26

## Benjamin Franklin Parkway

The construction of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the early twentieth century was the only significant modification of the grid plan of William Penn. The parkway was originally proposed in 1892 and consisted, even in the initial plans, of a baroque boulevard intended to create a diagonal vista that would break the monotony of the grid plan. After many delays the parkway concept was taken up in 1910 by the Fairmount Park Art Association, which engaged French landscape designer Jacques Greber to create the final plan. Greber's plan produced the desired uninterrupted vista from Faire Mount (as the slight hill at the western end was historically known), where a new art museum was to be erected, to the City Hall Tower.

Following Greber's plan, a new design for the Art Museum was approved and construction began on the east and west wings while fund-raising went on for the center portion. Some parts of the building have still not been completed. Construction of the Parkway itself began in 1917 and proceeded from west to east. The western end was modeled after the Champs Elysees with wide roads, many rows of trees, and substantial set-backs for the buildings. Few of the suggested buildings were ever completed, with two notable exceptions, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the modest Rodin Museum and Courtyard, a substitute for a more grandiose proposal. The plaza and fountains in front of the Art Museum were begun, but redesigned and completed in 1967. The present appearance of this part of the Parkway is dominated by several recent apartment buildings.

The central section of the Parkway required the complete redesign of Logarl Circle and is described in Section 2. The eastern section is intentionally more urban, and the narrow spatial connection to City Hall, proposed by Greber, has been accomplished in recent years by the addition of several new apartment buildings, the United Fund Office Building, the Friends Select School, and the Pennwalt Office Building. Originally, the Parkway terminated at City Hall. This arrangement changed in the 1950s coincident with the development of Penn Center. The last block was closed to traffic, and John F. Kennedy Plaza on top of an underground parking garage became the new terminus. A national competition was held for the design of a fountain for this plaza, but the winning proposal was never built, and the present pool and spray were substituted in its place.

### Benjamin Franklin Parkway

12 Academy of Natural Sciences

13 ASTM Building

5 Bell Telephone Bldg.

15 Cathedral of SS
Petef and Paul

1 City Hall

2 City Municipal Services Bldg.

25 Eastern State Prison

28 Fidelity Mutual Life
Insurance Bldg.

18 Franklin Institute

23 Franklin Motor Inn

17 Free Library of Phila.

8 Friends Select School

6 Insurance Co. of N.
America

4 Kennedy Plaza

14 Moore College of Art

29 Old City Waterworks

22 Parktowne Place Apts.

24 Parkway House Apts.

3 Penn Center

7 Pennwalt Corporation
Bldg.

19 Phila. Board of Education

16 Phila. County Courthouse

26 Phila. Museum of Art

11 Plaza Apts.

21 Rodin Museum

27 The Philadelphia
Apts.

9 United Fund Bldg.

10 Windsor Apts.

20 Youth Study Center

30 2601 Parkway Apts.

30

## Schuylkill Expressway North

The major regional automobile access to Philadelphia is via the Schuylkill Expressway (Interstate 76). Completed in 1955, it is the only expressway serving Center City and is, therefore, heavily used and often congested or at a standstill. Because it was built through many developed areas, its design standards are far below present highway requirements, and it has consequently been nicknamed the "Sure Kill Crawlway."

The northern portion of the expressway is supplemented by East and West River drives in Fairmount Park. The section from Market Street to Girard Avenue presents two substantially different views. On the west the view is dominated by the 120 acres of railroad tracks north of the Thirtieth Street Station. To the east is one of the most striking views of Philadelphia. Across the river in East Park, the templelike Art Museum

on the hill towers above both the delicate Boat House Row and the old city waterworks, with City Hall Tower and the PSFS Building dominating the skyline beyond.

North of Girard Avenue the expressway travels through Fairmount Park. The view to east and west is of heavily treed slopes with an occasional glimpse of a park mansion roof or the prominently illuminated dome of Memorial Hall appearing above the trees. At Strawberry Mansion Bridge there is a public boathouse opposite the entrance to the Laurel Hill Cemetery in the East Park.

At the City Line Interchange the expressway leaves the city, although the view across the river is of Philadelphia. The East Falls high-rise public housing is situated prominently on the east bank, and farther on, the steep slopes of Manayunk and Roxborough are covered with modest houses and churches in a manner reminiscent of European hill towns. City Line Avenue itself is a substantial commercial street just south of the expressway. The Presidential Apartments and Holiday Motor Inn can be seen on the skyline from the expressway. Several Philadelphia television stations are located in the same area. On the Montgomery County side of City Line are fine stores, such as Lord and Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue. The Schuylkill Expressway connects with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Valley Forge, six miles from the City Line Interchange.

### Schuylkill Expressway North

17 Belmont Shops and Offices

14 Belmont Waterworks

5 Boat House Row

22 Chamounix Mansion

20 Connie Mack Stadium (DestROYed)

3 Eastern State Prison

4 Girard College

11 Japanese Tea Gardens

9 Kelly Pool

10 Memorial Hall

13 Mt. Pleasant Mansion

2 Old City Waterworks

8 Parkguard Headquarters

16 Peters Island

1 Phila. Museum of Art

6 Phila. Zoological Gardens

15 Playhouse in the Park

23 Presidential Apartments

18 Public Canoe House

19 Reyburn Park

21 Robin Hood Dell

7 Smith Civil War Memorial

12 Smith Playground