Preserving History: City Launches Historic Preservation Task Force

As the city continues to grow, Philadelphia is reexamining its historic preservation ordinance to help ensure all the historic landmarks in the city are not put to the wayside. Mayor Jim Kenney Thursday officially launched a Historic Preservation Task Force that will help shape how the city hand;es historic preservation.

"Our historic preservation ordinance is more than 30 years old and was written when Philadelphia was a very different place," Kenney said in a statement ."We need to look at preservation for a city that is adding people and jobs, while still keeping in mind the resource constraints we face."

The task force will be chaired by Harris Steinberg, executive director of the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation at Drexel University, and will consist of historic preservation, development, archeology, land use, architecture and community representatives. Staff from the city's Department of Planning and Development will also help the task force.

The task force will begin its work in June, according to Kenney's office. It will then will issue an interim report in spring 2018, a draft final report in fall 2018, and a final report in December 2018.

Task force meetings will be held across the city and will be open to the public.

"As the Councilman representing the district in which the history of our country began, at Independence Hall and with the ringing of the Liberty Bell, preserving the historic fabric of our City is a priority for me,” Councilman Mark Squilla said. "City Council is a committed partner of the Mayor as we work to preserve that history."

Squilla will be a member of the task force.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation will provide technical assistance to the task force and a grant from the William Penn Foundation will support its operations, according to Kenney's office.

The task force begins its work after City Council raised fees charged by the Department of Licenses and Inspections, Kenney's office said.

Image via Michael Righi, Flickr Commons