Divine Lorraine Moves One Step Closer
North Broad Street in April 2015| Photos: James Jennings
Brace yourselves, folks. News regarding the Divine Lorraine is going to come fast and furious until the “groundbreaking” event takes place, hopefully sometime in August. Think of it as Property’s version of “Pope Watch.”
On Tuesday, developer Eric Blumenfeld went before the Architectural Committee of the Historical Commission to present the plans for the historic renovation that’s about to take place at the Grand Old Dame of North Broad Street. PlanPhilly’s Jared Brey reports that the committee voted to approve the overall plans for the project, but had a few suggestions for the man at the center of North Broad’s revival.
That list includes using wood-framed windows on the lower levels and aluminum-framed ones on the upper floors, replacing some of the missing ornamental statues, filling out the base of the building with limestone, ensuring that no heating and cooling mechanics would be visible from public right-of-ways and restoring the iconic sign using neon–which we already know is in the works.
Brey reports that Blumenfeld hopes to have the new sign turned on at the same time the city installs the light masts in the middle of the North Broad Street corridor. The project heads before the full Historical Commission on August 14, so keep it locked for updates.
Committee OKs renovations for Divine Lorraine [PlanPhilly]
- Previous coverage of the Divine Lorraine can be found here.
