Top of the World

Happy belated Thanksgiving guys! I'm especially excited for this post. It's got a lot of neat stuff if I do say so myself (and I do), but in addition to that putting this together brought back some fun memories of going out on an adventure to get these photos.

Red Coach Grill/Houlihan's/Joe's Crab Shack/Longhorn, Bala Cynwyd, PA

This restaurant opened as a Red Coach Grill, subsidiary of Howard Johnson's (Thanks TenPoundHammer!), alongside the office tower in the early 70's. Houlihan's moved in afterwards, lasting until the late 2000's and barely altering the building. Joe's Crab Shack was here from 2012 to 2016. They made some mild alterations, but the midcentury roofline was completely covered up when Longhorn opened in 2018.

Pathmark/Fresh Grocer, Wynnefield, Phila, PA

Pathmark opened here in the early 80's, and lasted up until the chain went under in 2015. It was among the stores sold to Wakefern. Most of those went to Shoprite franchises, though four became Fresh Grocers instead. This was clearly one of them. It's been totally remodeled inside and out, but still retains the same basic shape. I have no clue why they took this one; it's on the wrong side of the city line. Taxes are much lower outside of Philly, and there's an ACME right on the other side.

Five Points Cocktail, Wynnefield

Parts of the Wynnefield neighborhood didn't get developed until the mid-1900's. This restaurant was clearly part of that wave, and hasn't been updated much either.

Eastern Mountain Sports/Giant Heirloom Market, University City, Phila, PA
 EMS opened in the early 2000's, and closed this during their 2017 bankruptcy. Ahold took it over with the intent of making it an Everything Fresh, but after that deal went sour handed it over to Giant, who opened their second Heirloom Marker store here.

Frankford Chocolate Factory, Graduate Hospital, Phila, PA

I mentioned last time I covered this that it had since been demolished. Well, here we are. :( I made my way here as quick as I could after hearing the news, but work was already well underway. Had the original conversion plans been followed through, these windows would all have been opened up again and the building would now be apartments.

The middle third of the building had already been pulled down at this point. Original demo plans called for the end closest to me to stay, while the other end would get redeveloped. Then they decided to tear down the smokestack. Then after that the remainder of the building.

While still not as good as keeping the full building, at least having this end would have been better than nothing.

For a building this big, they work fast. I hope they're salvaging stuff.

For as much as I wanted this place to be saved, it's probably for the better Krabby Patties aren't coming out of here anymore. It looks a little grimy for food.

I would love to have seen inside here more. I'm guessing the upper floors were all warehouse space, with the candy making happening on the ground floor.

Here's a further away view. That left a considerable hole. One thing I will say is the development that is replacing this was well-designed. I think it will help lessen the pain of losing this once it's complete.

Point Breeze Ave Storefronts, Point Breeze, Phila, PA

Point Breeze was one of the few South Philly neighborhoods that went bad, but things have changed incredibly fast here. I was kinda terrified on this walk, but I came back here about a year later and it was so much cleaner. Unfortunately, that means some of these delightful old storefronts are going to see some change. The Best Choice store here has been remodeled, making the upper floor livable once again. That part's good, but what I'm not so excited about is the face that they pulled off all the trimwork and replaced it with a gray stucco box with a square window. Thankfully the ones to the right of it still retain their old look.

More old Storefronts, Point Breeze

I get the impression this street was still thriving up until the 70's based on the architecture left behind. I love all this wood. The two with the shingle facade are supposed to have a third floor built above them, but so far there's no sign of work starting. I hope they start soon, as they're not getting any better in shape. Presently, the one on the right's second floor window is missing completely and the ceiling is caving in.

Kresge/Point Breeze Supermarket, Point Breeze

Kresge on the left opened in the 30's. I don't know when it closed, but the 70's seems like a logical guess. I don't know if Kresge expanded or if that was a subsequent tenant. The expansion and Jackson Hewitt appear to be the same building, which I heard was the site of an early movie theater, but I suspect has been rebuilt. The supermarket closed in the mid-2010's, wnd the building was sold to a developer. The whole set of structures was demolished earlier this year for an apartment building.

Here's a closer look at Kresge and their name, still carved in the stone up top. I was hoping to pick that from the demolition site, but I don't think I could get it home. Not sure what I'd do with it anyway. Hopefully someone salvaged it though.

ACME/Baptist Church/DaVita, Grays Ferry, Phila, PA

This ACME location opened up shop in the mid-60's. They were gone by the 80's, and True Consolation Baptist Church had taken up residence. That also closed within the past couple years, and the space was heavily remodeled and split between DaVita and Bethanna Community Services.

Dollar Tree, Grays Ferry

Also as part of the redevelopment, a portion of the massively oversized parking lot became a Dollar Tree, which opened in mid-2018. Evidently, they were so anxious to open they couldn't wait for a real sing.

25th St Viaduct, Grays Ferry

This bridge serves as the border between Grays Ferry and Point Breeze. Grays Ferry was historically not great but much safer than Point Breeze, though with the latter gentrifying Grays Ferry isn't looking much better by comparison now. Grays Ferry also holds the distinction of being one of only a couple areas of Philly split evenly between black and white residents. The viaduct here is still actively being used for freight rail, in spite of its consition. Falling concrete has caused CSX to net off the entire bottom of the structure and block off the middle lanes of traffic. The long-term plan is to rebuild this, but at the rate they are going I think it'll take an incident before they finally do something.

Norman Rice House, Fitler Square, Phila, PA

Fitler Square is a neighborhood filled with Colonial and Victorian townhomes... then the midcentury modern Norman Rice House. Architect Rice built this for himself in 1952 and lived here up until his passing in the 80's. The last owners bought it in 2018 and announced they were rebuilding the 1-story portion of the house with something more in keeping with the neighborhood. Plans changed again, and they demolished and rebuilt the entire house later that year. I understand where they are coming from, but Center City doesn't have many buildings like this and it bothers me there's not more of an effort to preserve them. If, for example, the Colonial next door was proposed to be demolished and rebuilt I'm sure the historical commission would s#!t themselves. 

Here's a view from across the intersection. The back part of the building, which original plans said they were keeping, is a little funkier than the front. It also had a 9 car garage underneath, which seemed a tad excessive for a house this small.

David's Mai Lai Wah, Chinatown, Phila, PA

This sign was one of my favorite pieces of neon in the city. Unfortunately, it either broke or David is a tasteless dud and has since been replaced with a flat backlit plastic sign. The good news is the restaurant's neon window displays are still intact.

L&L Lucky Market, Chinatown

I don't know the history of this place, but I think it's safe to say it was built in the 50's or 60's, and has probably always been small offices over a store. L&L didn't get their own sign until recently, previously the center part just read Central Plaza, the building's former name.

Jefferson Station, East Market, Phila, PA

Jefferson Station, originally known as Market East Station, opened in 1984, replacing Reading Terminal. It was part of an ambitious but successful attempt for SEPTA to connect their westbound Pennsylvania Railroad lines with the northbound Reading Railroad lines. This same project also built The Gallery.

This station not only has some fantastic 80's architecture, but some incredible mosaics as well. These nature scenes are all done entirely in 4x8 subway tile.

The station itself is underground, but clerestory windows pop up above street level making if feel more welcoming than most stations.

As the stations spans a couple blocks, these areas with lower ceilings are actually streets passing through the building. 

The mezzanine area with the ticket sales and restrooms isn't as architecturally impressive, but it's got its share of good parts.

This shot and the previous were my attempts at being artsy. This one's the stairwell down from street level. I'm pleased they haven't switched out the old mercury vapor lights yet, the greenish glow really adds character to this place.

PSFS Building, East Market

The day I got this set of photos, one of my friends from college who went to high school in Center City took us out on an adventure to see one of center city's coolest but lesser-known features. The PSFS building itself is actually quite famous, but that's mainly for its iconic sign and exterior design. What few people know about is the publicly-accessible top floor, which in addition to great views also has some neat architecture.

It looks pretty modern up here. You'd think it had been totally redone when it was converted from bank offices to a hotel in 2000, but actually everything here is original to when it was built in 1932.

Historic photos line one of the hallways, showing how little this has changed over the years.

Looking eastward, we've got a great view of East Market, Old City, and even Camden NJ.

We'll get a better view of the Center City side later, but I thought this angle was cool.

Part of the reason why this was allowed to remain more or less the same as it did in the PSFS days was that this floor held the boardrooms, which could easily be repurposed as the hotel's conference center.

Zooming in on the West Poplar neighborhood to the north, we've got a good view of the Spring Garden area in the foreground and Temple University in the back. You can't tell from the picture, but they're separated in the middle by an urban planning failure. There are 13 square blocks of suburban-style detached houses built by the Housing Authority in the 90's when they cleared out a blighted neighborhood, thinking the population would never bounce back. Now, we're already starting to see them get demolished for apartment buildings. It's been a slow change, but they're now surrounded by a pretty vibrant area on all sides.

Here's a less zoomed-out view to the north. The big building in the foreground is the convention center.

The room I got these shots from was a neat atrium. It looks more midcentury modern, not knowing the history I would have guessed this was about 30 years newer than it actually is.

The globe lights and potted palm trees really help keep that vintage vibe going.

Here's the hallway that faces Center City. I really love the amount of glass this place has.

Here's the entrance to one of the conference rooms. I also love the paneling here.

We weren't able to get to the south-facing side, so southwest-ish is the closest we've got. The building under construction here is the Element by Westin Hotel, which opened on the site of low-rise buildings destroyed by the Meridian Plaza fire. It just opened earlier this year, making it Philly's newest skyscraper. Two new apartment towers are currently wrapping up, so it won't hold that title from long.

Here's a look west- from left to right we've got the PNB building, Element by Westin, Liberty 2, Penn Center, Liberty 1, Mellon Bank Center, Comcast Technology Center (Philly's tallest and at the time newest), City Hall, Comcast Center, and the Bell-Atlantic Tower.

Cavanaugh's, University City, Phila, PA

This place was great. Of the several college bars in the area, this was sorta THE place to go for Penn and Drexel students. They opened on Market Street in 1934, but were forced to relocate here in 1988 after Drexel tore down their old location for a new auditorium. Their popularity grew, allowing them to open other locations in Rittenhouse Square, Society Hill, and on the Delaware Riverfront. The success came to a screeching halt earlier this year, after their liquor license was revoked by the state after they were found serving to minors (I told my dad about this as it was one of his haunts during his college days, his response was "It took them this long to get caught?"). They tried to keep the restaurant going serving just food (They had some of the best wings I've ever tried), but permanently closed their doors last month. The other three locations are still open at least, but it's the end of an era for University City.

Capogiro/&pizza, University City

Capogiro was an original tenant to this building when it opened in 2009. They were the first in the chain to close, in late 2017. The rest of them closed the following year. It didn't stay vacant for long though; New York chain &pizza opened their first Philly location here less than a year later. As much as I hate their name, their pizza is good.

Diner/Kabobeesh, Spruce Hill, Phila, PA

I can't dig up much history on this place, but it was clearly built as a diner in the 50's. Kabobeesh has been here a few decades at least, but didn't remodel until recently. It still had the original stainless steel exterior until 2012, and the diner interior up until 2019. It's a good restaurant in terms of food but architecturally 100% tasteless, a complete downgrade. The one 50's element surviving now is the lightbulb-lined roadside sign. The restaurant does seem to do good business and is investing in maintaining the building, but nearly every property on this block of Chestnut Street has been or is in the process of being replaced with an apartment building in the past decade. Given the size of the parking lot this place has, I figure it's only a matter of time until they cash out and move elsewhere.

Philadelphia Rapid Transit Garage, Haverford North, Phila, PA

This was built in the early 1900's as a maintenance garage for streetcar operator Philadelphia Rapid Transit, whose terminal was located across the street from here. It closed after PRT/PTC was absorbed into SEPTA in the late 60's. The terminal itself was demolished for low-income housing in the 80's, but this garage survived under a variety of uses. Earlier this year, it was sold to a developer who is devoted to preserving historic buildings. Plans are underway converting this to 30 apartments.

Crazy Carl's, Haverford North

I love these old tile entryways. From the pattern, this likely dates back to the 60's. Crazy Carl's is long gone now, but his name remains forever embedded in the stoop.

Kresge, Haverford North

I don't know how I found this Kresge on this walk but not its replacement. It opened presumably in the 20's, and relocated four doors down to a newer location in the 30's, that still bears the name set in the stone above. This one must have had metal letters attached to the stone that were removed after they relocated. They're long gone, but the holes from where the letters were attached still spell out the name. nearly 90 years after the fact.

Here's a zoomed-out view. The property spent at least the last 40 years as Wishing Well Markets, which at one point was part of the American Family co-op. They had the facade covered up with sheet metal for most of their existende, btu restored the original facade and second story windows in a 2012 remodel. They unfortunately closed in 2014. It sat vacant until a month or two ago, when work began converting it to a restaurant.

Monarch Storage, West Powelton, Phila, PA

This is one of two large buildings originally used by Monarch for a storage facility. It closed about 20 years ago. I don't really know what the deal is with this one, but the exterior was fixed up in the early 2010's. The ground floor was converted to an event venue, but it's a mystery what's going on above it. The second building was converted into apartments more recently. 

Hawthorne Hall, Powelton Village, Phila, PA

Hawthorne Hall was one of several units developed on this block in 1895. It originally served as a social hall for the Order of the Odd Fellows, but changed organizations several times over its life. At one point it was a boxing venue, and later a church. It sat abandoned for several years after that. Other buildings in the row were restored recently, but its crown jewel remained decaying until just a couple months ago. Now, work is underway converting it to apartments. If what they've done to other buildings here is an indication, it'll look great when it's done.

This restaurant was open until recently in the ground floor of the adjacent unit. The upper floors here are still abandoned, but the restaurant remained open until 2017.

Lancaster Mews, Powelton Village

After hearing this row of apartments was destined for the wrecking ball, I figured I'd get a couple photos of it before it was too late. Fortunately, that didn't ever come to be, instead the fronts were saved and the rear was redeveloped into a denser apartment complex. All the streetfront stores were still evicted for construction though. Now that work is finished, we're beginning to see them return.

This was Thai Pepper, who occupied one of the corner spaces. I was hoping they'd be one of the places to return, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I believe a smoothie place is in the process of opening up here now.

It's a nice row of buildings, I'm glad they saved the streetfront side. 

I'm sure we're all pretty far from hungry after the holiday, but hey I picked the song for this post long before we ate.