PHILADELPHIA | The Arthaus @ 311 S. Broad | 542 FT | 47 FLOORS

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Maybe now with this, the Atlantic Building, and hopefully Broad & Pine, we can finally get the damn median landscaped from City Hall down to Pine. I'm going to ask Paul Beideman about it. He's the president of the Avenue of the Arts, Inc., of which I'm a patron.

Don't forget to ask for those beautiful North Broad light poles.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Don't forget to ask for those beautiful North Broad light poles.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Nope, SLS good! I saw a guy peeing on the fence when I walked by there Saturday but also saw digging! Maybe now with this, the Atlantic Building, and hopefully Broad & Pine, we can finally get the damn median landscaped from City Hall down to Pine. I'm going to ask Paul Beideman about it. He's the president of the Avenue of the Arts, Inc., of which I'm a patron. http://www.avenueofthearts.org/about-us/ He told me about a year ago that the brick-appearing crosswalks would be added to Locust. Hasn't happened yet... I think South Broad is ready to come into its own, though. It just needs a little bit more of a push.

Have we heard any updates on the Broad and South charter school building that was up for sale? Wasn't the city looking to sell/move/redevelop the Health Services building at Lombard Street? Will the Atlantic ONLY be rentals? Does this thing get good gas mileage?

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Don't forget to ask for those beautiful North Broad light poles.

Funny story. My mom was just in town visiting and we turned onto North Broad headed north from City Hall and she LOVED the light poles at night. She thought it made N Broad feel exciting and very clean compared to what she had previously experienced.

So I guess the love / hate of the poles are a matter of perspective.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

Funny story. My mom was just in town visiting and we turned onto North Broad headed north from City Hall and she LOVED the light poles at night. She thought it made N Broad feel exciting and very clean compared to what she had previously experienced.

So I guess the love / hate of the poles are a matter of perspective.

To be fair, I've not seen them at night. I just wish that they they hadn't gone for a design so spartan that even Scandinavians would reject it.

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

To be fair, I've not seen them at night. I just wish that they they hadn't gone for a design so spartan that even Scandinavians would reject it.

Totally; I was pretty disappointed when I first saw the installation too. Now that they have different colors and more development on N Broad, it makes looking northward like a destination, which was kinda the purpose.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

Totally; I was pretty disappointed when I first saw the installation too. Now that they have different colors and more development on N Broad, it makes looking northward like a destination, which was kinda the purpose.

Yes, but that doesn’t do shit during the day...

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Yes, but that doesn’t do shit during the day...

At least they are able to obstruct the view of City Hall from the north at any time.

[Inquizative]

There's nothing that can obstruct city hall, it's a monster. My New York friends love it, especially at night. I go to show them our beautiful downtown skyscrapers and they only seem interested in city hall. They wanna pose for pictures in front of it. I myself think the "French Second Empire" style is kinda cluttered and that two tone tower...smh but out-of-towners seem to love it! Just read an article saying that it took 30 years, 25 million to build (about 3 billion in today's cash)....and it looks like it. It's just massive in every way, shape and form.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by Inquizative

There's nothing that can obstruct city hall, it's a monster. My New York friends love it, especially at night. I go to show them our beautiful downtown skyscrapers and they only seem interested in city hall. They wanna pose for pictures in front of it. I myself think the "French Second Empire" style is kinda cluttered and that two tone tower...smh but out-of-towners seem to love it! Just read an article saying that it took 30 years, 25 million to build (about 3 billion in today's cash)....and it looks like it. It's just massive in every way, shape and form.

I genuinely didn't notice the two tone until somebody else here pointed it out (and I wish they hadn't!) It is a beautiful building that easily rivals any other city hall in the US.

It's funny, I Googled 'most beautiful city halls in the US' and found this list:

https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/1/1572...l-architecture

Quite frankly, I think most of them are ugly or boring, the stand outs to me are Milwaukee, NYC, SF and of course Philly. Anyways, I digress. Sorry for going off topic here.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Inquizative

There's nothing that can obstruct city hall, it's a monster. My New York friends love it, especially at night. I go to show them our beautiful downtown skyscrapers and they only seem interested in city hall. They wanna pose for pictures in front of it. I myself think the "French Second Empire" style is kinda cluttered and that two tone tower...smh but out-of-towners seem to love it! Just read an article saying that it took 30 years, 25 million to build (about 3 billion in today's cash)....and it looks like it. It's just massive in every way, shape and form.

I lot of local people love it. I assumed he wasn't being serious with his comment about blocking the view- at least I would hope that is the case.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

I genuinely didn't notice the two tone until somebody else here pointed it out (and I wish they hadn't!) It is a beautiful building that easily rivals any other city hall in the US.

It's funny, I Googled 'most beautiful city halls in the US' and found this list:

https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/1/1572...l-architecture

Quite frankly, I think most of them are ugly or boring, the stand outs to me are Milwaukee, NYC, SF and of course Philly. Anyways, I digress. Sorry for going off topic here.

Once before there was a massive amount of whining about the top of the tower- it's cast iron and it's painted. The rest of the tower is stone and there is no way that the iron part was ever going to match the stone exactly, especially not over time. Back in the day the top part didn't match because it was covered in soot.

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by cardeza

Once before there was a massive amount of whining about the top of the tower- it's cast iron and it's painted. The rest of the tower is stone and there is no way that the iron part was ever going to match the stone exactly, especially not over time. Back in the day the top part didn't match because it was covered in soot.

The cast iron plate skin of city hall tower was a light blue/green when first built-- It was painted with white aluminum alloy paint in 1901, right before completion. The entire skin was removed and replaced in the 1980s. Supposedly all 4,000+ plates were held on with rusty bolts that were about to fail.

[eixample]

Originally Posted by cardeza

Once before there was a massive amount of whining about the top of the tower- it's cast iron and it's painted. The rest of the tower is stone and there is no way that the iron part was ever going to match the stone exactly, especially not over time. Back in the day the top part didn't match because it was covered in soot.

We have had this conversation before, but it doesn't change how much they botched the job of picking the paint color. It didn't match at first, it doesn't match now, and it's a travesty they didn't do a better job with it (I don't think the color's changed all that much - we don't have steam trains across the street anymore so I don't think it's going to get sooty again). If they couldn't match it exactly, they should have picked a more complimentary color. Gray and off-white don't go well together!

[Knight Hospitaller]

I am guilty too, but I can remember when this thread was about the tower formerly known as SLS.

[Stg4100]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

I am guilty too, but I can remember when this thread was about the tower formerly known as SLS.

That's still going on?

[JurassicPhilly]

I get that people like City Hall, but in all seriousness, it needs an update. The idea of putting William Penn on a pedestal overlooking the entire city is just antiquated and not consistent with our values today. For example, what did William Penn ever do for transgender people? Answer: nothing. Look, I'm not suggesting the stature be taken down. That would be ridiculous. But modified to reflect a more tolerant and welcoming city than the one founded by a white man (of privilege, but I repeat myself...) over 300 years ago? Maybe (and I'm just putting this out there as an idea) the statue should be renamed "Wilhelmina", given a purse, and a skirt. That way, we don't completely tear down the past, but find a way to honor those who are struggling with gender issues in our great city. I think that would really do a lot to make the city more welcoming. Anyway, just a thought.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by eixample

We have had this conversation before, but it doesn't change how much they botched the job of picking the paint color. It didn't match at first, it doesn't match now, and it's a travesty they didn't do a better job with it (I don't think the color's changed all that much - we don't have steam trains across the street anymore so I don't think it's going to get sooty again). If they couldn't match it exactly, they should have picked a more complimentary color. Gray and off-white don't go well together!

Who cares? and how in the world can the top 50 ft make the entire building a travesty? To really even appreciate the building you need to go inside and see some of the grand spaces. The interior may be more impressive than the exterior. I'm not sure that there is paint that will match the color of weathered marble and even if there were, it wouldn't likely match for long. Mountain out of a molehill and a typical philadelphian attitude. At least people from elsewhere in the world have enough sense to appreciate what we have here.

[Boku]

Originally Posted by JurassicPhilly

I get that people like City Hall, but in all seriousness, it needs an update. The idea of putting William Penn on a pedestal overlooking the entire city is just antiquated and not consistent with our values today. For example, what did William Penn ever do for transgender people? Answer: nothing. Look, I'm not suggesting the stature be taken down. That would be ridiculous. But modified to reflect a more tolerant and welcoming city than the one founded by a white man (of privilege, but I repeat myself...) over 300 years ago? Maybe (and I'm just putting this out there as an idea) the statue should be renamed "Wilhelmina", given a purse, and a skirt. That way, we don't completely tear down the past, but find a way to honor those who are struggling with gender issues in our great city. I think that would really do a lot to make the city more welcoming. Anyway, just a thought.

Your comment really added a lot to this development thread. Great job, take a bow. You've got potential, kid, I think Hollywood is calling.

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by JurassicPhilly

I get that people like City Hall, but in all seriousness, it needs an update. The idea of putting William Penn on a pedestal overlooking the entire city is just antiquated and not consistent with our values today. For example, what did William Penn ever do for transgender people? Answer: nothing. Look, I'm not suggesting the stature be taken down. That would be ridiculous. But modified to reflect a more tolerant and welcoming city than the one founded by a white man (of privilege, but I repeat myself...) over 300 years ago? Maybe (and I'm just putting this out there as an idea) the statue should be renamed "Wilhelmina", given a purse, and a skirt. That way, we don't completely tear down the past, but find a way to honor those who are struggling with gender issues in our great city. I think that would really do a lot to make the city more welcoming. Anyway, just a thought.

Surely this is satire.