Update: Dilworth House [August 12, 2005, meeting]

Here is a waste of time, taxpayer’s dollars and for what? To save a piece of property that by all rights should be destroyed. It has no historic relevance; it is ugly and not maintained. It is a pity that some people are wasting their time trying to save this building when so many Philadelphia buildings are under the wrecking ball. Just proves how short sighted most people really are! Save Dilworth Now Save Dilworth Now is a cooperative effort of the Society Hill Civic Association and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Our purpose is to advocate for the preservation of the historic Dilworth House, located on 6th Street on the eastern side of Washington Square in Center City Philadelphia. Under Philadelphia’s Historic Preservation Ordinance the house is already designated as having “significant” historic value. This is the highest level of legal protection. Nevertheless a real estate developer has recently applied (on May 27, 2005) to the Philadelphia Historical Commission for permission to raze the house to make way for a 15-story luxury condominium tower. Save Dilworth Now is working to preserve the Dilworth House.

On May 27, 2005, owner/developer of the Dilworth House, John and Mary Turchi, filed an application with the Philadelphia Historical Commission to “reclassify” the Dilworth House as a “non-contributing” site in the Society Hill Historic District (the property is presently classified as “significant”). Concurrently, the property owners asked the Commission to review and approve the demolition of the Dilworth House for the purpose of constructing a new condominium tower on the site. The plans for the new construction will be reviewed by the Commission’s Architectural Committee on July 26, 2005. The consideration of the reclassification of the property by the Commission’s Designation Committee will be July 28, 2005 with an expected report to the full Historic Commission at its August 12, 2005, meeting.

Please if you read this consider the buildings that are destroyed everyday in Philadelphia, much of what is torn down and paved over for parking lots has much more historic significance than the Dilworth House! Please think about what these people are wasting their time trying to save and your tax dollars trying to save!