Yesterday during a break between classes I went down to the Schuylkill Banks and checked out what's going on. Four major tidbits of news seem to be relevant:
1. The parking garage for Cira Centre South is half-finished. It has a degree of style that's unusual in a garage, but it will look better when the towers flanking it on either side are built, I think.
2. Demolition of the asphalt field between the Walnut Street Bridge and the Weave Bridge has begun. Penn, remember, plans to put a park there to be the new front door for its campus. I don't see, though, how they can complete this project, as the staging area for Cira South happens to be the eastmost of these parking lots, the one hard up against the Northeast Corridor.
3. The renovation of the JFK Boulevard Bridge is complete. It is (in my opinion) a bridge in the unusual position of being both a common highway bridge and a bridge appropriate in style for its locale. Why? Because of a few reasons--one, when it was built it was originally built as a highway bridge (unlike Chestnut or Walnut), two, it is located between two concrete arch spans (the Market Street Bridge and the SEPTA bridge) which means that another concrete arch span is highly inappropriate for its locale, and three, because it cleanly suggests its era of construction. This does not make it a handsome bridge on its own merits, but of all the Lower Schuylkill's bridges, it's the only one that has a good argument for a common highway-bridge design. The new sidewalks, too, are more pleasant and appealing to walk on; if it's the SRDC's intent to do this with all the Schuylkill bridges down to Walnut, then it's my opinion that the banks will be further beautified without all that much effort.
One thing I would like to see, though, is the placement of an aesthetic barrier between the Schuylkill (Expressway) and the Schuylkill (River). A simple series of tinted-glass panels would do the job nicely, I should think; spacing them provides space for exhaust to escape. A public photography gallery of the original Chestnut Street Bridge (designed by Strickland Kneass) would be an excellent addition to the portion of the Schuylkill Banks running under the current one.
4. The original South Street Bridge is no more. Not only has the superstructure been demolished, but so have the original piers and abutments above the waterline. In their place are rising three new piers--piers completely finished--which means, I think, that superstructure construction should commence soon.
5. Apparently there is a great deal of work going on along the Schuylkill River Trail. What this means, I don't know, but something big should be coming in the works soon.
1. The parking garage for Cira Centre South is half-finished. It has a degree of style that's unusual in a garage, but it will look better when the towers flanking it on either side are built, I think.
2. Demolition of the asphalt field between the Walnut Street Bridge and the Weave Bridge has begun. Penn, remember, plans to put a park there to be the new front door for its campus. I don't see, though, how they can complete this project, as the staging area for Cira South happens to be the eastmost of these parking lots, the one hard up against the Northeast Corridor.
3. The renovation of the JFK Boulevard Bridge is complete. It is (in my opinion) a bridge in the unusual position of being both a common highway bridge and a bridge appropriate in style for its locale. Why? Because of a few reasons--one, when it was built it was originally built as a highway bridge (unlike Chestnut or Walnut), two, it is located between two concrete arch spans (the Market Street Bridge and the SEPTA bridge) which means that another concrete arch span is highly inappropriate for its locale, and three, because it cleanly suggests its era of construction. This does not make it a handsome bridge on its own merits, but of all the Lower Schuylkill's bridges, it's the only one that has a good argument for a common highway-bridge design. The new sidewalks, too, are more pleasant and appealing to walk on; if it's the SRDC's intent to do this with all the Schuylkill bridges down to Walnut, then it's my opinion that the banks will be further beautified without all that much effort.
One thing I would like to see, though, is the placement of an aesthetic barrier between the Schuylkill (Expressway) and the Schuylkill (River). A simple series of tinted-glass panels would do the job nicely, I should think; spacing them provides space for exhaust to escape. A public photography gallery of the original Chestnut Street Bridge (designed by Strickland Kneass) would be an excellent addition to the portion of the Schuylkill Banks running under the current one.
4. The original South Street Bridge is no more. Not only has the superstructure been demolished, but so have the original piers and abutments above the waterline. In their place are rising three new piers--piers completely finished--which means, I think, that superstructure construction should commence soon.
5. Apparently there is a great deal of work going on along the Schuylkill River Trail. What this means, I don't know, but something big should be coming in the works soon.
Good post. Anyone hear anything about that cable-stay walking bridge that was in some Penn renderings for Schuykill development?
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