E D I T E D B Y D O R O N TA U S S I G
GINORMOUS SIGNAGE
thebellcurve CP’s Quality-o-Life-o-Meter
Jocelyn Kirsch pleads guilty in “Bonnie and Clyde” case. Regina Medina requests conjugal visit.Even Police confiscate two illegal gambling machines at Ridley bar. Can you really call two roosters duct-taped to remote control cars gambling machines?Even Twenty-dollar fruit and veggie vouchers are being distributed to seniors to buy Pennsylvania-grown produce. I know a certain kind of gambling machine that accepts corn. Plus 2
14 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |
J U L Y 1 7 - J U L Y 2 4 , 2 0 0 8 | C I T Y PA P E R . N E T
Temple and Penn receive $10 million grant to improve science instruction for middle-schoolers. Temple buys new microscopes; Penn buys middle-schooler-sized jars.Plus 4 Dalai Lama comes to Philly, with the goal of reaching young Buddhists steeped in pop culture. “The Buddha is like Hurley — kind of fat but very chill. Qi is like the island’s electromagnetic force and some might argue that the island itself is Nirvana. Kate has fallen off the Noble Eightfold Path so many times it’s just not funny. And Desmond, while, yes, very badass, needs to understand that desire is fleeting and everything, even Penny, is transitory.” Plus 2 Spectrum to be torn down. Minus 1983 The Convention Center expansion is almost $100 million over its $700 million budget. FISCAL RESOURCES TASTY. Minus 7 A supervisor with the Fairmount Park Commission was fired after being caught conducting personal business 27 hours out of his 40-hour workweek. “What the fuck am I supposed to do? Wash trees?” Plus 1 Eagles cheerleaders make annual calendar ecofriendly. It also aids in masturbation.Plus 1 Total Pluses: 10 Total Minuses: 1990 This Week’s Total: -1980 Last Week’s Total: 7
Ad Heaven
Should companies be allowed to put their logos on skyscrapers?
ON CAMDEN’S STREETS, P. 20
is a key part of that.” Unisys’ most ardent supporter in this ordeal has been the city, which, of course, is always courting corporate citizens. Of the dozens of letters filed with the Zoning Board, only two were endorsements: one by 5th District Councilman Darrell Clarke, and one by Deputy Mayor Andrew Altman. Altman reasoned that the economic value of bringing Unisys downtown would outweigh any complaints about aesthetics or property values — a major concern of residents who worry that Two Liberty could become a de facto “Unisys Building.” Clarke cited the Center City Residents’ Association, which originally did not oppose the signage. But after a May meeting in which attendees voiced unanimous opposition to the Unisys sign, CCRA is now opposing it, says
do so for a partially residential building, or for such a landmark structure. To Scott Pratt, the decision is intolerable. Pratt designed Two Liberty with Helmut Jahn (Jahn signed the letter that calls the signs “a blemish”) and says the building simply wasn’t designed to showcase signage on upper floors. “The sign appears to be too large graphically, so it’s placed at a very clumsy location on the building,” says Pratt. “The building was designed to put signs on the lower level, to comply with signage standards.” This debate between promotion and aesthetics has been raging in American cities for years. Hartford, Conn., has encouraged insurance companies to post logos on their offices to brand itself an insurance capital, and Denver has been reno-
Adam Schneider, co-chairman of the CCRA Zoning Committee. Clarke’s letter came before the CCRA’s change of heart. The councilman says he “will review their position and act accordingly.” Though the Art Commission gave the goahead for the Unisys sign, some members expressed concern over what precedent they might be setting. Would logos begin sprouting on skyscrapers across Center City? Although the city has granted variances for signage in the past (for Aramark, for example),this is the first case in which it might
vating a section of its downtown, to create a “Times Square-feel.” But residents sometimes blanche at companies laying claim to the identities of iconic skyscrapers. Such was the case in Pittsburgh, when the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center placed its logo atop the historic U.S. Steel Tower. And Henry Cobb, renowned architect of Los Angeles’ Library Tower, still hasn’t recovered from seeing his structure crowned with the U.S. Bank logo. “It’s hard to imagine anything worse,” he says. (editorial@citypaper.net)
Residents worry that Two Liberty could become a de facto “Unisys Building.”
By Andrew Thompson
I
n the city’s Municipal Services Building, in the office of the Zoning Board, sits a manila folder filled with letters teeming with invective. Most are written by owners of million-dollar-plus condos. “Hideously massive,” “appalled,” “a blemish,” they say. They’re reactions to an attempt by Unisys Corp. to place two 900-square-foot glowing red signs on the eastern and western facades of Two Liberty Place — one of the iconic pieces of the Philly skyline. Unisys, a multibillion-dollar IT company, is relocating its corporate headquarters from Blue Bell to Two Liberty in early 2009 and has been trying to clear legal hurdles to placing the sign since it announced the move. City ordinances officially restrict signage above a building’s second floor, but Unisys has received permission from the city Art Commission (the decision is being appealed to the License and Inspections Commission). The case headed to the Zoning Board on Wednesday. Unisys will also, however, have to fight off a lawsuit. In May, the Residences at Two Liberty Place (the company that manages the building’s condos), along with Two Liberty Hospitality, which plans to open a restaurant in the building, sued Unisys for breach of contract, arguing that the company didn’t have the requisite 85 percent of the condominium association’s votes to modify the building’s exterior. (Unisys declined to explain its legal position.) The building’s rules state that any “major decision” must be approved by 85 percent of voters, but are ambiguous about whether an exterior modification constitutes a “major decision.” Should the sign be rejected, either in court or in the planning process, it would sting for the company: Unisys chose Two Liberty partly for its architectural advertising potential. “One of the reasons to move downtown was because of the visibility it could offer our company,” says spokesman Brian Daly. “Putting up signage
doron@citypaper.net
E VA N M . L O P E Z
classifieds | food | the agenda | music | movies | arts | feature
news
naked city | op-ed
news