PROPOSED LFCDC TOWN HALL PROJECT
Background and History
Germantown is a racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood in the northwest section of the City of Philadelphia, PA, located roughly 8 miles from the center of the City. With a population of approximately 43,000 people, Germantown stretches about 2 miles along historic Germantown Avenue northwest from Windrim and Roberts Avenues. It was absorbed into the City of Philadelphia in 1854 nearly 200 years after its founding in 1681 by 13 Quaker and Mennonite families from Germany. In 1688, just 7 years after its founding, Germantown became the birthplace of the anti-slavery movement in America. (In the 1800s, The Johnson House, just 4 blocks away from Town Hall at 6306 Germantown Avenue, was a major station in the Underground Railroad.) This backdrop is the basis of Germantown’s rich and proud history.
During the Civil War, Town Hall was used as a hospital in the 1860s. In 1923, architect John Penn Brock Sinkler rebuilt the original Town Hall structure which he modeled after William Strickland’s Greek Revival Merchant’s Exchange Building at 3rd and Walnut Streets in Old City, Philadelphia. The current Town Hall structure was designed by Napoleon LeBrun and Sons, the architect of the Metropolitan Life Insurance skyscraper in New York City. Nationally and locally certified as a historic building, Town Hall is on the Endangered Properties List of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. It had been used for city offices until about 1994, when it was abandoned and left in a continuing state of decay and neglect.
Rationale for Redeveloping Town Hall as Germantown’s “Green Gem”
Philadelphia’s Mayor, Michael J. Nutter, has pledged to make Philadelphia the greenest city in the country at a time when our nation’s leaders understand that the future of American growth and world leadership is in developing innovative scientific and technological breakthroughs that conserve energy, lower our carbon footprint and harness the ingenuity and creativity of our citizens. But our Philadelphia public school students are falling behind in the scientific, mathematical and technological education arena where innovation and creativity will determine the future of sustainable economic development for many years to come. At the same time, our “left behind” students are swelling the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed, as well as disproportionately joining the ranks of those who are incarcerated in our prisons.
Just across the street from Town Hall is Germantown High School, where only approximately 30% of students graduate and where reading and math scores are unacceptably low. The current District Attorney of Philadelphia has suggested that Town Hall be turned into a criminal justice center. Such a center, right across the street from one of Germantown’s high schools is hardly the kind of incentive our young people deserve in order to motivate them to learn and be a constructive part of the 21st century’s growth and development. Rather, redeveloping Town Hall to positively impact students by having a dual focus—the first on college-level science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects), and the second on high school-level “Green Entrepreneur” training that will create a new mindset of self-sufficiency and be the spark that ignites sustainable business growth in Germantown.
TOWN HALL Project Vision Statement
The Town Hall Project seeks to redevelop Town Hall, a City of Philadelphia and nationally certified historic building at 5928 Germantown Avenue in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, using best practices in both historic preservation and energy efficient design. It will be redeveloped to meet certification standards as a LEED-ND (Leadership in Energy-Efficient Design for Neighborhood Development) building. It will be a state-of-the-art geothermal/solar facility, the anticipated anchor tenants of which will provide college-level instruction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects), as well as high school-level “Green Entrepreneur” development training courses. (“Green Entrepreneurs” create “Green Businesses” that sell consumer products and services that are eco-friendly and directly improve environmental quality.)
The purpose of the STEM and “Green Entrepreneur” educational focus for the building is to position Germantown as a locus of scientific and technological innovation as well as the center of gravity for sustainable neighborhood revitalization, spurred on by 21st century cutting-edge Germantown Business Corridor development. This dual track educational focus will set the stage for a dynamic three-fold economic resurgence for Germantown: 1) it will attract new, cutting edge businesses to the area; 2) it will serve as a magnate to attract the brightest and best STEM-oriented college-level students; and 3) it will ensure that high school-educated unemployed and underemployed residents of Germantown and the surrounding areas are able to access the training and skills that will move them into environmentally appropriate entrepreneurship opportunities that will create living wage, non-exportable jobs with long-term growth potential.
In addition to the high tech and entrepreneurial dual track educational track provided by anticipated anchor tenants, there will be a “Green Business Incubator” that provides training, business space and back office support to entrepreneurs seeking to create “Green Businesses” in Germantown. (A “Green Business” is one that seeks to be energy-efficient, attempts to leave a minimal carbon footprint, produces and/or sells products and services that are environmentally friendly, and offers access to “Green Collar Jobs” for neighborhood residents.)
The Town Hall Project will serve as a national model of best practices in creating energy-efficient, future-facing environmentally sustainable urban economic development anchored by an education model, while still functioning within the context of historic preservation of the Germantown Avenue Business Corridor. It will also function as a tourist attraction, a site generating “Green Collar Jobs” for community residents, and a hub of business and cultural innovative activity.
Philadelphia University’s School of Architecture is a major partner in this endeavor. Faculty and students have already committed time and talent to assist us in developing design concepts that meet best practices standards in historic preservation, energy efficient interior design, and ecologically appropriate landscape design.
The Town Hall Project is the “Green Gem” and centerpiece of a larger vision espoused by Liberation Fellowship Community Development Corporation that seeks to promote and facilitate the sustainable community and business corridor development of Germantown, Philadelphia. Included in this larger vision is the creation of a “Green Business District” along the Germantown Avenue Business Corridor contiguous to Town Hall. (A “Green Business District” is a designated urban area that is set aside for the creation, development and cultivation of “Green Businesses” as a component of a larger program to retrofit neighborhood homes with environmentally sustainable designs and energy-efficient products and services to lower the community’s carbon footprint and raise its awareness and ability to sustain itself economically.)
On completion, The Town Hall Project is envisioned to be home to the following:
· Conference Center space (dual use classroom space associated with cultural programs, STEM, and “Green Business” training programs.[Having space for a conference center that is fully equipped and functional, but that also can be dual use space with drama, dance, etc., is more efficient than just having empty space unattached to the educational/cultural uses.]
· Cultural area (Art, music, dance, drama)
· Dual Track Education Center (STEM and “Green Business” training associated with Philadelphia educational institutions and major universities)
· Financial services (Bank branch, investment and insurance brokerage)
· Green Business Incubator
· Full Service (physician, chiropractic, dental) Community Medical Center that has all services with the federal benefits No such full-service Community Medical Center exists in Germantown
· First floor mid-level retail shops (This may include a small farmer’s market that uses local farmers’ produce, and/or outdoor fresh produce vending carts as part of the Philadelphia Health Department’s Healthy Foods Initiative. There is no food market in the area that sells fresh vegetables and meats.)
· Mixed use (top floor residential housing—perhaps a combination of condos and rental units)
· Professional offices (Accounting, legal, insurance, and/or real estate offices)
· WiFi and computer science center
Phase 1: Initial Planning Stage
The first phase of the Town Hall Project will focus on identifying and bringing together a development team that will include real estate owners/developers, a real estate finance packaging professional, architects, representatives from the Germantown Historical Society, representatives from Philadelphia, La Salle, and Drexel Universities and other leading community stakeholders. The first task for the Development Team will be to create a predevelopment plan that will do the following:
· Secure site control of Town Hall. To that end, the Town Hall Project will seek an option to purchase the site from the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation with a two-year period to exercise the option.
· Simultaneously, the Development Team will consider a community assessment that measures residents’ reactions to and suggestions for the intended uses of Town Hall.
· Determine the predevelopment costs and potential resources to fund such costs.
· Do feasibility analysis for attracting a funding source during both the predevelopment and development stage.
· Determine the cost of development that includes an environmental assessment and remediation/removal of asbestos in the building, an assessment of zoning and parking requirements, and the requirements for accessibility by disabled persons.
· Conduct a market study to test the market for proposed economic development venues.
· Identify sources of funding for the full development.
The challenge for the Town Hall Project is to determine ways to redevelop this significant historical building that will not rely solely on grants from public and/or private sources. The challenge also is to develop the building under a cost-effective program that will produce state-of-the-art energy and economic sustainability after lease up, without need for government support. Nevertheless, it is recognized that the significance of Town Hall as a “landmark” for Germantown and for the City of Philadelphia generally cannot be underestimated. Such public value must be considered in determining the various sources that may be available to rescue Town Hall from the abyss of abandonment and neglect.
It is anticipated that the predevelopment planning process will require sufficient time for full collaboration of stakeholders and various institutional entities, together with professionals who understand real estate development, in order to give full and due respect to a creative process. Both the real estate development planning and the program planning will proceed on an interactive and organic plane that allows the ideas for the proposed uses of Town Hall to guide/influence the architectural, historical and structural rehabilitation of the building. Facilitating and driving this planning process will require skill and expertise that the Development Team will seek to acquire either on a pro bono or professional consultative basis.
Initial Development Team Members
John Elliott Churchville, Yvonne Haskins, Michael Spain, Christiana Murray, Claudia Goetz-Phillips, Matt Wysong, Laureen Boles, Stephen Kinsey, Pamela Rich-Wheeler, Laura E. Beardsley, Deborah Gary, Cornelia Swinson and Barbara Hogue
Potential Predevelopment Funders
DEP, EPA, The Knight Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, Pew Charitable Trust, Eagles, 76ers, Comcast, PNC Bank, The William Penn Foundation, 10,000 Friends of PA, Neighborhoods Partnership Program
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