Articles
You are viewing 16 articles by the author Alan Jaffe concerning Vacant Property
Blighted East Falls house, once the cause of protest, now being torn down
A deteriorating house in East Falls that sparked a protest last year — and many years of neighbors' discontent — is finally, if slowly, being razed by its owner. The house…
Former Roxborough pizza joint rife with problems faces L&I action
The lettering of the Mia's Pizza sign has been slowly peeling off the side of the building at Rochelle Avenue and Sumac Street for years. The lettering of the Mia’s Pizza…
Schools threatened with closing reflect a timeline of historic architecture
This report is a product of William Penn Foundation funded reporting partnership between Plan Philly and the Notebook. Since the Philadelphia School District announced in November the possible closings of…
2011 Endangered List spotlights anchors of the community
In recent years, the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia has made an effort to engage African-American organizations and neighborhoods in protecting resources and creating programs that highlight their history. That effort…
Preservation group issues SOS for 20 sites
When old buildings start to fall through the cracks, Save Our Sites is there to catch them. The organization issues an SOS each year for structures that other preservation groups, and…
Preservation Row: Whither the Royal Theater?
It’s not just the spirits of Fats Waller and Bessie Smith that linger around the Royal Theater. Their images live large on the façade of the long-vacant music and movie house.…
Church preservation case to be heard in Common Pleas Court
Philadelphia Common Pleas Court has set the timetable for hearing the appeal to allow a social service agency to raze the historic Church of the Assumption, while the agency seeks to…
Developer moves ahead with demolition of West Girard monastery
A developer moved ahead last week with the beginning of demolition of two 19th-century brownstone mansions on West Girard Avenue that had once served as a monastery for the Poor Clares,…
Lehigh Avenue's 'Castle' began as innovative educational beacon
Interior photos credit: Jeremy MarshallFlickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42027537@N06/ An extensive fire on Aug. 3 at the former Thomas Edison High School may have been an appropriate final chapter for a building…
Francisville in battle to preserve West Girard buildings
Francisville, a North Philadelphia community that has undergone a remarkable redevelopment in recent years, is now trying to protect a part of its history from the tide of change. At a…
Owner of church takes demolition appeal to Common Pleas Court
Siloam, the social service agency that owns the Church of the Assumption and adjacent buildings, has filed an appeal in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to allow it to demolish…
Urban preservation group issues SOS for favorite sites
One of the more eclectic – one might say quirky - lists of endangered sites in the Philadelphia area was compiled last year by the non-profit group Save Our Sites.…
Last call for the region's most endangered sites?
The final days of the year are when we take an accounting, including preservation organizations that compile their lists of those structures that may be facing their final days. The Preservation…
Preservation Row: A new chapter opens for West Johnson Street landmarks
West Johnson Street is a straight line through the historic communities of Mount Airy and Germantown, best known for what occurred in October 1777 at Cliveden. That’s where British soldiers successfully…
New blog brings an artist's eye to historic preservation
It’s part secret cinema, part New Yorker portraiture, part soft-boiled detective. “Field Notes (http://fieldnotesphilly.wordpress.com),” the month-old blog on the website of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, takes a…
Historical Commission committee OKs owner's request to demolish historic church
The Church of the Assumption, the historic 19th-century church at 11th and Spring Garden Streets, moved closer to demolition on Tuesday, when the architectural committee of the Philadelphia Historical Commission voted…
