Meet Our City: the Skyline

We've been home for a while now, and it occurred to me that I really haven't introduced you much to our fair city. I'd like to initiate a new feature of the blog called "Meet Our City," and the first stop will Philly's skyline featured rather prominently in the header of this blog. (To get a better look at the picture, just click on it to enlarge.)

The most prominent feature of Philadelphia's skyline for the longest time was the 37-foot statue of William Penn high atop City Hall. In fact, from 1901-1908 City Hall was the tallest building in the world and remained the tallest structure in Philadelphia until Liberty One took its place in 1987. There was something of an unspoken rule that no building would tower over Billy, and when that gentleman's agreement was broken, the Curse of Billy Penn began. Of course, now that the Phillies have won the World Series, the curse has been broken, but like any good Calvinist, I know such rumors of hexes are nonsense. City Hall was designed by Scottish architect John McArthur, Jr. who, incidentally, also designed the 250-foot tall tower and spire of the church we are members of, Tenth Presbyterian. At that time (1854), Tenth was the tallest building in Philly. But back to City Hall. It has 700 rooms and is the largest municipal building in the US, and in doing some research for this blog I found out something I didn't even know. The observation deck below ol' Billy is free of charge. We'll have to go sometime and get a real bird's eye view of the city at the intersection of her two most famous streets, Broad and Market.

Construction of Liberty One, or One Liberty Place as its actually called, finished in 1987, and I was old enough to remember it in progress. At 945 feet tall, it irrevocably changed the city's horizon, giving it a distinctive look, which has only continued to evolve over time into a highly recognizable city skyline.

Liberty Two stands 848 feet tall and was completed in 1990. Right now the top floors are being converted into super, pricey penthouses one of which our own Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels purchased for himself and his wife.

Last, but certainly not least, the Comcast Building, which was finished while Trey and I were in Scotland now stands the tallest of all the skyscrapers in the city. It is 975 feet tall, the 15th tallest in the US. It was designed to be "green," using 40% less water than a typical office building and reduce the heat-island effect from the sidewalk by 70%. And although I previously stated that I don't believe in curses, Billy Penn or otherwise, a tiny statue of him was mounted to the final and tallest beam of the Comcast Building. Don't believe me? You can read about it here. The strange thing is, the very next season we won.

And there you have it. The current Philly skyline.

PS I apologize for my recent absence. It's been hard to figure out a good time to blog. Bear with me. I'm not going away. Just learning to juggle.

The final beam of the Comcast Building and her patron saint, William Penn.