Broadway stars and orchestral players might lead budding Philadelphia musical talent in master classes, and new college internships could open up at the city’s largest performing arts producer and presenter.
As Temple University prepares to establish an outpost in Philadelphia’s major arts district, the school, and Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts have signed a memorandum of understanding for a new partnership, formalizing a dream stage for joint activities already underway.
The new arrangement is expected to benefit not only Temple University students, but also younger students of Temple Music Prep and the Philadelphia School District.
Temple and the orchestra have long partnered on projects, but the university’s purchase of Terra Hall — near the orchestra and Kimmel Center — will allow a deeper level of involvement, leaders said.
In the fall of 2027, for instance, about three dozen Philadelphia Orchestra current and retired musicians are expected to move their teaching studios from Temple’s main campus to Terra. Other collaborations are expected to take shape over the next year and half.
“The gist of it is, Temple University and the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts are committed to working together to build a tangible partnership. It’s aspirational,” said POEA president and CEO Ryan Fleur of the memorandum of understanding, which was signed last month.
“There’s a lot around the exchange of talent and supporting one another,” said Temple president John Fry.
Terra Hall – shown here with other former University of the Arts buildings – is near the Academy of Music and Kimmel Center.
For POEA, the partnership means it will no longer pursue the possibility of building an additional education wing at the Kimmel Center that had been in the early planning stages.
“When I heard Temple was acquiring Terra Hall,” said Fleur, “the priority shifted from the idea of an education wing over the loading dock to how we could work with Temple to deploy the space in Terra Hall. Our greatest strength is not about building things, and if we unite in Terra Hall for the benefit of Philadelphia students, it’s a win for Philly.”
An education annex at the Kimmel might have cost in the neighborhood of $100 million.
“It was a large figure,” said Fleur. POEA is already in the process of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for a variety of needs from endowment to repairing and renovating its facilities, which include Marian Anderson Hall, the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts on North Broad Street, where Temple University has established a presence in PAFA’s Hamilton building (on right).
Temple has been establishing a series of partnerships south down Broad Street from its main North Philadelphia campus. It has leased space at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and is developing programs there, and is in the process of taking over the Library Company of Philadelphia, on Locust Street just east of Broad.
It acquired Terra Hall in 2025 for $18 million after the abrupt bankruptcy and closing of the University of the Arts. Terra was already outfitted with practice rooms, a recording studio, performance space, a dance studio, and classrooms.
Fry said that Temple is currently doing work on the Terra building, with particular attention to the foundation and elevators, and that the major part of renovations would be done by September 2027. But he said that some of the spaces will be usable this fall.
Both POEA and Temple have existing relationships with the Philadelphia School District. Fleur said the next step is “uniting” the efforts among the three. Fry said Temple was in discussions with other arts organizations as potential partners in Terra Hall.
“We want people to think of this as a public resource,” he said, “not a closed academic building just for Temple. Where Temple can play a role, we want to be a part of that.”
No matter what folks in Boston tell you, Philadelphia is America’s most historic big city. So why is architectural preservation increasingly under attack here, especially as Philadelphia gets ready for its star turn in the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations?
The movement to protect Philadelphia’s rich and varied architectural heritage was thrown into disarray Feb. 26 when a Court of Common Pleas judge invalidated the historic district created in 2024 to protect Washington Square West, a neighborhood that includes both Colonial-era masterpieces and nationally important infill buildings from the 1960s urban renewal period.
Judge Christopher R. Hall’s decision primarily focused on procedural issues and could be reversed if it’s appealed. Yet it is just one of several existential threats facing the preservation regimen that has guided the city for the last 40 years.
His decision is likely to encourage a group of developers who are challenging the Spruce Hill historic district, which also was created in 2024. It could similarly embolden Councilmember Mark Squilla, a former preservation champion who once created a controversial zoning carve-out to protect a one-story supermarket in Society Hill. Having jumped on the anti-preservation bandwagon, he’s now pushing legislation that many believe would gut the powers of the Historical Commission.
While the issues driving each of these challenges vary, it’s no accident that they’re happening at a time when people are increasingly concerned about rising housing costs. For years, pro-development activists have argued that there is a link between the city’s historic preservation laws and the scarcity of affordable housing. By adding an extra layer of regulation, they contend, those laws restrict where people can build, limit new construction, and raise maintenance costs for homeowners.
There’s no doubt that the city’s preservation laws require owners of historic properties to go through an extra step in the approval process. That takes time and can sometimes add to the cost of a project.
Yet it seems odd that pro-development activists have cast historic preservation as the main villain when so many factors influence the city’s housing supply: zoning regulations, interest rates, availability of labor, cost of construction materials. President Donald Trump’s tariffs alone sent the price of lumber soaring in the last year.
In an effort to put things in perspective, the nonprofit Preservation Alliance recently commissioned an economic analysis to explore its impact on housing prices. The report made two interesting observations: Apartments in older buildings rent for less than those in new ones. And protecting those older buildings actually helps maintain a supply of “naturally occurring affordable housing.”
The study, prepared by the Washington-based Place Economics, also examined claims that historic districts are enclaves for the wealthy and exclude renters. Data show the opposite: Historic districts continue to gain new residents long after they been designated. In fact, between 2010 and 2020, the population of Philadelphia’s historic districts grew almost five times as fast as the city as a whole, which suggests new housing is being built despite the additional oversight.
Not all that construction takes the form of new buildings, however. Even in the best of economic times, erecting a new apartment building in Philadelphia is far more expensive than fixing up an old one. As a result, the city has come to rely on older buildings to provide new housing. Without them, Philadelphia would be a much less affordable place.
In the past, the city’s obsolete offices and factories were the main targets for housing conversion. Those buildings are relatively easy to adapt because they have large, rectangular footprints.
But what about smaller, more irregularly shaped historic buildings? Are the city’s preservation and zoning laws flexible enough to allow more density in old townhouses, which, after all, constitute the bulk of Philadelphia building stock?
This sprawling complex of 19th-century buildings at 15th and Waverly Streets is being converted to a 32-unit apartment building by Lo Design for developer Keith Alliotts. By installing a penthouse level over the former stable (rear left), the architects will be able to improve the interior circulation and increase the density.
Converting townhouses into apartments
To understand the role those buildings can play in the great Yimby-Nimby debates, I reached out to Lea and Evan Litvin, who run Lo Design, an award-winning firm that has its offices in the Rittenhouse-Fitler historic district. Lo Design started out doing single-family homes for developers, but lately they’ve taken on commissions to turn large townhouses into apartments.
Small conversions are more labor-intensive than erecting a new townhouse on an empty site, but they allow the Litvins to do work that aligns with their architectural ideals. The conversions create more housing for less money, using fewer natural resources. “Saving an old building is the most sustainable form of construction,” Evan explained.
Since Philadelphia’s historic townhouses were never meant for multiple tenants, and often have awkward layouts, the Litvins have developed architectural tricks to make them function as apartment buildings. Sometimes that means attaching a new wing on the back. In other cases, they’ve built freestanding structures in backyards.
Their current project at 15th and Waverly Streets used a little of everything to transform a historic Greek Revival mansion into a 32-unit building.
The brick building began its life in 1860 as a private home, complete with a stable. At some point, someone popped on a mansard roof to create a fourth story and added wings on the sides. Then, in the early 20th century, the mansion, stable, and a neighboring townhouse were fused into a single building that served as offices for what was then known as the Society to Protect Children from Cruelty.
For the project’s developer, Keith Alliotts, the building’s main attraction was its size — 26,000 square feet, significantly larger than a typical townhouse, which might be 6,000 square feet. He also liked that the location, a few steps from the former University of the Arts’ Hamilton Hall, felt like part of the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood.
Yet the challenges of transforming the awkward amalgamation into a coherent, multifamily residence soon became clear. None of the floors in the different buildings lined up. The U-shaped footprint complicated the flow through the building. The interior was a mashup of Victorian and post-modern details. On top of everything else, the project would need a zoning variance and approval from the Historical Commission.
Lo Design plans to create an internal courtyard at the center of a new residential building at 15th and Waverly. The project will turn a group of historic 19th-century buildings into a 32-unit apartment building.
Getting those permits turned out to be the easy part, the Litvins said. Because the complex had been empty for years and was starting to deteriorate, the neighborhood enthusiastically embraced the idea of using it for apartments.
From the start, the Litvins knew they would have to expand the already sprawling complex to ensure the apartment layouts weren’t too eccentric. Fortunately, there was a large yard behind the house where they could add a new wing to turn the U into an O. They decided to install a large penthouse on top of the stable and insert several connecting passages to improve the interior circulation.
This diagram shows how LoDesign plans to turn an awkward amalgamation of 19th century buildings at 15th and Waverly Streets into a coherent, multifamily building with 32 apartments. The portions in blue will be added during construction.
While reusing these buildings was no easy feat, the project is a good example of “gentle density.” The neighborhood gets more rental housing, yet the look of the 19th-century mansion remains substantially the same.
By comparison, the first collaboration between the Litvins and Alliotts was a breeze. Alliotts had spent most of his career developing single-family housing in North Jersey before “discovering” Philadelphia during the pandemic. Coming from such a pricey environment, he said, “I was really taken aback by the city’s affordability.” After studying the market here, he fell for an early 20th-century brownstone on the 2000 block of West Girard Avenue in Francisville.
The townhouse could have been torn down
Despite the house’s impressive architecture, it wasn’t listed on the city’s historic register. That meant Alliotts could have demolished the building for something new, an approach taken by several other developers on that once-elegant stretch of Girard Avenue.
Alliotts liked the house too much to destroy it. And since the site was unusually deep, he knew he could fit the equivalent of a second house in the yard. But rather than build another stand-alone house, he asked the Litvins to fit a 12-unit condo building in the same space. Alliotts envisioned the condos — now called The Francis — as starter homes, so he wanted to keep the prices below $300,000 for a two-bedroom unit.
Still, 12 units is a lot of density, even for a generous townhouse yard that was 200 by 31 feet. By making a donation to the city’s Housing Trust Fund, Alliotts was able to get a zoning bonus that allowed him to raise the structure’s height to 45 feet, enough for a fourth story.
To avoid jamming the new, metal-clad building against the old brownstone, the Litvins decided to push the condos toward Cambridge Street, which was once a service street lined with carriage houses. That gave the architects space to create a landscaped courtyard between the two buildings.
Lo Design was able to create nine apartments in the Spring Garden neighborhood by replacing a small garage with a three-unit apartment building in the garden of an early 20th-century townhouse at 2313 Green St. The project’s density was the result of a compromise with neighbors and the Philadelphia Historical Commission.
After the success of the Francis, the Litvins had hoped to replicate the model for a new project at 2313 Green St. in the Spring Garden neighborhood. The main house there had already been divided into five apartments, but the site at 238 feet was even deeper than the Girard Avenue property. They proposed a five-unit stand-alone building in the garden, accessed from alley off Wallace Street.
But this time the Historical Commission and neighbors rejected the proposal.
So, the Litvins reduced the size of the building and turned it into a carriage-house-sized structure with three units. They offset the loss of units by adding a sixth apartment to the main house for a total of nine units.
The garage on the right will be replaced by a three-unit building that is part of the redevelopment of 2313 Green St. It will be accessed through an alley off Wallace Street in the Spring Garden neighborhood.
Some preservation opponents may see the outcome as an example of the nickel-and-diming that occurs when developers attempt to add density to historic properties.
But the fact that a former single-family house will soon accommodate nine apartments reveals the untapped density in Philadelphia’s historic buildings. These conversions prove more housing can be created without sacrificing the city’s heritage.
Noel Mayo, 88, formerly of Philadelphia, widely recognized as the first Black owner of an American industrial design firm, first Black American college chair of an industrial design department, first Black industrial design graduate of Philadelphia College of Art, award-winning super mentor, and champion of professional diversity, equity, and inclusion, died Thursday, Jan. 29, of a probable heart attack at an assisted living center in Delaware County.
Rejected for an industrial design job after college because he was Black, Professor Mayo went on to found Noel Mayo Associates Inc.in Philadelphia in 1964. He spent 11 years in the late 1970s and ’80s as a professor and first Black chair of the industrial design department at what became the now-defunct University of the Arts, and 27 years, from 1989 to 2016, as a governor-appointed eminent scholar in art and design technology at Ohio State University.
“Dr. Mayo leaves behind a transformative legacy,” former colleagues at Ohio State said in a tribute,“whose impact shaped generations of students, elevated the field of design, and advanced diversity and inclusion across the profession.”
As the trailblazing owner and president of Noel Mayo Associates for decades, he and his staff designed all kinds of products, interiors, exteriors, graphics, mobile exhibits, and signage systems for companies and private clients around the world. He worked with NASA, IBM, Black & Decker, Philadelphia International Airport, museums, government agencies, and public institutions.
He collaborated with Lutron Electronics for 45 years and is named on hundreds of its design and utility patents. In 1984, he remodeled the mayor’s City Hall office after Wilson Goode replaced Bill Green. In 1988, he advised officials at the old Spectrum on the placement of a Julius Erving statue in South Philadelphia.
He designed computer-driven telephones in the 1980s that could dial 96 phone numbers automatically and leave messages. “I realize how pressured this is,” he told the Daily News for a 1984 story about design and technology’s effect on modern life. “But people want it.”
Professor Mayo was featured in a 1977 story by Inquirer design critic Ellen Kaye, and she praised the “visual fluidity” he created in a refurbished Bala Cynwyd high-rise condo. She wrote about his work again in 1978, and he said design “revolves around problem-solving from a logical point of view.”
In a 1995 story, Inquirer design critic Thomas Hine noted his commercial success with early light-dimmer switches and said it “helped Lutron to transform itself from a small manufacturer to an important name in its industry.” In a recent video interview, Professor Mayo said: “I see the problems as kind of opportunities that other people didn’t see. … So I look for opportunities for innovation.”
Professor Mayo was featured in The Inquirer in 1995.
As chair at Philadelphia College of Art and its successor, University of the Arts, he grew the industrial design department from the school’s ninth largest to its third largest. In online tributes, former students called him “a true icon” and “a doorway into a world of possibility, dignity, and community.”
He told The Inquirer in 1978: “Something looks good when it looks rational. That is how I work myself, and that is what I try to teach my students.”
At Ohio State, Professor Mayo taught product, interior, and graphic design courses, and researched accelerated learning processes using music, color, relaxation techniques, interactive computers, and video. Former colleagues there praised “his blend of rigor, generosity, calmness, and mentorship” in a tribute.
Professor Mayo worked hard to recruit Black and other minority designers and students to his company and college courses. He created mentoring programs and developed an extensive network of minority business contacts.
He was one-time president of the Philadelphia Economic Council and the Greater Philadelphia Community Development Corp. He wrote articles for many publications and served on boards at University of the Arts, the Society for Environmental Graphic Design, and other groups.
He was a fellow of the Interior Design Council of Philadelphia, a juror for art and design competitions, and a member of the Philadelphia Art Commission. Asked to advise young designers in the recent video interview, he said: “Try to be as innovative as you can. … Ask questions. … Being open is critical.”
Noel Mayo was born Dec. 30, 1937, in Orange, N.J. He attended a boarding school in Chester County and earned a bachelor’s degree in design in 1960 at what became Philadelphia College of Art and then University of the Arts.
Professor Mayo designed this exterior.
He married, divorced, and later married Leslie Butler.
Professor Mayo enjoyed roller skating, was good at darts, and earned an honorary doctorate from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
“He was easygoing with a great sense of humor,” said Virginia Gehshan, a design colleague and longtime friend. “He was really an amazing genius. He was ahead of his time.”
In addition to his wife, Professor Mayo is survived by other relatives.
A celebration of his life is to be held later.
Professor Mayo received the Design Pioneer Award in 2019.
Moore College of Art and Design will consider opening its undergraduate programs to men for the first time in its 177-year history.
The Philadelphia school, which touts its role as “the first and only historically visual arts college for women in the nation,” cited the need to make arts programs more accessible in the region and the expected national decline in the available pool of high school graduates.
The college, which enrolls about 500 students, will study and discuss with its community the prospect of admitting men over the next four months and make a decision by June, the school announced in emails to alumni, faculty, and students Monday. If the school decides to admit all genders, the first class admitted would be for 2027.
“We will explore all of this together in an inclusive way for students, faculty, staff, and alumni,” wrote Moore president Cathy Young and Frances Graham and Art Block, chairs of the school’s board of trustees and board of managers, respectively. “Your voices are essential. No decision has been made at this time. The boards want your feedback.”
Moore College of Art and Design president Cathy Young.
If Moore goes coed, Bryn Mawr College would be the only remaining women’s school in the Philadelphia region. (In Allentown, Cedar Crest College remains primarily a women’s college.)
Several other colleges in the region that were formerly for women have gone coed over the last decades, including Rosemont on Philadelphia’s Main Line in 2008, Immaculata University in Chester County in 2005, and Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia in 2003.
Nationally, the number of women’s colleges has been declining from a high of over 200 to just 31 as of 2022, according to a 2025 report by the Pew Research Center.
It wouldn’t be the first change in Moore’s admissions policy in recent years.
In 2015, Moore began admitting “all qualified students who live as women and who consistently identify as women at the time of application.”
Then in 2020, Moore also began accepting nonbinary and gender-nonconforming students. Since then, the number of those students has been growing. They made up 6% of the first freshman class under the new policy in 2021. By fall 2022, they accounted for 21%, and by fall 2023, 26%. Last fall, that grew to one-third of the freshman class.
Moore’s graduate programs and most of its continuing education programs already include men.
Moore officials said they are making the decision from a position of financial and academic “strength.” The school has had operating surpluses for the last 24 consecutive years, a school spokesperson said. Many small schools have faced financial strain in recent years, but Moore fared among the top small private colleges in the Philadelphia region for financial health in a 2024 Inquirer review.
Moore’s net tuition climbed from $10.8 million to $12.7 million in fiscal 2024 and to $16.5 million in fiscal 2025, financial records show. The school also saw a big gain in private gifts and grants last year to $2.2 million, up from $885,383 the year before.
This year’s enrollment is the school’s second highest behind fall 2024, when the college accepted 112 students from the University of the Arts, which abruptly closed in June 2024. The school also took 12 students that year from the Delaware College of Art and Design, which closed that year, too.
Moore opened a new residence hall in Rittenhouse Square last fall, which is just a seven-minute walk from campus and will allow the school to guarantee students housing for all four years.
In announcing the possibility of accepting all genders, Moore officials noted UArts’ closure and the end of degree-granting programs at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
“There is a void in Philadelphia’s higher ed creative landscape, and that begs the question: Shouldn’t all creatives, regardless of gender, have access to Moore …” they wrote. “The answer doesn’t have to be “yes,” but it is our responsibility to explore it.”
College surveys of applicants have shown that the school’s status as a women’s college isn’t a big draw. Only 6% cited it as important to their decision out of 885 survey respondents over the last dozen years, the school said. Meanwhile, a quarter said it was one of the important reasons they didn’t choose Moore.
Moore officials also cited the expected drop in the high school graduate population beginning this year because of declining birth rates. A decline of 10% is expected by 2037, they noted.
“There are simply fewer students,” they wrote. “No responsible institution can ignore factors like these. And we won’t.”
They said they will discuss ways “to preserve and activate in new ways” Moore’s history and legacy as part of the exploration.
Between February and April, Moore plans to host about 20 sessions for faculty, staff, and alumni to share their thoughts, as well as providing an opportunity for online comments.
Staff writer Harold Brubaker contributed to this article.
Carla Washington Hines, 72, of Philadelphia, longtime dancer, pioneering choreographer, celebrated teacher, former artistic director, collaborator extraordinaire, and mentor, died Sunday, Nov. 2, of sepsis at Temple University Hospital-Jeanes Campus.
Mrs. Hines came to Philadelphia from Virginia in 1974 after college and spent the next four decades dancing, teaching, lecturing, traveling, and generally advocating for arts in education from kindergarten through college. She danced with the Sun Ra Arkestra, the John Hines Dance Co., and other troupes at all sorts of venues in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, elsewhere in the United States, and throughout Europe.
She choreographed original performances such as “Montage in Black,” “Reflections,” and “Life Cycle,” and collaborated with notable jazz musicians Herbie Hancock and Alice Coltrane, and other musical stars. She was a guest on TV and radio shows, read poetry at public events, and earned awards from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Philadelphia-based Bartol Foundation for education.
She was an expert in jazz dance, modern dance, ballet, and posture, and she lectured, organized workshops, and taught the elements of dance and choreographic principles at schools, colleges, art centers, drama guilds, libraries, and elsewhere around the country. Her mother, Thelma, was a dancer and teacher, too, and Mrs. Hines championed the connection between an interest in the arts and academic success.
“In dance, I can be anything I want to be,” she said in an online interview. “That’s the magic of the arts.”
She created an afterschool residency at a Universal charter school and taught dance at E.M. Stanton Elementary School, Strawberry Mansion High School, and other schools. She said in the online interview that her curriculum “is based on the appreciation of dance and movement,” and that it helps students “make sense of their lives using dance as a tool for learning.”
She said: “I want them to be able to understand through movement exploration how dance can change one’s life.”
She was artistic director for the Philadelphia chapter of the Institute for the Arts in Education and at thePoint Breeze Performing Arts Center. “Her creative guidance helped students tell powerful cultural stories through movement,” her family said.
Mrs. Hines performed with the Jones-Haywood Dance School in Washington before moving to Philadelphia.
As longtime community engagement manager for the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, Mrs. Hines wrote grants and choreographed performances. She was executive director of the John Coltrane Cultural Society and active at the old University of the Arts.
Her family said: “She devoted her life to creativity and to nurturing talent in others.”
Carla Yvette Washington was born Nov. 3, 1952, in Charleston, W.Va. Her family moved to Grambling, La., when she was young, and she graduated from high school in 1970.
She was named Miss Freshman at what is now Grambling State University, joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. sorority, and earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation in 1973. In 1981, she earned a master’s degree in fine arts and dance at the old Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts.
Mrs. Hines (left) smiles with her husband, Lovett, and their daughter, Zara.
She worked as a dance teacher for the Fairfax County Department of Recreation in Virginia after college and performed with the Jones-Haywood Dance School in Washington before moving to Philadelphia.
She met jazz musician Lovett Hines Jr. when they were students at Grambling and they married in 1984 and lived in West Oak Lane. They had a daughter, Zara, and Mrs. Hines welcomed her husband’s son, Lovett III, and his family into her family.
“She introduced many creatives to dance and culture, and sparked their creative careers,” her stepson said. “That is the essence of her legacy.”
Mrs. Hines and her husband, their daughter said, were “a partnership of two geniuses.” He played the saxophone and was artistic director at the Clef Club. She loved the drums, and they collaborated seamlessly on many notable projects.
Friends called her “a sweetheart” and “a beautiful soul” in online tributes. One said she “made an impact on Philadelphia and beyond in countless ways.” Her sister, Alicia Williams, said: “Everyone had a special relationship with her.”
Mrs. Hines graduated from Grambling High School in Louisiana in 1970.
Mrs. Hines was diagnosed with a lung disease in 2024 and Stage 4 cancer in 2025. “She was stern but soft,” her daughter said, “loving but able to tell you like it is.”
Her husband said: “She had special relationships with so many musicians, so many people. It was through insight, understanding, and patience. In them, we see her everyplace, feel her everyplace.”
In addition to her husband, daughter, mother, and stepson, Mrs. Hines is survived by three sisters, two step-grandsons, and other relatives. A brother died earlier.
Services were held Wednesday, Dec. 17.
Mrs. Hines (center) said she adapted her teaching techniques to suit the needs and ages of the students.
Temple University last month bought a vacant property at the site of a former McDonald’s near its North Philadelphia campus for $8 million, according to property records.
The university is still developing plans for the 48,640 square-foot lot at 1201-1219 N. Broad St., by Girard Avenue, a spokesperson said.
It’s adjacent to the Temple Sports Complex, which features two fields for soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey. That location “provides an opportunity to implement the vision of our campus safety and physical environment plan,” Steve Orbanek said.
Temple’s latest acquisition comes as the university has expanded its footprint in recent months along Broad Street.
In early 2025 the university paid $18 million for Terra Hall, a former University of the Arts building on South Broad Street. The building will be Temple’s Center City campus. And last fall Temple bought jazz bar New Barber’s Hall on Oxford Street for $2.3 million, the Business Journal reported.
Lush landscaping and public art will soon line Broad Street, impromptu performances may pop up, and vehicular traffic will be calmed with a new Avenue of the Arts south streetscape about to take shape.
The project — estimated to take $150 million and a decade to realize — will begin modestly.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday morning in front of the Kimmel Center and was attended by more than 200 dignitaries, including Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, and other members of City Council, state representatives, and officials from groups along the Avenue of the Arts.
The actual construction is slated to start at the end of January on a small portion of the project: remaking the median strip between Spruce and Pine Streets. That phase is expected to be completed by June.
In 2027, after the end of an anticipated swell in tourism and street activity during the Semiquincentennial, sidewalk beautification will begin on both the east and west sides of that block.
Eventually, pending funding, all of the blocks between City Hall and Washington Avenue will be remade.
Looking north toward City Hall, a rendering shows the completed first phase of a South Broad Street streetscape project slated to break ground in January 2026.
The current streetscape of planters, pavers, and retro light fixtures was designed and installed more than three decades ago. In addition to the wear and tear of the existing scheme, the thinking around public space has evolved since then, said Carl Dranoff, board chair of Avenue of the Arts, Inc., which is overseeing the project.
“It’s become somewhat aged and dog-eared,” said Dranoff. “In 1993 you didn’t need to have outdoor cafes. We need to activate the street, not just make it palatable. We have the opportunity to really elevate the Avenue of the Arts into one of the world’s great streets.”
The project was announced in July 2024 at $100 million, but inflation and a more detailed cost analysis has now put the total price tag at about $150 million — $15 million per block. These numbers include not just the planters, lighting, public art, street furniture, and aesthetic elements, but also infrastructure work beneath the surface, said Dranoff.
“A lot of it is things you don’t see. There’s a lot of underground construction,” he said. “Right now water is leaking from the median strip into the subway concourse. One of the reasons we got support from SEPTA and PennDot and [the Philadelphia] Streets [Dept.], is as we are building the median strips, we are improving deficiencies in the street in each block.”
In addition, some utilities will have to be moved. One PECO relocation, for instance, will cost the project $250,000, he said.
Dranoff has a vested interest in the vitality of the Avenue of the Arts. He has led several development projects on South Broad Street, including Arthaus, which is on the same block as the first phase of the new streetscape, and, one block south, Symphony House. He compares the investment in the new streetscape to the ones made in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia Navy Yard, Kimmel Center, and Schuylkill River Trail.
“If we don’t make investments in the future, which are going to increase revenue and population, we are relegating ourselves to second-place status.”
The new $15 million streetscape in the block from Spruce to Pine, which includes a $1 million endowment fund to underwrite maintenance, native-species plants, a rainwater-collection cistern, lighting, curved raised planting beds, public art, seating, way-finding devices, and artist-designed banners.
Of the $15 million needed, $5 million has been raised so far: $3 million from the city over two budget years, $1 million from the state, and $1 million from private donors. Other funding requests are pending, which planners call “very promising.”
A sidewalk garden on the east side of Broad Street between Pine and Spruce Streets is planned for installation in 2027 as part of a new Avenue of the Arts streetscape.
Dranoff says that construction of the median between Spruce and Pine — which is the block occupied by the Kimmel Center and defunct University of the Arts — won’t cause “a lot of disruption. They’re only working business hours, not on weekends.” Any blocked lanes will be reopened after work is done for the day, he said.
The next block to be redesigned hasn’t been decided, but it will likely be north of Spruce Street, Dranoff said. “Part of it will depend on funding. If we get a donor, someone whose offices are near the Academy of Music and is donating $15 million for that block to be next, we might accommodate that,” he said.
Funding for the entire project is expected to be a mix of public money, corporate and individual donations, and foundation support, he said.
The goal isn’t to have the mile-plus between City Hall and Washington Avenue end up with a streetscape that looks uniform, Dranoff said. Instead, design firms Gensler and OJB Landscape Architecture may come up with different ideas for different blocks.
“You don’t need a master plan that’s set for 10 blocks. Every block is different, the institutions are different. It lends itself to block-by-block planning tied together by a common theme.”
Dranoff said once the block from Spruce to Pine is done, it will show the potential, which he expects will spur fundraising to complete the streetscape for the entire Avenue of the Arts south.
“The difference between now and the first block being finished is, you’re going to be driving down a tree-lined boulevard.”
The article has been updated with details from the groundbreaking ceremony.
Pennsylvania’s fledgling State Board of Higher Education on Thursday rolled out itsfirst strategic plan, setting goals addressing affordability, increased degree attainment, the state’s workforce and economic development needs, and the fiscal health of colleges.
The board voted unanimously to post the 10-year plan for public comment.It will consider adoption in February.
“The plan will strengthen partnerships, break down silos, and enable effective reinvestment in the sector,” Cynthia Shapira, chair of the board, said in a statement introducing the plan.
It comes as the sector faces perhaps its greatest challenge in decades. Both private and public universities have been losing enrollment as the number of high school graduates falls — with another dip beginning next year and a 12% decline expected in Pennsylvania by 2037. Public trust in colleges has faltered, while concerns about cost and student debt have mounted.
They are also facing scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administrationand a forecasted gap in workers who require a postsecondary credential in essential areas, such as healthcare, teaching, and advanced manufacturing.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees the state’s 10 universities, endorsed the plan’s emphasis on collaboration across private and public colleges and universities.
“Within our own system, we have learned that when universities work together, they can innovate, overcome challenges and better serve students and the Commonwealth,” the system said in a statement. Shapira is also the chair of PASSHE’s board.
The 21-member higher education board includes college presidents, administrators, legislators, and students.It was formed in 2024 by the governor and General Assembly to help public and private colleges work more cohesively and better serve students and the state’s workforce needs. The plan rollout follows public hearings that drew comments from more than 1,200 people, the board said.
The plan outlines the challenges facing the higher education sector including another coming decline in the high school population, financial constraints, and the lack of coordination among institutions. Student debt averages more than $40,000 per student in Pennsylvania, the plan notes.
“Multiple comparative state-level analyses … place Pennsylvania at or near the bottom in terms of affordability, attainment, and state investment per capita,” the report stated. “Adding to these challenges are a large and growing postsecondary workforce credential gap, and a range of closures and mergers that threaten to reduce access to postsecondary education.”
In the Philadelphia region, Cabrini University and the University of the Arts closed in 2024 and Rosemont College announced earlier this year that it would cease operations in 2028 and that Villanova University would purchase its campus. Salus University was merged into Drexel University. Six of Pennsylvania’s state universities were merged into two entities in 2022, and St. Joseph’s University absorbed the University of the Sciences the same year.
Other local colleges have struggled with enrollment declines and deficits. Temple University, for example, has gone from more than 40,000 students in 2017 to less than 30,000 this year.
What are the specific goals in the plan?
The new plan set six goals:
Increase postsecondary attainment.
Ensure affordable pathways to postsecondary credentials.
Support the economic development needs of the state.
Support the workforce development needs of the state.
Ensure accountability and efficient use of state funds.
Strengthen the fiscal health and stability of the higher education sector.
How will the board work toward those goals?
To meet the goals, the board proposes a “strategic communications plan” that touts the benefits of postsecondary education and how it impacts employment outcomes.
It also emphasizes expanding funding for dual credit programs and enrollment in those programs to streamline the path from high school to college and allow students to accumulate more credits before they graduate high school. In addition, the plan proposes studying how to improve retention rates and focusing on reenrolling adults who started college but didn’t finish; there are more than 1.1 million Pennsylvanians with some college experience.
Among its plans for addressing affordability are support of policies that “expand financial aid and forgive debt for in-demand, high-quality credentials,” take advantage of new federal Pell grants for workforce programs, and boost access to “open educational resources” to reduce the cost of course materials.
The report also discusses the intent to “maximize the impact of research universities,” recruit out-of-state students to broaden the talent pool, and increase access to paid work experiences for students.
To promote fiscal health, the plan recommends identifying and promoting best practices for fiscal efficiency and cost savings, and developing resources and an advisory group to help financially struggling colleges.
“If institutions decide to close or merge, tools and expertise to assist in this process will help maximize savings, retain access to critical academic programming, and mitigate negative effects on students and communities,” the plan states.
Another advisory group is recommended to help communities where colleges close maintain access to postsecondary education.
What comes next?
After the public comment period and the plan’s final adoption, the board intends to report annually on progress toward the goals and to consider revisions to the plan every five years.
Aaron Goldblatt, 70, of Philadelphia, award-winning museum services partner emeritus at Metcalfe Architecture & Design, former vice president for exhibits at the Please Touch Museum, exhibit designer, sculptor, adventurer, and mentor, died Sunday, Dec. 7, of lung cancer at his home.
He joined business partner Alan Metcalfe in 2002 and specialized in constructing canopy walks, glass floors, elevated walkways, net bridges, abstract playgrounds, multimedia exhibits, and other unique designs in prominent locations. Visitors encounter their creations at the Museum of the American Revolution, the Independence Seaport Museum, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pa., and the Whiting Forest at Dow Gardens in Michigan.
He and colleagues built the Lorax Loft on the Trail of the Lorax at the Philadelphia Zoo, the innovative garden and playground at Abington Friends School, and the lobby at Wissahickon Charter School. At Morris Arboretum, they built the celebrated Out on a Limb and Squirrel Scramble “treetop experiences” that Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron called “an irresistible allure, to young and old alike.”
He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sculpture, hitchhiked from adventure to adventure around the country and South America after high school, and said in 2019 that “learning, laughter, and creating genuine connections between people, nature, and history … really inspire my design.”
Play, he said, is one of those genuine connections. “Wherever people are, as long as they are there long enough, play will happen,” he said in 2019. “It happens in schools, museums, and even prisons. Play is fundamental to being human.”
Together, Mr. Goldblatt, Metcalfe, and their colleagues earned design awards from the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the American Association of Museums, and other groups. In 2022, they earned the Wyck-Strickland Award from the historic Wyck house, garden, and farm for outstanding contributions to the cultural life of Philadelphia.
In a tribute, colleagues at Metcalfe said Mr. Goldblatt “transformed our studio into the place we are today.” They said: “His generosity, wisdom, and passion for play emanated throughout every conversation, punctuated only by his wit and sense of humor.”
This photo and story about Mr. Goldblatt appeared in the Daily News in 2013.
From 1990 to 2002, he designed and developed exhibits at the Please Touch Museum. Earlier, he was director of exhibits for the Academy of Natural Sciences, assistant director at the Wagner Free Institute of Science, and studio assistant to sculptor Alice Aycock and other artists.
He helped design the Rail Park and was a cofounder and longtime board member of Friends of the Rail Park. He served on boards at the Print Center, the Wagner Free Institute of Science, and other groups, and taught postgraduate museum studies at the University of the Arts for 20 years.
“He developed a love of the process and philosophy of building,” said his daughter, Lillian. His wife, Susan Hagen, said: “He was always engaged, always asking questions. He was curious, funny, and extremely smart.”
Friends called him “lovely, smart, and witty” and “warm, wise, and creative” in Facebook tributes. One friend said: “He always had a spark.”
Aaron Shlomo Goldblatt was born March 22, 1955, in Cleveland. His father was in the Army, and Mr. Goldblatt grew up on military bases across the country and in Germany.
Mr. Goldblatt and his wife, Susan Hagen, married in 2023.
He graduated from high school in Maryland and earned his bachelor’s degree at Philadelphia College of Art in 1982 and master’s degree at Rutgers University in 1990. Before settling in Philadelphia, he worked on farms, painted houses, and spent time as a carpenter, a welder, and a potter.
He married Diane Pontius, and they had a daughter, Lilly. After a divorce, he married Laura Foster. She died in 2019. He married fellow artist Susan Hagen in 2023, and they lived in Spring Garden.
An engaging storyteller and talented cook, Mr. Goldblatt enjoyed all kinds of art, music, and books. He watched foreign films, wrote letters to politicians and the editor of The Inquirer, and visited the Reading Terminal Market as often as possible. He and his wife started birding during the pandemic.
“Aaron led with his heart, engaging deeply with the people and ideas around him,” his daughter said. “He could burst into song at any moment.”
Mr. Goldblatt smiles with his daughter, Lilly.
His wife said: “He was a family person, and everyone talks about his love and kindness.”
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Goldblatt is survived by a grandson, a sister, a brother, his former wife, and other relatives.
