The Old Board of Education Building - Philadelphia, PA
N 39° 57.545 W 075° 10.476
18S E 485087 N 4423230
It seems every significant building in this area was built in this neo classical style mixed in with a little Greek Revival. This building, like the half dozen surrounding NRHP sites is comprised of a significant amount of relief work.
Waymark Code: WM6V9J
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 07/22/2009
Views: 7
This building has a significant amount of frieze work curbside, especially on the sides (see close-ups). Most of these sites were built turn of the century, with a few churches being built mid 19th century. They al have one important detail in common: astonishing limestone bas relief work in gorgeous detail and larger than life! This entire area in Philadelphia is truly a work of art. This building was added to the NRHP in 1983.
This building used to be the headquarters for our school district. The architecture is simply amazing, Classical Revival, it matches up nicely with all the other buildings within a 1 block radius. If you look around, there are nearly half a dozen other NRHP sites next to this one. There is the Free LIbrary, the Family Court building, Franklin Institute, two churches, and a host of other spots I had no time to investigate. There is a large inner courtyard which I thought was one of the nicer features of this building. The cornerstone reads 1930 and the building is still as breath taking and beautiful as the day it was built.
Incidentally, just to set the record straight, there are two notable mistakes in the NRHP listing as I am sure it has not been updated in quite some time. Its current function is actually commercial and used for residential housing. The second more obvious mistake is the address. The entrance is actually on Winter Street, between 21st and 22nd streets and nowhere near 21st and the Parkway.
From a web page (source below found in relevant field):
"The original proposal called for a 356-foot/21-floor tower. This great height was denied given the building's proximity to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway."