RePoint Philadelphia

The great Ashley Hahn speaks truth in this op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer. With the citywide historic & cultural resources survey officially going out to RFQ, Hahn makes the point that that's all well and good - when the survey is complete more than two years from now. In the meantime? Demolition Review would go a long way to stave off the plague of demolitions happening across our historic city. If you haven't, please sign RePoint's petition to institute Demo Review here: https://bit.ly/3hFiLbB

A big thank you to The Philadelphia Tribune for this profile of the upcoming citywide survey of historic resources. Thank you also to Martha Cross, deputy director for the city’s Division of Planning and Zoning, for recognizing not only the urgency of such a survey, but that it needs to go beyond architectural integrity and include long-overlooked cultural and community resources. However, as the story notes, the survey is not expected to be complete until Summer 2023 - over two years away. It's imperative that the City institutes Demolition Review, to at very least slow down the current onslaught of demolition and provide ample time to review unprotected buildings - ones that may ultimately end up on the survey. Please sign our Demolition Review petition here: https://bit.ly/33AYJqm

In celebration of World Heritage Day last month (April 18), the City of Philadelphia issued a demolition permit for a circa-1810 building on South Street, one of the City’s original streets. And perhaps in advance of World Heritage *Week* (May 24-28), demolition has begun at the Reading Railroad’s Spring Garden Station. Both of these demolitions were utterly preventable, and if Philadelphia had Demolition Review in place, like so many less-historic peer cities already do, bot...Continue reading

We’re glad to see this call to fund the Philadelphia Historical Commission. While we would love to see the agency funded in a manner compatible with its duties and responsibilities, we feel it’s critical that support also come with procedural reforms and, ultimately, new leadership. Addressing the backlog of individual and district nominations, some of which have accumulated over decades, is a top priority but it’s not the only priority. We need leadership that is capable ...of presenting and promoting preservation as a public good, as declared in the agency’s ordinance ( 14-1001, 14-1003). We need leadership that accords equal footing, access, and respect to all parties that appear before it. We need leadership that understands how preservation strategies can work in coordination with other important goals like promoting affordable housing, housing security & maintenance, quality job creation and workforce training, creating circular economies, stabilizing communities, and promoting environmental stewardship. Leaders in other cities are aggressively highlighting those intersections and benefits in a way that makes preservation relevant and accessible to a broader constituency, from initiating workforce training programs, integrating sustainability goals through adaptive reuse and deconstruction mandates, and supporting the retention of existing affordable housing through loan and grant programs that support maintenance and upkeep. An approach to preservation that understands and promotes these areas of overlap would be deeply beneficial to Philadelphia’s many diverse neighborhoods and is critical for the future. While reviewing and writing nominations is a key part of the PHC’s charge, so is public education and outreach. Therefore, increased funding must come alongside a definitive, realistic plan to provide transparent goals and meaningful community engagement initiatives. Thus far, PHC leadership hasn’t demonstrated that ability with the funds they currently use to operate. Adding the call for administrative reform alongside any funding increase would have a stronger impact in moving us towards an approach that’s on par with peer cities. On a very basic level, for example, the PHC could integrate a community outreach and education program with expanded work on and assistance with district nominations. In the future, we’d like to see a Philadelphia Historical Commission that celebrates the possibilities that preservation and reuse offers and demonstrates true leadership by promoting forward-thinking preservation goals and initiatives while working closely with Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.