PECO Delaware Station Recommended for Historic Register
Courtesy Eli Pousson
The Philadelphia Historical Commission’s designation committee unanimously recommended yesterday that the former PECO Delaware Station be added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
Two longtime residents submitted the nomination in hope that the towering structure, which looms over Penn Treaty Park, would meet at least six qualifying criteria. The commission agreed that it met five.
John T. Windram, who was behind the Franklin Institute, designed the plant with William Eglin in 1917. It operated as the Delaware Generating Station, a major electrical power plant, until 2004.
Developer Bart Blatstein and Cescaphe Event Group founder Joseph Volpe currently own the location. They bought the 16-acre vacant property, which includes 1,000 feet of the Delaware River waterfront and the pier, for $3 million in May of 2015.
Blatstein and Volpe plan to turn the 223,000 square-foot building on the property into an event space with hotels, a banquet hall and restaurants, according to the Inquirer.
It’s not yet clear how the nomination would affect their projects. Volpe’s representative told Curbed Philly the duo had no plans to demolish the building.
Kevin McMahon, who works at the historical preservation services firm Powers & Company, recently nominated the property for national recognition, according to Curbed Philly, and said his application should be accepted within a few weeks.
The Historical Commission should make an official decision regarding the property, 1325 Beach St., during a July 8th meeting.
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