What's behind (or, in front of) City Hall's concrete adddition
Not surprisingly, Philadelphians reacted suspiciously this week when workers started constructing a cinder block structure at the northeast corner of City Hall. What new act of official vandalism could be perpetrated now against Philadelphia's great civic center?
Well, suspicious minds can rest easy. The city is a constructing a wheelchair ramp for the disabled, which will feed into the new security entrance. The 24-foot-long ramp, which was more than two years in the making, was meticulously designed by Joseph Powell of Buell Kratzer Powell "to look as if it were something that had always been there."
The cinder blocks will be faced in three-inch-thick panels of rusticated granite that were selected from a Quebec quarry to match the stone at the base of City Hall. Although the individual sections are not the exact dimensions of City Hall's stones, they have been sized in a proportional relationship to the originals.
The design was approved after a lengthy vetting process by the city Historical Commission staff. Two changes have been ordered since the above rendering was completed: The stair rail has been eliminated. And the design of the metal side rail has been simplified. It will looked more picket-like, Powell said, and will be topped with brass finials.
There may be a lesson here for Schuylkill River Park, which is now furiously trying to design a 1,000-foot-long ramp to go over the CSX tracks. (see post below). If it took two-plus years to create a handsome 24-foot ramp for City Hall, is it humanly possible to design a decent park ramp many times that size, with many more complications, in just two years?
Well, suspicious minds can rest easy. The city is a constructing a wheelchair ramp for the disabled, which will feed into the new security entrance. The 24-foot-long ramp, which was more than two years in the making, was meticulously designed by Joseph Powell of Buell Kratzer Powell "to look as if it were something that had always been there."
The cinder blocks will be faced in three-inch-thick panels of rusticated granite that were selected from a Quebec quarry to match the stone at the base of City Hall. Although the individual sections are not the exact dimensions of City Hall's stones, they have been sized in a proportional relationship to the originals.
The design was approved after a lengthy vetting process by the city Historical Commission staff. Two changes have been ordered since the above rendering was completed: The stair rail has been eliminated. And the design of the metal side rail has been simplified. It will looked more picket-like, Powell said, and will be topped with brass finials.
There may be a lesson here for Schuylkill River Park, which is now furiously trying to design a 1,000-foot-long ramp to go over the CSX tracks. (see post below). If it took two-plus years to create a handsome 24-foot ramp for City Hall, is it humanly possible to design a decent park ramp many times that size, with many more complications, in just two years?