Monumental Maneuver

by Daniel Brook

Last summer, then-mayoral spokesman Frank Keel called the Park Service's decision to close Chestnut Street in front of Independence Hall "a bad idea [that] punishes the businesses in that area." Now Independence Mall-area businesses are up in arms trying to reopen the street but the administration has flip-flopped, backing the Park Service plan to keep the thoroughfare permanently closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Mayor Street's new spokeswoman, Barbara Grant, says, "As we negotiated with the Park Service, everyone had a concern about protecting monuments and protecting people. Where we came out -- the thing to do that was most guided by safety -- was to close Chestnut Street." The administration now backs the status quo: keeping Chestnut closed and Fifth and Sixth streets open, and barricading half of the park behind Independence Hall.

But with the Park Service and the mayor now united behind closing Chestnut, a number of local business owners and community groups have banded together as the Coalition to Open Chestnut Street. The group has requested a meeting with Mayor Street, which the administration has granted for Jan. 14. In the meantime, members are collecting signatures on a petition.

When asked why the coalition waited more than a year to form, John Keenan, general manager of the Omni Hotel, said, "We were always under the belief that it was a temporary closure." When business owners found out that the administration wanted to make it permanent, only then did they start calling meetings and drawing up a petition.

The coalition has the support of district Councilman Frank DiCicco, who has sent a letter to the mayor asking him to change his mind.

But Center City District Director Paul Levy thinks it's unlikely Street will flip-flop back to his original position. Levy recommends working together to create an aesthetically pleasing security plan.

Park Service spokesman Phil Sheridan acknowledges that "not everyone agrees with us." But, he says, "We just have a very sincere belief that we need to take some steps to protect Independence Hall and the visitors." According to Sheridan, the Park Service had wanted to close off Chestnut Street ever since the Oklahoma City bombing, but was only allowed to implement the policy after Sept. 11.

While the administration has put out feelers to local businesses hinting that a compromise might be possible, Keenan says, "We're not interested in alternatives, we want the street opened up."

Keenan argues that the petition isn't too little, too late. "This isn't over yet," he says.