Keep coming to the hearings,
City officials tell neighbors
at March 19 community meeting

We want the roof restored -- monitor, dormers and all -- Pennsylvania State Historical Commission tells Toll

Next court date: April 2, 12:00 noon, Courtroom 1103, Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert Street

At a March 19 community meeting, Kathleen Murray, special assistant to City Council President Anna C. Verna, explained that the community's attendance at the February 20, February 26, and March 4 hearings has been very important in the City's suit against Toll Brothers for the demolition-by-neglect of the historic Naval Home. The Naval Home was damaged by a February 3 arson following years of deterioration and vandalism. She urged residents to continue to keep the pressure up by making an effort to attend the next hearing: April 2, 2003, 12:00 p.m., courtroom 1103, Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert Street.

Robert Solvibile, deputy commissioner for Licenses and Inspections; Richard Tyler, of the city's historical commission; and Andrew Ross, senior counsel in the city's law department, also added to the community update, highlighting progress in the period between the March 4 hearing before Common Pleas justice Seamus P. McCaffery and the next one.

Solvibile quipped that the best news was that "he's off the case." He then explained that his specialty is demolition, and that he would be replaced by David Perry, Deputy Commissioner, who is an engineer and a preservationist. "Dave's the best guy in the department to get the building restored," Solvibile said, "and that's what we all really want."

The objectives of the City's campaign are to get the buildings stabilized and then restored and the entire site redeveloped. In this the City has been aided by the rulings of Judge McCaffery, who has fast-tracked the hearings to minimize weather damage to the buildings. Toll has agreed to address a list of short-term remedies (see hearing report), but is taking a longer time on others. Richard Tyler explained that Toll had wanted to use digital photography to record architectural and engineering features of parts of the structure that will have to be replaced. "That's not good enough," Tyler observed. "We don't know about the archival quality of digital yet." The Commission is requiring large-format photography with archival quality negatives and prints.

Toll has retained the engineering firm of O'Donnell, Naccarto, Mignona & Jackson to respond to the Keast & Hood engineering report within thirty days. Toll has also retained the architectural firm of Campbell, Thomas & Company to provide an assessment of the proper historical time period to which the building should be restored, and the architect/engineer/attorney Sam Harris to do recordation.

The question of proper historical time period will dramatically affect the appearance, and the cost, of restoring the roof. Toll announced at the March 4 hearing that it would restore the roof "to the appearance" of 1846 from the perspective of a viewer on the ground. That period preceded the raising of the attics, the construction of the "monitor" or clerestory at the top of the roofline of the wings, and the addition of dormers. The 1846 roof was copper on the center of the building with slate on both wings.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, which must pass or fail on Toll's plans, on March 18 sent Toll's president, Zvi Barzilay, a letter explaining that "it is imperative that the former configuration of the roof be maintained including the clerestory and dormers." [read full text of letter]

Richard Tyler reported on his walkthroughs. "The attic was better than I thought," he said. "It's still there. It was heavy beam construction -- some of those beams are 10" x 10". Although the attic will have to be replaced, enough of it remains to allow recordation and reconstruction. Both the City and State expect the unique "prow" construction at the ends of both wings to be re-created.

Tyler also explained that he wanted Historical Commission supervision of the removal and salvage operations on the property. "We want to be sure that all structural and architecturally significant elements are properly recorded and stored, and we feel that independent verification is essential." Solvibile added that Toll Brothers had sought to deny L&I any further access to the property, but that L&I asserts its right to enter and inspect as needed. "We'll do our best to give them notice if we can," Solvibile commented, but added that this may not always be possible.

Residents were concerned about three immediate issues: speedier action on providing proper security -- repairing gaps in the existing walls and construction of a second security fence around the Strickland building continued water damage to the chapel, one of the most significant interior spaces; and removal of the graffiti that currently disfigure the Ionic portico and the verandahs.

Solvibile acknowledged that the Department of L&I could certainly ask for immediate abatement of the leakage in the chapel by the installation of plastic or similar substance where the glass has been broken on the oculus (glass at the top of the dome) on the chapel. [view photograph of chapel from Library of Congress website]. Security continues to be an ongoing problem but Solvibile assured residents it would be addressed in the short term.

Richard Tyler reported that Toll Brothers had offered two proposals for graffiti removal. Both proposals, he noted, used very aggressive cleaning agents at high pressure. "This is Pennsylvania marble on a granite base," Tyler remarked, noting that these building materials are less able to withstand aggressive cleaning than the New England marble on City Hall. Tyler sent Toll the reports and proposals on cleaning City Hall with the recommendation that Toll look at those processes and suppliers. To date, Toll has not returned with another proposal for removing the graffiti, which have now been on the building for more than four months.

In response to a question from the floor about the role of the federal government in the process, Tyler explained that the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation must approve construction, renovation, restoration or demolition on historic sites. Another issue, and one very important to developers, is the investment tax credit for rehabilitating historic buildings. According to Tyler, this is administered jointly by the state and by the Park Service. Toll Brothers' most recent plan to develop the site was rejected by the Park Service in 2000 for four specific reasons, including Toll's plan to demolish the servants' wing of the Surgeon's and Governor's residences; the encroachment of townhomes too closely on the Surgeon's and Governon's residences; and the proposed use of the historic parade ground as a parking lot. Tyler was asked about the condition of the residences and explained that the roofs had been leaking since shortly after the Naval Home closed. When the General Services Administration declined to pay for repairs, and the City offered to do it, workmen were denied access to the site. Toll has made no repairs to the roof in the intervening period.

The City officials present were asked about next steps and what the City can do legally to get the property developed. Next steps will take place at the April 2 hearing and should include a plan and a timeline for restoring Biddle Hall. The City can compel Toll Brothers to comply with recently passed statutes calling for working windows in vacant buildings. The restoration of well over one hundred historically-accurate windows, in addition to the millions that will havae to be spent on the attic and roof, will represent a considerable investment that Toll is sure to want to recoup by developing the rest of the property. With new construction just across the street from the site selling for more than $500,000, the site should be an economically viable development prospect.

The community meeting was held at St. Anthony Senior Center, 2309 Carpenter Street, Philadelphia PA.

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