We always thought that the corner of 3rd & Chestnut would be ideal for a museum. But in the 1970s, our City's leaders believed that this corner was an appropriate site for an architectural atrocity. In short, in the buildup to the bicentennial, a plan was hatched to move the Liberty Bell from Independence Hall to 3rd & Chestnut to accommodate tourists and reduce congestion. But the public uproar that arose when people saw the plans for the building that would hold the bell resulted in a change of plans and the bell moving instead to Independence Mall. For a more detailed version of this story, click here for a story from Philaphilia:
Even though the plans to move the bell a few blocks were scrapped, the City curiously built the horrible building anyway! Instead of the Liberty Bell, it held something called the Bicentennial Bell, which was gifted to Philadelphia by the Queen of England for the Bicentennial. Kind of curious for England to commemorate its crushing defeat at the hands of America with a huge ceremonial gift, but whatever. The horrendous building was a tourist center for some years, but it's been vacant for several years now. But the great news is that it will soon be replaced by the Museum of the American Revolution. Passing by the other day, we saw that site work is underway.
Fundraising has progressed well for the $150M museum, with about $100M raised so far. The design for the museum, from A.M. Stern Architects, has not yet been officially finalized. According to Inga Saffron, the Art Commission last month has some severe criticism for the proposed look of the building, notably critiquing the lack of street presence on Chestnut Street and a "Disneyesque cupola." They made some other significant recommendations to the architects in terms of design and choice of materials. Whether those recommendations are followed remains an open question.
When and if we learn about any changes to the planned design, we'll be sure to pass them along. But until then, one thing is clear: whatever the museum ultimately looks like, it will be a huge improvement over what's there today.
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