December 20, 2023
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'Our Flag Unfurled,' a mural by artist Meg Saligman, was painted on a building in Northern Liberties after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The mural could be moved to a nearby building to make way for a residential property.
Plans to renovate a former warehouse in Northern Liberties may require the repainting of a prominent American flag mural that was added to the building in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Over the past few years, developers have planned renovations to the buildings that comprise the former Philadelphia Warehousing & Cold Storage complex. The property at 500 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd. sits at the southwest edge of Northern Liberties, bounded by Front Street to the west and Spring Garden and Noble streets to the north and south.
"Our Flag Unfurled," the mural painted by artist Meg Saligman, adorns the south wall of one of the buildings and is visible from I-95. Most of the complex was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 2021, meaning alterations require approval by the Philadelphia Historical Commission.
The property's current owner, Aspen Equities, purchased the two-acre complex in 2019 with plans to convert two buildings into storage facilities and three buildings into residences. Building B, the one with the mural, could add 96 apartments through a plan proposed last winter.
Developers have since learned that the eight-story building is in poor condition and would require significant investments to rehabilitate it. In a Dec. 7 letter to the historical commission, the owner wrote that, in addition to significant structural problems, the building doesn't have many windows, and that windows would need to be added to make the property suitable for apartments. Furthermore, some of the best views of the city from Building B would come from adding windows to the mural-adorned south wall.
To solve this dilemma, developers have proposed adding five stories to Building B, bringing the total number of potential apartments to 112, and moving the mural to another building that would maintain its visibility from I-95.
A rendering shows the proposed five-story addition to Building B. The Philadelphia Historical Commission has denied the proposal and given the developers feedback on how to make improvements.
Attempts to repair Building B's structural issues would be too costly to make the project economically feasible without the rental units created by the five-story addition, the owner explained to the historical commission. The owner also said using the building for storage or office space would not justify an investment in rehabilitating the property.
In the years since the complex received historic designation, the owner said he has worked with Mural Arts Philadelphia to discuss the possibility of having "Our Flag Unfurled" repainted on another building. Developers have proposed repainting the mural on Building C's west-facing facade, which they say would maintain the mural's visibility from I-95.
The American flag mural could be moved to the west-facing facade of Building C at the former Philadelphia Warehousing & Cold Storage complex.
Saligman's mural covers about 8,000 square feet. It last received a fresh coat of paint in 2016 and was rededicated that year ahead of the Wawa Welcome America festival and the Democratic National Convention.
In recent months, officials from Mural Arts Philadelphia met with the building's owner to discuss options for the mural. The organization is not against having the mural moved to Building C — now a storage facility — as long as government approvals are in place and all parties reach an agreement on how the mural would be redone.
"We very much appreciate that the owner initiated these conversations and indicated a strong desire from the outset to work with us to amicably chart a path forward," David Gest, chief operating officer of Mural Arts Advocates, said in a letter of non-opposition attached to documents released by the historical commission.
If plans to redevelop the building do not move forward or fail to gain the necessary approvals, the mural would remain at its current location.
The project's most pressing hurdle is that the historical commission has denied the proposed five-story addition in its current form, saying it "does not complement the historic building but rather draws attention away from it." The commission also said the plan to add windows doesn't meet its standards for preservation of the building's historic character.
Developers have the opportunity to revise their proposal to adhere to the historical commission's standards.
The proposal for Building B is one of a few projects planned at the complex. At the southwest corner of the property, a seven-story, 97-unit apartment building is in the works at 501 N. Front St. That project would require the demolition of the facility's old boiler house, which is not included in the historic designation. Another project calls for 62 apartments on a portion of the property at Front and Spring Garden streets.
All of the residential projects at the complex are in an area of Northern Liberties that will see more than 1,000 new rental units built in the coming years, including at the former Festival Pier site and the Greyhound bus station.
