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PHILAPHILIA: Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week - Century 21 Urban Complex
Well before the proposal of the Philadelphia River City, the same area was the site of another massive multi-building proposition, the Century 21 Complex. This mixed use mega-city within a city, if built, would have changed Philadelphia forever. The project, unlike the River City, wasn't killed by NIMBYs worried about shadows; it faded away without a whimper.
PHILAPHILIA: Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week — Century 21 Urban Complex
A weekly series of foulmouthed investigations into empty lots, dead-ass proposals and other development and design phenomena in Philadelphia. Find more stories like this at philaphilia.blogspot.com.
JFK Boulevard from 20th Street to the Schuylkill River — Well before the proposal of the Philadelphia River City, the same area was the site of another massive multi-building proposition, the Century 21 Complex. This mixed use mega-city within a city, if built, would have changed Philadelphia forever. The project, unlike the River City, wasn't killed by NIMBYs worried about shadows; it faded away without a whimper.
It all began in the 1966, when thoughts were floating around about the upcoming Bicentennial, 10 short years away. The United States Congress formed the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which would plan the nation's celebration, centered around a single exhibition in an American city. Philadelphia, home of the legendary Centennial Exhibition and the disappointing Sesquicentennial Exhibition, submitted plans for a Bicentennial Exhibition, one that would trump them all.
Salivating at the prospect of millions of visitors coming to the city all at once, many local businessmongers came up with pie-in-the-sky hotel plans. Matthew Weinstein, a big time developer and Lower Merion civic booster, was one of them. In 1967, he contacted architect Pietro Belluschi, who had recently designed the famed Rohm & Haas Building, about creating a motor inn in Philadelphia to serve the throngs of humans that were expected to descend upon the city in 1976.
Belluschi said to him, "Mothafucka, if millions of people are coming, why only build a single shitty motor inn? Build an entire complex of buildings instead!! Dumbass!!!" Weinstein was like, "Holy fuck, that's a great idea!!", and quickly assembled a Justice League of regional businessmen that would finance what would be a $200 million project ($1.25 billion in today's dollars). The project was called a number of different names — Kennedy Boulevard Project, Drexel Plaza Project, Kennedy Building Project — but it was most commonly called the Century 21 Complex. Century 21 Complex? This wasn't the 21st Century!!!
The pièce de résistance of the complex would be the Century 21 Hotel, a steel-clad 30-story mega-fortress that would straddle the regional rail tracks next to the Schuylkill River.
The most-planned part of the complex, this hotel would feature a 106-foot skylit atrium, three restraurants on the ground floor, tons of exhibition/banquet space, and a revolving restaurant at the top. It was supposedly modeled after the Hyatt Regency in San Fransisco.
The entire project proved way too overwhelming for architect Belluschi, so he brought in some consultation. Among others, he sought help from Edmund Bacon, Messiah of Philadelphia urban planning/Great Satan of Philadelphia historic preservation. Bacon went apeshit over the idea ... he loved the idea of a private development that would complement the Bicentennial celebration, which he had spent years trying to turn into a World's Fair. He also loved the idea of underground transit connections to a multi-level multi-block mall that would be part of the complex (he had a similar idea for Market East — we all know how that turned out). Bacon pledged to help Belluschi with city-related matters concerning the project, and suggested it connect to a park along the Schuylkill River.
Like the American Commerce Center in 2008, the Century 21 Complex was the most highly anticipated project of 1968. Newspapers, magazines, and the general public couldn't stop talking about it. Drawing after drawing, plan after plan was produced. More consultants and architects were brought in to help.
Then ... kaput. The cabal of megabusinessmen eventually dissolved and the U.S. Congress unrelatedly determined that the Bicentennial celebration would not be hosted by a single city. The only actual thing produced by this proposal was the partnership it created between some of its supporting architects, Yun Sing Jung and Robert Brannen. The partnership still continues to this day as the Boston-based Jung/Brannen firm.
Belluschi would go on to receive fame from designing the iconic Pan Am Building in NYC. Developer Matthew Weinstein went on to build myriad apartment buildings throughout the region, most notably Hopkinson House and Academy House in Center City. As for the western end of JFK Boulevard, the south side is replete with skyscrapers (except for one block), but its north side is still dominated by the regional rail tracks.
Though this probably would have turned out looking like butt, this complex would have been a huge boost that could have prevented some of the troubles the city would have in following decades. The multi-block mall that was part of the complex would have prevented the creation of the shitty Gallery at Market East, saving the many architectural treasures that were destroyed for it. In addition to that, the Schuylkill River Park would have been developed much earlier. This project pre-dates the Logan Square NIMBY, so it could have happened if the dollars and motivation were there. Too bad.
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