The Philadelphia Historical Commission added four properties to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places at its meeting on April 10. The nomination of Mount Airy Train Station at 119 E. Gowen Avenue elicited a surprised reaction from the Historical Commission. Members were taken aback by the fact that the station was not already on the local register. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. The building was designed in 1875 for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad by renowned Philadelphia architect Frank Furness in the Queen Anne Stick Style. The station is associated with the railroad’s president Franklin Gowen, who had it built at a location near his home. The commuter station contributed to the development of the Mount Airy neighborhood. Although it is owned by SEPTA, the building has been leased to developer Ken Weinstein, as part of an adaptive reuse plan for five shuttered train stations along the Chestnut Hill East and West Regional Rail lines.

In East Oak Lane, the Carl Metz House at 601 W. Godfrey Avenue was designed in 1927 by architect Carl E. Metz and built by his father, real estate developer Carl Metz. It is an exemplary example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style that was popular in Philadelphia at the time. 

The Andrew Nebinger Jr. House at 1018 S. 2nd Street was designated. Its early history is associated with Dr. Andrew Nebinger, Jr., a prominent Civil War-era physician who cared for Union soldiers while the head surgeon of the Cooper Shop Hospital.

Since 1898, it has been the location of the Cieplinski Funeral Home, reflecting a significant social aspect of Southwark’s heritage of neighborhood-based, family-operated funeral establishments. The current owner, Henry A. Cieplinski, attended the meeting and showed Commission members 19th century a few artifacts he has discovered on the property.

The fourth property that was designated at April’s meeting is Blue Bell Mission, located at 701 W. Johnson Street. The one-story wood frame building on a schist foundation was built in 1879 as a Methodist mission chapel. It was originally located at 6244 Wissahickon Avenue and moved to its present location in 1922. 

Although a cupola that had adorned the front of the main roof has been removed, the building retains its religious character with its rectangular shape, steep gabled roof, and a brick vestibule entrance. As one of the few surviving examples in Philadelphia of a mission chapel, a church building style not intended to be permanent, it served as a significant religious and community centerpiece of the surrounding neighborhood.

Earlier in the meeting, the Historical Commission reviewed various requests for alterations to designated buildings. One proposal in particular raised a challenging issue in interpreting the Commission’s rules. The owners of 2027 and 2029 Brandywine Street, two adjoining rowhouses in the Spring Garden neighborhood, planned to demolish the buildings’ flat roofs and rears and construct an addition with a gable roof spanning both to convert them into one dwelling. The two properties are contributing assets to the Spring Garden Historic District.

Amid remarks about the visibility from adjacent 20th Street and the proposed gable roof interrupting the flat rooflines of the rest of the block, the question arose of whether the alterations were so extensive that they would be a de facto demolition. Concerns were raised that, if granted, it would set a precedent for property owners to demolish a building under the guise of renovations. The Historical Commission can grant a demolition permit for several reasons, such as after a review by the Commission’s Committee on Financial Hardship or if a property is deteriorated to the extent that it raises safety concerns. In this case, the Commission determined the property would not meet their criteria to grant a permit and denied the proposal.

---

---