Current Advocacy Issues: Keystone Bank
Update July 2010:
At their July 9 meeting, the Philadelphia Historical Commission approved a revised storefront design (above) for the restoration of the Keystone Bank Building into a boutique hotel.
Keystone National Bank design debated
Left to Right: Keystone Building c. 1900;
Current view of c. 1960 alterations; Proposed new glass storefront.
Restoration plans for the former Keystone National Bank, Willis Hale's striking 1887 landmark at 1326-28 Chestnut Street, continue to be debated by the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Developer Alon Barzilay and architects JKR Partners propose converting the long-neglected property into a boutique hotel and restaurant, faithfully restoring the majority of the building's ornate masonry exterior but replacing the current 1960s-era storefront with a starkly contemporary glass entryway. The Commission rejected an initial design, arguing that it was too incongruous with the character of the existing historic fabric. A divided architectural committee recommended approval of a second design (illustrated on right above), that included elements of the historic storefront composition etched onto the new glass surfaces. On February 12, 2010, the full Historical Commission approved this design in concept, with the request that more substantial masonry materials be added to the storefront.* The Commission stopped short of requesting a full reconstruction of the building's historic appearance, however.
The proposal has drawn a wide range of opinion among architects and preservationists. Some feel the new design is an exciting contemporary intervention and a necessary component of the building's badly-needed rehabilitation. They point to the building's long history of storefront alteration (the current Valu-Plus facade is the building's fifth) and argue that the reconstruction of any one historic design is arbitrary and obscures the building's legacy of stylistic evolution. Others contend that the new design is poorly integrated into the existing historic fabric, lacks the compatibility of material, color, and texture appropriate to a landmark rehabilitation, and would waste a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an historically accurate reconstruction of one of the city's most significant buildings.
Barzilay and JKR Partners must resubmit plans to the Historical Commission before any work on the site commences. The Preservation Alliance will continue to participate in these discussions, and we encourage you to share your thoughts on the proposed design with us by emailing advocacy@preservationalliance.com.
*An earlier version of this post stated that the Historical Commission denied approval of the current design, when in fact it approved the design in concept with modifications. We apologize for the error.
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