When I bought 503 South 44th Street in 1978 I had
two ornamental front window grates installed on it. They are composed of
scraps from the shopfloor of the ironworker, Nick East, then owner of the Iron
Men, and are far from being "period." They won a national ironwork design
contest when they were made and they have been a neighborhood landmark ever
since.
I bought them precisely because I couldn't afford
the cost of "period" ornamental iron at the time, although I bought in the
neighborhood because I valued its historic charm. That's why I went to the
Iron Men, who were then (and remained for decades) the authoritative
installers of period ironwork for University City. First I asked for period
designs. Nick told me their price. As I picked my jaw up off the floor, I
asked Nick feebly if there was *any* middle way between Fancy
Schmancy window guards and Contemporary Prison security design. Nick allowed
as how he had a pile of stuff knocking around his shop that he and his top
assistant might enjoy playing around with, at about half the cost of Generic
Victoriana. So that's what they did. They got happy in their shop at
night and kept pushing the metal pieces around until they liked what they
saw. I liked it too -- I was even able to choose a piece of the design myself
-- and we put it up.
No way this kind of work
would have been permitted by the Historic Commission.
First, it isn't "period." Secondly, and more significantly I think, it
isn't "bureaucratic." This work of art was not created by the sort of process
that public architectural review committees are kind to. There were no
"proposals," nothing was "submitted" to anybody.... I just had a desire -- to
live (a) safely, (b) attractively, and (c) affordably; I came up with a
solution, using an experienced resource who also lived in the community and
was sensitive to its character. And it's not just a
community of history buffs! There are also people in Spruce Hill who are
interested in the future -- and always have been. That too is our
history.
From time to time I've noticed other people add
contemporary touches to our neighborhood housing stock that harmonize with the
whole and enhance our communal quality of life. Just up the block, neighbor
and artist Derek Myers (you may remember his exhibit at the Arts League)
created that visionary gate at 430 South 44th Street.
This, I submit, is the kind of process that kept this
neighborhood viable and valuable during the various Dark Ages that have swept
over it. It is another kind of History and one that is equally essential to
Spruce Hill -- a history of flexibility, adaptiveness, creativity and change.
Sometimes change is negative. But when you're lucky, it's more positive than
negative. The winds of change have been kind to Spruce Hill overall, as I see
it. It is at least as important for local government to assist change,
to facilitate the advance of history, as it is
to preserve its beginnings.
In my case, local government facilitated me quite
nicely by leaving me and my wallet alone. I hope it continues to do so. I
have an 8-year-old and balancing the cornices of the past with the tuition
bills of the future is my Prime Directive. I'm deeply grateful
for the assiduous labors of our historical preservationists in Spruce
Hill and hope they will continue to lead by example rather than by
fiat.
-- Tony West
