Demolition Begins At Sidney Hillman Medical Center

November 28, 2011 | by Ben Leech | Buzz | Center City, demolition, modernism, Sidney Hillman Center

Photo: Ben Leech

Say what you will about the Sidney Hillman Medical Center at 22nd and Chestnut, it was certainly one of a kind. Designed by Louis Magaziner and Herman Polss in 1950, the building featured rich stone facades and ribbon windows in a stepped, angled massing that evoked a Southwestern pueblo or a Mediterranean hillside. Some people saw it as a modernist gem, while others saw it as a good place for a new highrise. Demolition began this morning.

Photo: Ben Leech

About the author

Ben Leech is a preservationist, architectural historian and illustrator based in Philadelphia and Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Instagram @bentleech and support his capitalist alter-ego at Archivolt Press

3 Comments

Rob Lybeck
November 29, 2011 at 2:33 pm

As a photographer, I’m thrilled to have enjoyed shooting the smooth marble and angular lines of this 50’s classic. For me, it will live on in my digital files.si

Reply
- SZ
  December 5, 2011 at 3:09 pm
  
  I’d like to see your photos.
  
  Reply
- Josh
  January 17, 2012 at 11:40 am
  
  I would also love to see the photos. The Architect, Herman Polss, was my great uncle. I know very little of his work.
  
  Reply