Now considered one of America's architectural treasures, only the cost of knocking it down once saved Philadelphia's City Hall, celebrating a Centennial anniversary in 2001.
When it was envisioned in 1871, Philadelphia's City Hall was planned as the world's tallest building. When construction finally lumbered to a halt nearly four decades and $25 million later, in 1909, it had been passed in the race to the sky by such other structures as the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument. The enormous building at the center of Broad and Market streets officially opened on January 1, 1901 and celebrates its Centennial anniversary this year.
In 1957, a panel of architects and historians at the American Institute of Architecture named City Hall, the building encrusted with more statuary and sculpture than any other in the United States, as "perhaps the greatest single effort of late 19th-century American architecture." A National Historic landmark, PhiladelphiaÕs City Hall is considered the best - and the most mammoth - example of French Second Empire architecture in America.
But City Hall has not always basked in such lavish praise. Derided over the years as dingy and depressing and downright ugly, the vast edifice was spared the wrecking ball for only one reason: taxpayers balked at the cost of tearing away 88 million bricks. City Hall features enough marble, granite and limestone to cover 18 football fields beneath yards of rubble. As early as 1929, there were plans afoot to demolish all but the tower and turn City Hall into a traffic circle.
The land at Philadelphia's heart served many purposes before City Hall came along. It was a horse-race course and George Washington paraded troops here. The nation's first municipal waterworks, a delightful circular structure was located here until 1829. And, appropriately in many detractor's eyes, a public gallows operated here.
Ground was broken in 1871 and the cornerstone of the great building was laid in Center square, one of William Penn's five original city parks, on Independence Day 1874. When the final block of marble was put in place on the tower 337 feet above the ground (still the world's tallest masonry tower) in March of 1887, City Hall sprawled across 4 1/2 acres. Today, the government center designed by John McArthur is still thought to be the largest municipal building in the land, bigger even than the United States Capitol.
In 1894, William Penn's head was set in place atop his statue on the tower of City Hall. The 37-foot statue by Alexander Milne Calder is the tallest on any building in the world. It was constructed in 14 pieces and placed facing northeast, looking toward the site where Penn negotiated with Indian tribes to obtain the land on which Philadelphia was founded. The 27-ton statue measures 548 feet, 11 inches to the top of PennÕs hat. Calder also created most of the 250 sculptures and carvings at City Hall, working from a large studio in the basement.
For ninety years there was an unwritten height restriction for building in the city of Philadelphia that no structure could be erected higher than "Billy Penn's hat." That prohibition was broken in 1986 with the construction of Liberty Place at nearby 17th and Market streets, which soared some 400 feet over William Penn.
Everything at City Hall was designed to be built on a massive scale. The clocks are larger than those on the clock tower of the House of Parliament in London, familiarly known as "Big Ben." The minute hand on the 26-foot clock alone weighs 225 pounds. Originally driven by compressed air, the clock kept such accurate time that for years the clock tower lights were turned off at 8:57 each night so that people could set their watches to 9:00 p.m. when the lights reappeared.
Inside there are seven complete floors and two partial floors above street level and three floors below. The tower has 22 levels. Some of the most striking architectural features of City Hall are cantilevered stairways in each corner that spiral up six stories and appear to be free-floating. The stairs are built from flawlessly cut slabs of Georgia granite.
Among City Hall's more than 650 rooms are several standout examples of the opulent Gilded Age in which they were constructed, chief among them being the MayorÕs Reception Room, Conversation Hall, City Council chambers and caucus room and the state Supreme Court chambers. ornate ceilings, alabaster walls, mosaic floors and spreading chandeliers abound. The huge bronze-and-brass chandelier in the Mayor's Reception Room is particularly memorable.
Through the years, City Hall has inspired a number of stunts. In October 1926 Harry "the Human Fly" Gardiner climbed the 548 feet to the top of the tower in 2 hours and 10 minutes. In May 1939, Philadelphia Phillies catcher Dave Coble attempted to catch a baseball tossed from the observation tower under William Penn's statue. He missed the first eight and finally caught the ninth. In the rare instance when a Philadelphia sports team wins a championship, it is not unheard of to wake up and find Billy Penn sporting a baseball cap or giant team jersey.
The building was dirty before it was even opened and maintenance has been the unwieldly buildingÕs chief hindrance. When a roof was repaired in 1993, 37 tons of bird guano were removed. Now that City Hall has made it to 100 years of age, it is scheduled to undergo a total restoration at the cost of $347 million. Once reviled, its admirers are now determined it last another 100 years as the magnificent showcase it is.
Guided tours of Philadelphia's City Hall are offered to the public.
