Hazy Shade of Wint- umm, Early Spring

 

Today, we're taking a quick look at a couple places in the suburbs, then venturing over to the less frequently seen northern edge of Old City. It was April the day I got these pictures, but it looks so bleak you could have convinced me it was still winter.

Arco/Shell, Thorndale, PA

Shell closed here around 2014 and the canopy was removed shortly afterwards. The building sat vacant for several years, but was ultimately demolished in 2019 for an NTB auto center.

Char-Lee's/Butcher Burger/Taco Maya, Lionville, PA

Local burger chain Char-lee's built this restaurant in the mid-2000's. They maybe lasted two years, after which it was converted to independent Butcher Burger. They had a little better luck, but closed their doors too in 2012. They were my family's go-to for burgers for a while, so we were sad to see them go. Fortunately, they were replaced by something even better- Taco Maya, which is like a Chipotle but better, opened in late 2012. They were a deservedly huge success, so much that in 2018 they relocated to a larger location across the street. The old one was demolished pretty quickly after I got these pictures, and a Freddy's was put up on the site.

Taco Maya did some serious remodeling when they first moved in, but some evidence of its previous life remained, like the flooring.

The exterior, on the other hand, retained almost all of its burger look. Taco Maya painted it yellow from its original white, and stripped the black-and-white checkerboard tile from the base of the building. Demolition had already been announced at this point, so everything of value had been stripped from the building. Anything left behind came down with it. 

Despite being a freestanding building, it wasn't very large. Their new location is in a strip mall, but easily double the size of this. Size is also probably why Freddy's opted to rebuild rather than repurpose the existing building.

De La Salle In-Towne, Rittenhouse Square

History on this place is kinda hard to find, but as the cornerstone indicates it was built in 1894. It closed sometime between 2014 and when I got these pictures in 2018. It was part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's St. Gabriel System, one of their two orphanages. In addition to the main St. Gabriel's Hall in Audubon, it included the De La Salle Technical High School in Bensalem. Presumably, this was the original campus and they moved out in the 60's, maintaining this as a satellite campus. Following the decrease in need for orphanages, the St. Gabriel System was closed last year, with the remaining kids being sent to the St. Francis-St. Vincent System instead. This building continues to sit empty, I'm not sure what to expect in its future.

2nd Federal Savings, Rittenhouse Square

There aren't many single-branch banks left these days, but amazingly this one has held on. Second Federal Savings was first established in 1927, and has been operating out of this building since 1948. It appears to still have the exact same look as when it first opened.

Woolworth/Hallmark/Mattress Firm, Rittenhouse Square

This building opened as a Woolworth in the 30's, which I believe closed before the rest of the chain. By the 2000's, Hallmark was operating on the ground floor, and the upper levels were the Philadelphia School of Office training, which looks like it was closed by 2007. Mattress Firm opened here in 2016, one of the only non-acquisition stores I'm aware of, taking up the first two floors. No clue what's going on with the top level.

Beneficial/WSFS and Payless, Rittenhouse Square

Beneficial's headquarters was very close to this location, so this got a lot of attention. Their tower- named after and occupied by them- ironically had two other banks on its ground level. It got a very high-budget colonial-style remodel in 2015, and became WSFS after the company was sold. Payless, just beyond that, closed in their bankruptcy and remains vacant.

Citi Bank, Chinatown

Citi expanded to the Philadelphia market in the mid-2000's. They advertised a lot after they first showed up and threw their ATM's in just about every 7-Eleven in the area, but were pretty slow with opening branches. That may have been their downfall, as they pulled back out of the market in 2013. This sat vacant until 2018, when it was converted into a Pho Street Vietnamese deli... which also has an Auntie Anne's inside because that makes sense?

Wood Turning Co, Old City

Philly's Old City neighborhood is for the most part a fancy one. However, along the northern edge of it there are quite a few decrepit reminders of its industrial heritage. This building, dating back to 1820, was one of them. It was last occupied by a wood turning company, creatively named Wood Turning Co, which had been gone for close to 20 years. The building was in rough shape, but protected as part of the Old City Historic District. It became the center or a preservation scandal after the new owners demolished all but the front wall of the main building last year with neither approval to do so from the historical commission, or even a building permit. While it is awful that happened, I do have to wonder how much of that building would have been salvageable anyway. Supposedly apartments are going to take its place once the legal mess is cleaned up.

Austrian Lamp Co, Old City

I snapped this picture through the window in the door, thinking this was another long-closed business. I later found out that it was actually still open a year later, but unfortunately that news came in an announcement that the owner had retired and the business then closed. I can't find the announcement again, but if I remember correctly it said they had been open here since the 1880's. It's a shame I never got to go in while they were open, since many of you know my other weird interest is lighting fixtures. And old stuff. This would have been right up my alley.

Trenton China & Pottery, Old City

Historically, Old City had a ton of restaurant supply stores. Some are still around, but this place closed around 2010. It was renovated into an apartment building, appropriately named The Pottery, in 2014. Despite the total renovation, they kept the old signage painted on the corner.

Economy Restaurant Equipment, Old City

Economy was another restaurant supply store, which was still open at this point. Unfortunately, it has since closed. It looks like plans are to put a bar in the ground floor, and convert the upper levels into apartments. Old City used to be full of old fire escapes like this, to the point where it was even sometimes called Philly's Lower East Side because of them. Many of them have been removed as buildings have been renovated with fireproof indoor stairwells, which cleans up the look of the building but also comes with a loss of character. I'm hoping they leave this one on here.

Louie Linguini/Mexican Post, Old City

Louie Linguini's sign out front proclaims they had been here "since the winter of '86"... The building's certainly old enough it could be 1886, but I think 1986 is more likely. I thought they were a short-lived tenant that came after Mexican Post left, but in researching for this post discovered that Mexican Post's sign was actually just hung over Louie Linguini's. Mexican Post left here in the mid-2010's, and it remains vacant. They are a local chain, I don't know how many they had at their peak, but currently they are down to two- a food court location at the Comcast Center, and a strip mall one in NJ.

Old Buildings, Old City

These two buildings date back to 1840 and were some of the oldest remaining on Chestnut Street, and had been on the city's historical register since 1970. Being on the register protects buildings from demolition or significant alterations- that is, unless, the building gets condemned for being unsafe. Property owners will sometimes try to take advantage of that caveat when they want to clear the property. Here's a prime example of that. The owner of these two buildings also owns the large parking lot surrounding them. Something huge could be built here if these were gone. The building on the left was condemned last year after several bricks fell onto the sidewalk after years of subpar maintenance. It was demolished shortly afterward. The one on the right still stands, but I'm worried it won't be for long. Rowhomes sorta rely on each other for support.

Welcome Park, Old City

This mostly empty lot is home to the ironically-named Welcome Park. Most of the land it sits on was once known as the Wampum Lot, a piece of land given to the Iroquois Tribal government by John Penn in 1755. They maintained it at least through 1920, though at some point it wound up in the hands of the US government. Following the closure and demolition of the adjacent telephone operators building, the site was redeveloped into its current form and named Welcome Park in 1982, in celebration of Philadelphia's 300th anniversary. The marble stripes lay out the city's original street plan, with planters in place of the four original squares (Rittenhouse, Logan, Washington, and Franklin- obviously not the original names) and a monument to William Penn in the center, representing where City Hall now stands. It is unclear how the Iroquois lost the land, but lately it has become the center of a controversy.

Old Grocery Store, Midtown Village

While there isn't much history on either of the names here, it's safe to assume this building spent quite a while as a grocery store. TJ Cobourn Grocery appears to be the older of the two. The sign looks early 1900's, though the building is likely from around 1860 so it could be older. Camac Food Market appears to have taken its place by the mid-1900's, though they have been gone for a while too. It's now an Italian restaurant, paying homage to the buildings history with the name Mercato.

Cameo-Parkway/Philadelphia International Records Building, Midtown Village

While it's gone now, this building was one of the all-time most important places in music history. It was first built in the 1920's, but its first claim to fame came around in 1956 when Cameo-Parkway records opened up here. It served as both their offices and recording studio, cranking out hits such as The Twist, Wildwood Days, and the Bristol Stomp during their short but impactful existence. They shut down in 1967. Four years later, the next chapter began when Philadelphia International Records took over the building. They did most of their recording at Sigma Sound Studios in Chinatown, but this served as their offices. They're credited with creating the Philadelphia Soul sound, which laid the foundation for Disco. Some of their many hits were Disco Inferno, Lady Marmalade, and Love Train. While they fell off in popularity in the 80's, they continued to operate here until 2001. Owners Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff continued to use the space for their own private offices until a fire gutted the top floor in 2011. The building wasn't too badly damaged, the retail on the ground floor was able to continue operation, but prompted Gamble and Huff to sell the building. It, along with the two properties south of it, was snapped up by a developer who razed the buildings in 2015 to make way for a new hotel. For whatever reason, that never materialized. Finally, in 2019, it was sold to another developer who quickly began construction of a new 528-foot-tall condo tower. Construction topped out recently, and is projected to be finished early next year.

Texaco/Starbucks, Washington Square West

If it weren't for the ghost sign on the building next door, I never would have known this garage was originally a Texaco gas station/service center. I guess the pumps must have been indoors, which is a first for me. The service center portion was converted to retail more recently, housing a Starbucks and a sushi place. It was sold to the same developer who is building on the Philadelphia International site, who proposed a 17-story apartment building. The tenants, including the parking garage operator, were all kicked out over the past year. Demolition has yet to begin, as the contractor working up the block has made this his temporary field office. Chances are work will begin here once the condos are complete.

ACME/CVS, Rittenhouse Square

ACME opened here in the taller portion of the building in 1945, expanding several times over the years. Ultimately, they closed in the 90's. It was briefly an independent supermarket, which was replaced by CVS in 2006.

Spruce Food Market, Rittenhouse Square

Here's another one of Philly's older parking garages. It opened in the 30's, featuring independent Spruce Food Market on the ground floor. The garage itself is falling into rough shape, but Spruce has done a fantastic job maintaining their store- especially their neon sign!

A&P/Great Scott/Thriftway/IGA, Rittenhouse Square

A&P opened here in the 40's, and closed by the 1970's. Local chain Great Scott took over, and operated it for several years. Rittenhouse Market, which was a Thriftway and now IGA franchise, took over in the 80's or 90's. Rittenhouse claims to have been established in 1945, so they likely relocated somewhere else. The building on the corner was originally Barclay Pharmacy, which opened in the 40's as well, and relocated across the street to an absolutely beautiful former independent pharmacy's space in the 1960's, where they continue to operate. 

British Imperial Cleaners, Fitler Square

I'm not sure if I took this picture just because it's a pretty block or because of the cleaner's weird name. British Imperial is a local chain. I have no idea where they got their name from.

Arcadia Theater/Gino's/Roy Rogers/Mandee/Five Below, Rittenhouse Square

This has to be the most interesting progression of tenants a building has ever had. It opened as the Arcadia Theater in 1915. It was renovated several times over the years, the current marquee was installed during a 1967 remodel. The theater closed in 1978 and became a Gino's, which converted to a Roy Rogers after the chain got bought out. They surprisingly left the theater interior intact, with the kitchen and counter on the stage, and tiered seating for the sloped floor. They closed in the 90's, and was replaced by a Mandee. They too closed in 2015, and Five Below quickly replaced with what was at the time their flagship store (a title lost to a new store in the Lit Bros building a few years later, right below their corporate offices). Most of the theater's interior is gone now, however a portion of auditorium ceiling is still alive on the second floor.

Popeye's, Rittenhouse Square
In recent years, there has been a massive die-off of fast food restaurants in Center City. Popeye's is the only major chain that hasn't scaled back at all- in fact, they opened another location downtown earlier this year.

Cunningham/PMC Group Building, Midtown Village

This unusual tower was built in 1923 for the Cunningham Piano Company. They were forced out due to the Great Depression, and it briefly became home to a women's clothing store and their offices. In 1939, the first 10 floors became Geuting's, which set a record for the world's largest shoe store. PMC Investments, a chemical company, moved their headquarters here in 1998, but left again in 2001 after the building was sold. Their name was still on the front of the building until last year, which is why the name stuck. The developer who bought it also took the one-story retail building next door so a full-height addition could be built on the side of the tower, but those plans fell through after the Church of Scientology (yes you read that right) offered him 7.8 million dollars for the property. They never did anything with it, and it still sits vacant 20 years after PMC moved out. Between a building this large in this central an area sitting abandoned and the fact that an infamous cult is keeping it abandoned, there have been calls for the city to seize it through eminent domain and resell to someone who would make better use of it. Nothing's happened yet though, we just have to wait and see.

Starbucks, East Market

Here's a tale of historic preservation with a happy ending- this building was bought up by a slumlord in the 70's, who had a track record of letting buildings rot- not deliberately to destroy them (though that did turn out to be the case for many of his properties) but simply because they were investment properties and he didn't want to sink any more money into them than he had to. This one was almost demolished for a parking lot in the 90's after a fire and several years of abandonment, but public outcry was enough to get the city to reject the demolition permit and force him to sell. While the former owner died suddenly in the 90's, several properties in Center City are still owned by his estate, which is carrying on the same practices he used. This one was restored after being sold, and Starbucks opened in the basement not long after. The upper floors are now apartments, serving mainly the doctoral students at nearby Jefferson University.

GNC, Old City

Last post I showed you an old GNC sign that had their old full name... here's one that must be from the transitional period after they shortened it to GNC. Unlike the one in the last post, this is still open. 

Wawa Flagship, Old City

I was speculating Wawa was going to open here before the official announcement, since zoning permits taped to the window were calling for a convenience store and Wawa's the only one around here that can be fancy enough to deserve a location like this. After the official announcement was made, these renderings showed up in the windows, depicting what the finished product would look like.

The renderings are a pretty close match to the finished product. I should have expected that but I didn't. I'm still shocked they got rid of all the woodwork in here. Hopefully it was salvaged. Wawa looks great but not great enough to justify throwing this out.

Wells Fargo, Old City

I feel kinda stupid for this, but I thought this was a real colonial building Wells Fargo was recycling. It isn't. It was built in 1965 for First Pennsylvania Bank, later becoming CoreStates, First Union, and Wachovia before Wells Fargo. They built a convincing replica though! So much so that it's being included as a contributing resource to the proposed Chestnut Street East Commercial Historic District, which mainly is protecting pre-WWI buildings. 

If I reference a song in the title, am I not obliged to post it too?