by Emily Steinberg
The Church of the Assumption, located at 11th & Spring Garden Streets is slated for demolition. Built in 1848-49 and designed by American architect Patrick Charles Keely, the church is one of the last architecturally interesting buildings still standing on Spring Garden below Broad Street. Today this portion of the once proud, broad boulevard resembles a comb missing huge sections of teeth.
The imminent demise of the church is a multi-pronged saga, a tangled web of bureaucratic oversight and lack of vision, that is all too familiar in Philadelphia. The Callowhill Neighborhood Association is leading the fight to save the church and yesterday appealed the demolition order at the L&I Board of Review. (see links below for detailed articles on the story).
My question is, in light of the many one-of-a-kind buildings we have already lost due to a toxic mix of civic short-sighted-ness and greed, when will we realize that buildings like the Church of the Assumption are essential to the fabric of Philadelphia's streetscape? These buildings define our unique identity. I'm not advocating that every single 150 year old building be saved. Cities are living organisms which each generation builds onto, adds to and edits. But it is important to remember that we don't build structures like this today. Once they are gone, they are gone for good. Philadelphia needs to commit to finding new uses for these structures. Below are two important examples of demolished Philadelphia architecture.
Western Savings Fund Society Broad Street Station Demolished 1953
10th & Walnut Street
Demolished 1967
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