At its meeting on September 13, the Philadelphia Historical Commission approved one new historic district and offered favorable comments on the nominations of four properties to the National Register of Historic Places. It also approved a one-month continuance for the proposed designation of the Police Administration Building (aka the Roundhouse) at 700-34 Race Street.
The proposed boundary of the Washington Square West Historic District. | Image: Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
The bulk of the meeting was taken up by the nomination of the Washington Square West Historic District. It began with several requests for a continuance, with some property owners claiming the Historical Commission’s required notification was not done or not done properly.
After lengthy comments by property owners, the nominators, the public, and the staff’s explanation of their notification process, Historical Commission members voted unanimously to deny the continuance request, with one abstention, one recusal, and one absence. The Historical Commission then proceeded to review the nomination, again hearing from the nominators, property owners, and the public.
William Way Community Center on Spruce Street contributes to architectural and LGBTQ+ history within the newly designated Washington Square West Historic District. | Photo: Michael Bixler
The proposed historic district comprises roughly 26 city blocks, with 1,441 resources, of which 767–more than half—are already individually designated. The period of significance begins in the 1740s with the creation of Mikvah Israel cemetery and continues up through the 1980s for its important role in the history of the city’s LGBTQ community.
The Historical Commission again voted unanimously to approve the designation, with one abstention, one recusal, and one absence, after omitting several vacant lots and parking lots from the list of contributing properties. They agreed with the nomination that the district satisfied six criteria for designation, owing to the area’s significant social history among Philadelphia’s Black, LGBTQ, and immigrant communities, the presence of several distinctive architectural styles with many the work of noteworthy architects, and the likely presence of archaeological information.
The Continental Building at 4th and Market Streets. | Photo: Michael Bixler
The first of the nominations reviewed for the National Register was the Continental Building at 400 Market Street. Built in 1970 and designed by architects Berger and Caltabiano, it is an example of the use of precast concrete in corporate and institutional buildings that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. It is not listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
The bell tower of St. Elisabeth’s Episcopal Church in Point Breeze. | Photo: Michael Bixler
St. Elisabeth’s Episcopal Church at 1900 S. 16th Street was built in 1889 as a mission to the Church of the Evangelists. Its rector, Henry Percival, was a prominent priest in the Anglo-Catholic movement, which sought to return certain Roman Catholic practices to Episcopal services. The church was designed by the architectural firm of Baily and Truscott in a pre-Romanesque style. Until recently, it was the longtime home of True Gospel Tabernacle Church. The Historical Commission added it to the local register in 1967 and more recently approved an adaptive reuse plan for it.
The loading facility and the boiler house of Weisbrod & Hess Brewery in Kensington in 2016. | Photo: Michael Bixler
The Weisbrod & Hess Brewery complex at 2421 Martha Street and 2423-39 Amber Street was built in 1885 and is one of the best examples of the work of Adam C. Wagner, who designed numerous breweries in Philadelphia in the German Rundbogenstil style. The brewery was one of the most prominent in the city during the late 19th century and up until prohibition. It originally included 10 buildings, seven of which survive and are proposed for designation in this nomination. The boiler house and storage house buildings were listed on the Philadelphia register in 2017.
Willow Steam Generating Plant in Callowhill. | Photo: Michael Bixler
The final nomination was for the Willow Steam Generation Plant at 411-419 N. 9th Street, which is not listed on the local register. It was built in 1927 and designed by architect John T. Windrim, who also designed several Philadelphia Electric Company plants, including the former Delaware River Generating Station (now called The Battery), as well as the Franklin Institute. Willow Steam is an example of energy plants in the 1920s that provided steam heating for commercial buildings.
The Police Administration Building (aka the Roundhouse) in 2015. | Photo: Michael Bixler
The nomination of the Roundhouse to the Philadelphia Register was submitted by Docomomo US-Greater Philadelphia and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia in December 2022, reviewed by the Historical Commission staff seven months later, and reviewed and recommended by the Commission’s Committee on Historic Designation in September, 2023. Two lengthy continuances followed: the first, for five months, was approved in October 2023 and the second, for six months, in March 2024. This third continuance places the nomination on the Historical Commission’s October 2024 agenda.
September’s meeting, along with the meeting in August, included several recently appointed Commissioners, which brings the Historical Commission to its full complement of members. New members include Franz Rabauer, a realtor, filling an open general appointed position, Zachary Frankel, filling the long-open appointed position slated for a real estate developer, Thomas Holloman, designee for City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Kyle O’Connor, representing the Department of Public Property, and Kareema Abu Saab, representing the Department of Commerce.
