the city that closed in the wake of the lockdowns last year.

"Old Original" Bookbinder's, Old City

Remember the other Bookbinder's we saw earlier in this post? Here's the original one. It opened in 1865 and had been at this location since 1898. The ownership parted ways with the second location in the 50's, adding "Old Original" to the name to differentiate between the two. It continued to thrive over the years and outlived the newer location. It underwent a massive remodel in 2005, which ran massively over budget. The restaurant was never able to fully recover and went into bankruptcy 16 months later. The bankruptcy process lasted for an unbelievably long time during which they were able to hold their ground, but ultimately they could not pay it off and the restaurant closed in 2009. It was bought in 2015 and reopened as the creatively named "Olde Bar," who has kept the interior and exterior, signage included, exactly how Bookbinder's left it. The Bookbinder's name isn't gone though- around the time of the renovation here, the family opened a third location down in Richmond, VA, which remains in operation. Bookbinder's-brand sauces are still available in supermarkets nationwide after being bought out of bankruptcy by Wisconsin-based Silver Springs Foods.

Ritz East Pagoda, Old City

I've seen many unusual movie theaters, but one under a parking garage is a first for me. It opened in 1999 following the success of the first Ritz seen a few photos ago. From the pictures online, this looks like it's pretty nice inside. However, they could do a better job keeping up curb appeal. The building looks kinda rough up close- some windows have been walled over from the inside, so the back of the insulation is visible from the sidewalk. The garage was built in 1976 by the Parking Authority for the bicentennial, meaning Ritz wasn't the first tenant and explaining the window situation. 

Penn's Landing

As nice as the new Penn's Landing park is going to be, I'm going to miss this weird Bicentennial colonial-brutalist mashup thing they've got going on now. Philly, and Old City especially, have a fondness for both brick and boxy modernist structures, which this park is chock full of. The old one is getting pretty run-down and it's high time for an upgrade, but it capture's the city's character so perfectly I'd hate to change it.

Looking across the river to the Camden waterfront, which has seen a ton of growth in the past few years. Most notably, a tower is going up right on the river's edge that now serves as the headquarters of American Water. Most of the new construction surrounding it is apartments. Camden still has a long way to go (still the #1 city in the country in terms of violent crime-per-capita), but the waterfront area is absolutely gorgeous now. 

This week may have been another Philly post, but let's finish off with music from Detroit about a river in Florida.