Then and Now: Market Street west of 11th Street, Philadelphia

1965-2010

Originally located at the corner of 5th and South Streets, the N. Snellenberg & Co. department store moved to Market East at the turn of the 20th century. At its height, the Snellenberg's department store occupied a full block of Market Street between 11th and 12th Streets, across from Reading Terminal.

Snellenberg's was one of the earliest of Market East's large department stores to collapse, going out of business in 1963. Although the Community College of Philadelphia opened in 1965 in the mens department annex at 34 South 11th Street, the Market Street buildings remained vacant. To cut down on maintenance costs, the Girard Estate, which has owned the property since the early 19th century, removed all but the bottom two stories of the six-story buildings, unifying their facades under a modernist exterior.

Source: Warner, Susan. "What's in store in Center City?" Philadelphia Inquirer. 26 Apr. 1999: F01.
Original photo: Carollo, R. "Historic Commission-2648-1." 1965. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 10 May 2010. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=106691.

Unbuilt Philadelphia: Twin towers at the Gallery II

Hot on the heels of the opening of the Gallery in 1977, the second major phase of the city's Market East redevelopment plan began to take shape. In 1978, the city began construction of the epic $325 million Center City Commuter Tunnel, including the underground Market East Station. The new commuter rail station was to be connected to the original Gallery by the Gallery II, a major expansion of the bunker-like shopping mall from 10th to 11th Streets, also developed by the Rouse Company.

One of the more ambitious components of the original plan was the eventual construction of two twin office towers rising on top of the Gallery II, pictured above in a rendering from 1979. The planned towers would have risen over 20 stories, providing up to 440,000 square feet of new office space at the northwest corner of 10th and Market (above the former site of the Harrison Building).

Since engineering work for the Gallery II anticipated the office tower complex, construction proceeded on the new shopping mall in the early 80s while the city negotiated with potential developers. However, the Gallery II struggled to attract its anticipated customers after its rainy opening day in 1983, and never lived up to the Rouse Company's nor the city's expectations. Furthermore, repeated efforts to sell the building's air rights throughout the decade were ultimately unsuccessful. The last serious push came and went in 1993, when the site above the Gallery II was one of four locations under consideration for the consolidated offices of SEPTA, which ultimately took up residence at 1234 Market Street.

The story isn't over, however. The structural engineering of the Gallery II remains in place, and the Market East Strategic Plan released last year by the Planning Commission points out the ongoing potential for high-density development above the mall. Over three decades after its conception, this dream for Market East has yet to completely fade to dust.

Sources:
1.Brown, Jeff. "SEPTA's search for a new home: major stakes and twisted arms - The Redevelopment Authority has a proposal." Philadelphia Inquirer. 7 Mar. 1993: C01.
2. Kennedy, Sara. "The tunnel: mud to steel - on schedule and grinding ahead quietly." Philadelphia Inquirer. 14 Nov. 1982: B01.
3. Lin, Jennifer. "Opening day - despite rain, a festive air reigns at Gallery II. " Philadelphia Inquirer. 13 Oct. 1983: B01.
Image: "P086218 - Drawing of office complex to be built over Gallery II." 1979. Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs. Temple University Library, Urban Archives. 6 Apr. 2010.
http://digital.library.temple.edu/u?/p15037coll3,1727.

Then and Now: Charles C. Harrison Building, Northwest corner of 10th and Market Streets, Philadelphia

1979-2010

The Charles C. Harrison Building at 10th and Market Streets was commissioned in 1893 by Charles Custis Harrison, a Philadelphia-born industrialist who had amassed a significant fortune as one of the founders of the Franklin Sugar Refining Company. The architects, the nascent Philadelphia firm of Cope & Stewardson, had recently completed a number of campus buildings for Bryn Mawr College. Interestingly, both parties were destined to spend their next few decades working in the milieu of academia.

In 1895, Harrison was inaugurated as Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, a position which he held until his resignation in 1910. During his tenure, Cope & Stewardson were recruited for six of the University's major campus additions - including the Quadrangle and Law School buildings. During that time, the firm was also awarded a number of major commissions at Washington University in St. Louis and subsequently, Princeton University. Today, the firm is best remembered for its many contributions to American collegiate architecture, and the Charles C. Harrison Building was one of only five commercial structures ever designed by their practice.

The Harrison Building changed hands multiple times and went through several exterior and interior alterations during its lifetime. In 1941, the first two floors of the exterior were wrapped under a white marble facade, shown in the photo above. In 1978, the structure was condemned by the city's Redevelopment Authority for the westward expansion of The Gallery at Market East and the construction of Market East Station. The building was demolished the following year, and The Gallery II opened in its place in 1984.

A vertically aligned comparison may be found here.

Sources:
1. "Charles C. Harrison Building, 1001-1005 Market Street." Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA,51-PHILA,520. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hh:1:./temp/~ammem_DRuX::.
2. Joyce, J. St. George, ed. Story of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Harry B. Joseph, 1919. Google Books. 30 Mar. 2009.
Original photo: James L. Dillon & co., inc. "PA-550-2: South (front) and east elevations." 1979. Historic American Buildings Survey. American Memory. The Library of Congress. 30 Mar. 2010. http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa0800/pa0809/photos/138979pv.jpg.

Then and Now: Southeast corner of 9th and Market Streets, Philadelphia

c. 1900 - 2009

Perhaps no episode in the sad decline of Market East is as scarring as the disintegration of the Gimbel Brothers Department Store. Though not a home-grown institution like its many competitors (Strawbridge's, Wanamaker's, Lit Brothers, etc.) the store became a dominant landmark along Market Street. At its height, the Gimbels empire occupied the entire block of Market Street between 8th and 9th Streets, as well as a 12-story office and warehouse building on Chestnut Street. The building at the corner of 9th Street was designed by Addison Hutton in 1896 and originally built for Cooper & Conard, but quickly taken over by Gimbels. Its distinctive curved corner and arched facade are hauntingly memorable, adding to the surreal, ghostly quality of the original image.

In the 1970s, Gimbels became involved in plans for The Gallery at Market East as one of its main prospective tenants. Upon the completion of The Gallery I in 1977, Gimbels relocated its downtown flagship store to a plain concrete box at 10th and Market, abandoning its original complex one block to the east. Its former home was demolished shortly afterwards with the exception of its office tower at 833 Chestnut Street by Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White, though this is little consolation.

Barely a decade after the move, the Gimbels chain collapsed and its properties were sold. Its location in the Gallery is now occupied by a KMart store. The 800 block of Market Street, three decades after its demolition, remains an enormous vacant lot with little development prospect.

Sources:
1. Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
2. Fischer, John. "Gone but not forgotte - Gimbel's, Lit Brothers, Strawbridge & Clothier, and Wanamaker's Department Stores." About.com. 12 Oct. 2009. http://philadelphia.about.com/od/history/a/strawbridges.htm.
Original photo: "Department of City Transit-41118-0." Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 12 Oct. 2009. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=52491.

Then and Now: Market East viewed from City Hall tower, Philadelphia

1915-2009

Though it seems much less gargantuan by today's standards, when John Wanamaker's Department Store (Now Macy's, bottom right corner) opened in 1910, it's grandeur and size were entirely in a league of their own. Designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, at 15 stories and over 270 feet, Wanamaker's was by far the tallest building on Market Street east of City Hall, even dwarfing its closest competition, the Reading Terminal Headhouse.

The other true gem of Market East is of course the International Style masterpiece, the PSFS Building, completed in 1932 with the distinction of being the world's first true modernist skyscraper. It remains one of the finest examples of the International Style in North America.

A horizontally aligned comparison may be found here.

Photographs of the PSFS Building [PhillySkyline]

Source: "Wanamaker Building, Philadelphia." Emporis.com. 27 Aug. 2009. http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&lng=3&id=wanamakerbuilding-philadelphia-pa-usa
Original photo: Rolston, N.M., "Department of City Transit-954-0." 1915. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 27 Aug. 2009. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=18303

Then and Now: Northeast Center City viewed from City Hall tower, Philadelphia

1915-2009

I'm think the original photographer, a certain N.M. Rolston, would be more than a bit puzzled were he around today to look over Reading Terminal, only to see no railroad viaduct leading out of the trainshed, but a skybridge connecting to an enormously wide (and still growing) Pennsylvania Convention Center exhibition hall. The trains still run today, just underground in the Center City Commuter Tunnel. Much of the seedy landscape of factories, flophouses, and taverns that once dotted this part of downtown disappeared amid new hotels, office towers, and garages. The only area that has conserved much of its old appearance is present-day Chinatown, just east of the Convention Center.

A horizontally aligned comparison shot can also be found here

Original photo: Rolston, N.M. "Department of City Transit-953-0." 1915. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 18 Aug. 2009. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=18301

Then and Now: 11th and Market Streets looking west, Philadelphia

1952-2009

Nothing quite looks the same on the 1100 block of Market Street. Snellenburg's is gone, The Gallery II is now across the street, and the streetscape has gotten new lights, paving, planters, trees, newspaper boxes and stands, trash cans, bus shelters, and even a reconfigured subway stop. It's a nice surprise then to see the streetcar pole for the former Route 23 trolley standing right where it's always been.

Original photo: Balionis, Francis. "Public Works-41807-6." 1952. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 8 Aug. 2009. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=33365

Then and Now: 1201 Block of Market Street, Philadelphia

1960-2009

The entire block between 12th, 13th, Market, and Filbert Streets disappeared sometime around 1990, replaced by an enormous 1200-room Marriott in 1995 as part of the massive redevelopment project that created the Pennsylvania Convention Center and transformed the upper end of Market East. As far as massive buildings go, the Marriott's design isn't bad. Unlike certain very underperforming 1-story blocks to the east, its density and massing is appropriate for its downtown location near major transportation hubs, and its retail spaces provide good sidewalk presence.

Nonetheless, the Marriott conserves none of the original urban "texture" of Market East. The building sits on a superblock that was formerly made up of 31 individual building lots, with just as many buildings serving a variety of functions (see Land Use Map below). Unfortunately, no matter how well designed, one building simply can't be as interesting as 31. The consolidation of building lots and the accompanying loss of diversity of uses that repeated itself all along Market Street to catastrophic results. That one of the country's most fine-grained collections of gilded age commercial architecture was reduced to an unexceptional, banal streetscape is one of Philadelphia's greatest tragedies.

Source: "Philadelphia Land Use Map, 1962." Free Library of Philadelphia Map Collection. Philadelphia Geohistory Network. Athenaeum of Philadelphia. 31 Jul. 2009. http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/LUM1962.4B-1
Original Photo: Blanck. "Department of Public Property-41264-0." 1960. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 31 Jul. 2009. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=143893

Then and Now: 11th and Market Streets, Philadelphia

1960-2009

Save for its grandest buildings - the PSFS Building, the Reading Terminal, and Wanamaker's Department Store - little remains of pre-1950 Market Street east of City Hall. Hardly any of it seems to even suggest to unknowing passersby that the half-mile strip known as Market East was once one of the nation's most legendary retail districts, before it falling to neglect, destruction, and ill-conceived urban renewal.

The vacant lot in the original image was what remained of the former Frank & Seder Department Store in 1960. The Denkla Building ("Howard" on the ground floor) and its neighbors went down sometime between then and 1984, when the pink and brown One Reading Center now known as the Aramark Tower was completed. The Gallery at Market East's expansion to 11th street (right side of current view) was completed in the same year.

Sources:
1. "Philadelphia Land Use Map, 1942." Library Company of Philadelphia. Philadelphia Geohistory Network. Athenaeum of Philadelphia. 27 Jul. 2009. http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/LUM1942.4B-1
2. Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
3. "Aramark Tower, Philadelphia." Emporis.com. 27 Jul. 2009. http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&id=117916.
Original photo: "Department of Public Property-41263-0." 1960. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 27 Jul. 2009. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=143891

Then and Now: Southeast Corner of 11th and Arch, Philadelphia

1960-2008

The elevated parking deck that now runs over 11th Street between Filbert and Arch Streets was built in 1984 to accomodate the expansion of the Gallery at Market East. The Hilton Garden Inn was built on top of the garage in 2000, at which point the tacky pastel columns were added by Cope Linder Architects in an attempt to make the garage somewhat less unpalatable. The 11th Street underpass is home to one of the few Wawas left in Center City as well as a Chinatown Bus stop. Its key redeeming feature however, is the presence of Dim Sum Garden, an unassuming little joint which is one of the few establishments in the region that makes highly recommendable Shanghainese soup dumplings (or xiao long bao - 小籠包) and other authentically delicious Chinese fare. So I guess it's not all bad.

A nice overview of the Gallery [Labelscar]
Craig Laban couldn't keep Dim Sum Garden a secret [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Because one review doesn't do it justice [PhilaDining Blog]

Source: Belden, Tom. "Hilton Garden Inn to rise in unused space above a Center City garage." The Philadelphia Inquirer. 19 Apr. 1999. Newsbank Access World News. Haverford College Library. Haverford, PA. 1 Dec. 2008.
Original Photo: "Historic Commission - PAB-41209-0." 1960. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 1 Nov. 2008.