Historic Preservation: Philadelphia City Hall, Philadelphia, USA Centered in the heart of downtown Philadelphia stands the nation’s largest municipal building (larger than the U.S. Capitol), serving the city’s government and politics for over 100 years. It is situated in the exact geographical center of William Penns original 1682 plans for the city, now known as the intersections of Broad and Market Streets, Center Square. Controversy has surrounded this National Historic Landmark from its earliest conception in 1860 to present day. Yet, it has also earned a great deal of respect as a unique architectural and sculptural achievement. City Hall includes some 700 rooms and more than 250 architectural relief’s and freestanding sculptures, including its most famous 37’ bronze William Penn statue topping the clock tower. Splendors of City Hall City Hall is both an historic, architecturally significant building and the functioning home of Philadelphias city and county offices and courts. It is located at the intersection of Broad and Market Streets, in Center Square, the center of downtown Philadelphia. This is one of five squares included in William Penns original 1682 plan for Philadelphia. City Hall is the center of Philadelphias government and politics, and has been the focal point of Philadelphia itself for more than a century. Planning for Philadelphias City Hall began before 1870, when a commission was established to oversee the construction of new public buildings. After much debate and several design competitions Center Square was selected for the location. The commission chose a Scottish architect named John McArthur, Jr. to design the new building. Work began in 1871, and the building was completed thirty years later in 1901. City Halls architecture is of the elaborate Victorian style referred to as French Second Empire. The Palais des Tuileries and the New Louvre in Paris influenced the buildings design. Second Empire motifs are evident in the turreted courtyard stair towers; the slate mansard roof with dormer windows; the paired columns, which help to make it look three stories instead of eight; the integration of the hundreds of sculptures; the projecting corner pavilions; and the grand staircases in the North and South portals. City halls style is also often referred to as High Victorian Picturesque Eclecticism or French Renaissance. Its elaborate architecture has made City Hall controversial from the beginning. Some have wondered why there is a building of such decadence at the center of a city of Quaker heritage. There have even been proposals to demolish City Hall. The most recent of these was considered in the 1950s. Demolition of the building was looked into, but it was found that the cost would have come to a prohibitive twenty-five million dollars, the amount that was spent to build City Hall by 1901. At that cost, there would not have been enough money left to build a new City Hall, so the building was saved. City Hall is a square building arranged around a central public courtyard. Its four exterior facades are all of similar appearance, and include the four monumental arched portals leading to the courtyard from the outside. The north façade is considered the ceremonial front of the building. The north side is also where the famous tower is located. The tower rises 548 feet above the ground, terminating at the top of the hat on William Penns statue. Just below the statue is the visitors observation deck, approximately forty stories above the ground. There are massive twenty-six foot diameter clocks on all four sides of the metal portion of the tower. Below this area of the tower and throughout the remainder of the building are walls of solid brick covered with white marble and granite. The walls supporting the tower are twenty-two feet thick at the bottom. The building is one of the worlds tallest and largest all-masonry, load bearing structures without a steel or iron frame. https://youtube/watch?v=mEfi1c2AzYY
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 02:42:39 +0000
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