May 27-June 2, 2004

cityspace

Building on History

by Liz Harris

Along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 25th Street sits the sculpted facade of the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman building. The block-long structure occupies a two-acre site and contains 100,000 square feet of interior space. Lately, passersby may have noticed a poster notifying the neighbors of plans to add two floors onto the building.

The plans were initially met with some concern from neighbors. The Fairmount Civic Association (FCA) wrote a letter addressed to several city officials and Philadelphia Museum of Art employees outlining their worries. The letter, dated Aug. 17, 2003, stated that the neighbors were worried that, in addition to several aesthetic issues, the project would reduce the number of available spots in the already parking-light neighborhood. Neighbors also opposed plans to use a gate off a small residential block for truck deliveries.

In its May 12 newsletter, the FCA notified neighbors that the city Zoning Board had approved the plans, a move the association ultimately supported. (Presenting a petition signed by more than 200 people, however, three neighbors appeared before the board to protest the gate opening that would bring an extra six trucks onto their tiny block each day.)

So now, plans to build atop the historic building will move forward.

The 74-year-old building housed the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Co. until 1972. Zantzinger, Borie and Medary, one of the firms responsible for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, also designed the Perelman building. The famed 1920s architectural sculptor Lee Lawrie created the Perelman building's external decoration. (Lawrie also designed New York City's Rockefeller Center, as well as Washington, D.C.'s Library of Congress and the National Academy of Sciences.) In 1973, the National Register of Historic Places listed the Perelman building; the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places followed suit in 1980. The trapezoidal structure bears the Perelman name in honor of two Philadelphia modern-art collectors and philanthropists who have avidly supported the museum's need to expand.

The museum announced in 2002 that Gluckman Mayner Architects would redesign the Perelman building. Some of the firm's previous projects include the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Plans include an interior renovation and an addition for gallery space.

"The renovation and expansion will allow the public to visit the landmark building for the first time in its history and to see portions of the museum's collection that haven't had adequate gallery space," says the museum's chief operating officer, Gail Harrity.

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