On Wed, Mar 05, 2003 at 10:19:21AM -0500, Al Krigman wrote: > > The offer by Toll Brothers to repair the fire-damaged roof of the > Naval Home immediately may be thwarted by the red tape of the Historic > Preservation Do Gooders. The result may be a considerable extra cost > -- both in having to put up a temporary roof now and replace it later, > as well as in researching the details nobody but a pedant would notice > as the difference between what was there before the fire and what > might have been there the day the building was first opened. > Here's the story from today's Inquirer.
In this end game for the Naval Home, it's easy to point fingers at the Historic Commission. But isn't the issue just as much the structural problem that it is feasible in Philadelphia to sit on something as large as the old Naval Home on the edge of Center City and do nothing for twenty years? The facility is two minutes' drive from an I-76 entrance/exit, is twenty minutes walk from major rail hubs, is served by bus lines, is walking distance to shopping and cultural activities, and yet is surrounded by a small wood and has beautiful views of the river. In most cities this would be a gold mine. Here you get tax incentives to sit on it (it's "worth less" if it's not inhabitable), and you can hope to make more later than you could now. As long as we reward economic inactivity, we can expect to have plenty of it. It's not fair to point a finger at the Historic Commission on this one. They are a minor bump this time along an artificially created diversion from good policy. -- Jeff Jeff Abrahamson <http://www.purple.com/jeff/> GPG fingerprint: 1A1A BA95 D082 A558 A276 63C6 16BF 8C4C 0D1D AE4B ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
