Let's Make Paul Lynde Proud ...

Center City Philadelphia is a great walking area and virtually impossible to get lost in.  There are two main things to remember:  numbered streets go north and south, named streets go east and west.  It's a simple grid pattern mapped out by William Penn to designate residential and commercial areas, surrounded by gardens and orchards.  His intention was to make Philadelphia a rural town similar to English villages rather than a city.  However, being a main port, the residents sold and divided properties closer to the Delaware River, building rowhomes and tenements above street level shops and the "village" quickly grew into a city.

Although his original plan for many open green spaces dividing residents and buisnesses faded quickly, what remained of his map were the 5 main parks precisely placed in the center of each section of the city; Northeast Square, Southeast Square, Northwest, Southwest and Center Square.  Today, renamed and still prominent in a Center City map, all but 2 of these squares have seen many life altering changes.  Northwest Square was swallowed up by the Benjamen Franklin Parkway and turned into a great fountain and renamed Logan Circle.  The park blended in nicely with the grand boulevard, but crossing 6 lanes of circling traffic in order to reach it left alot to be desired and the park is used more as a photographic backdrop than a crowded gathering spot.

Franklin Square, originally Northeast Square, became an unused plot of land after The Ben Franklin Bridge was built to connect Philadelphia and New Jersey.  The base of the bridge ended right at the eastern edge of Franklin Square.  Then, in the '80s, the Vine Street Expressway interchange to the bridge and Interstate 95 all but completely blocked the square on the north end.  The neglected park soon became home to street people and drug users.  This changed a few years back when developers transformed the dumping ground into a family friendly park.  Complete with fountains, snack booths and a miniature golf course, the park quickly turned into a three-season destination spot for locals and tourists alike, with the main attraction paying homage to one of Philadelphia's world-renowned industries.  Philadelphia was once the world leader in the carousel industry with 3 of the top makers of the 19th & 20th centuries based here.  Even today, when you come across a carousel that displays an assortment of realisitic animals and figures, this is known as "The Philadelphia Style".

Washington Square and Rittenhouse Square (Southeast and Southwest Squares respectively) are two of the least touched, as far as completely altering.  Through the years, both of these were used for different purposes (Southeast as a mass burial ground for Civil War casulties and Southwest as a sheep grazing area), but each developed tight and wealthy residential neighborhoods around them.  Washington Square today remains a quiet place to walk your dog or sit in the grass and read a book.

Washington Square



Rittenhouse Square

Rittenhouse Square, on the other hand, has become the hub of activity and the place to be seen.  Located in the middle of the most exclusive neighborhood in Center City and the high-end shopping of Walnut Street, Rittenhouse Square is surrounded by fine dining and designer boutiques.  It has gained more popularity over the years with the college crowds from neighboring University City.  It's a place where, nearly any time of day or night, you can catch musicians or performance artists or watch the bevy of dogs playing in the fountain, all under a great canopy of century old trees.  The park also plays hosts to such annual events as flower and art shows.

Out of all five original squares, only one has been so completely transformed that it bears no resemblence to it's original design outside of it's shape.  Center Square was exactly that.  Located in the exact center of Penn's Philadelphia, the site now sits beneith the stone and marble mammoth structure known as City Hall.

This now iconic structure was and still is the largest municipal building in the country and the 2nd tallest masonry building in the world (short by 1'8").  Designed to be the tallest building in the world, it fell short of the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument, mostly due to the 30 years it took to build.  The clocktower is topped by a 27 ton statue of William Penn who is facing northeast towards the Fishtown area of the city, reported to be where he signed the treaty for the city with a local Indian Tribe.

With the westward developement of Center City in the 50's and 60's, big changes came into play with the biggest being the removal of "the Chinese Wall".  This viaduct carried train tracks from the then Broad Street Station west to 30th Street Station.  The stone bridge, with it's small barrel vault openings over the north/south streets, literally cut the city in half.  With the arrival of the electric train however, Ed Bacon, City Planner, set out to demolish the wall, along with Broad Street Station and put all the trains underground, creating a whole new corporate developement site aptly named Penn Center.




Broad St. Station/train shed/Chinese Wall

 Originally spanning two blocks, but extending to five over the years, Penn Center replaced the Chinese wall with open plazas, mid to high rise office buildings and an underground shopping complex complete with an ice skating rink.  It was designed with the intention of bringing workers in from the suburbs and get them to there place of employment without ever having to step outside. 

Penn Center Complex looking west

A dark, unattractive tunnel under six lanes of heavy traffic connects Penn Center with City Hall at Dilworth Plaza, an equally unattractive cement multi-level plaza on the western edge of what was once Center Square.

The grey granite slabs of paving, grey granite benches and grey granite railings make the plaza cold and barren.  The trees planted between the lower plaza and City hall is pretty much the only green there is and, instead of the aroma of fresh spring and summer blossoms, the air is filled with the stench of urine and body odor from the countless homeless people that take up residence in the plaza all day and night.  As with many urban developements of the time, modern meant stark and stark meant cement, and what lacked was the idea of an inviting green space where people can relax.

But soon that may change.  With the near completion of the 10 year painstaking soot removal and refurbishing of City Hall and the completion of the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton tower across the street, focus is now being directed on Dilworth Plaza and what its true potential is.  I have seen renderings of a great lawn, of an ice skating rink for the winter and fountain display in the summer, of small food sheds and outdoor cafes.

Rendering of new Dilworth Plaza

Sure, all of that looks good on paper, but is anyone thinking about the future?  No one has proposed easy access to the plaza.  City Hall/Center Square is cut off in all directions by six lanes of traffic.  You see all those kids in the rendering above?  What parent in their right mind would drag their kids across six lanes of traffic to play in a fountain?  The area around City Hall is becoming more and more residential and tourist driven as older office buildings are being converted into hotels and conominiums.  Dilworth Plaza can potentially become their "Rittenhouse Square", but not if it means risking your life to get there.  The northeast corner of the plaza faces the Ben Franklin Parkway with the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the distance, the Franklin Institute, the Free Library and the soon to open Barnes Museum.  Love Park, another gathering spot is directly across the street.  The newly expanded Convention Center just opened its doors a block away.  All of this growth going on around Center Square and the desire to revamp Dilworth Plaza is front and center, but no one has thought about how all of these new residents and tourists and conventioneers are going to get to it.  If it's not thought out soon, the "new" Dilworth Plaza with just be an enhanced version of the old one.  A place where, during the week, city hall employees will sit out there for 15 minutes and shovel down their lunch or make their way to the subway and trains underground to go home, leaving the rest of the days, nights and weekends to the homeless.

Developers really need to consider at least one, if not two pedestrian bridges, one on the northside of Dilworth Plaza that will lead people towards Love Park, the Convention Center and the Museum District.  The 2nd bridge needs to be on the Southside, towards the shopping and residential district.  As it is right now, if you want to "legally" get from South Broad Street to Dilworth Plaza, you have to first cross Broad Street and then stand on a little island in the middle of traffic and wait for another light to change before crossing into the Plaza.  On that island you can only hope that no out of control cab will be heading your way because there isn't anything between you or it. 

Another area to look at is the City Hall Courtyard.

Probably one of the most beautifully secluded areas in Center City, it is also one of the most under utilized.  Pedestrian walkways through the City Hall complex connects East and West Market Street and North and South Broad Street.  Outside of going from point A to point B or going down to the subway from the lone entrance in the center of the courtyard, nothing goes on here.  This is the perfect spot to house a small cafe or coffee shop (hell, if Starbucks only knew of this hideaway).  Some benches, trees and shrubbery is all that's needed to make this courtyard more entising.

These are just a couple of my own ideas, probably never to be realized.  The important thing that needs to be realized is that it's not always true, what they say in that move:  If you build it, they may not come if they can't get there.

The Center Square on television has never been the same without Paul Lynde.  Maybe this time, this city can make our Center Square into something it never was....good.