Hearing set for Hickman's plans

If you are concerned about the quality of life in West Chester and the changes that have been made to its historic character, please consider attending the public meeting concerning the Hickman’s plans to build in an area known as “Quaker Block.”

The proposed building - shown here in an earlier rendering - will be in similar in style to the present Mary Taylor building on North Walnut. (Note the picture shows the building as a four-story structure. The plan has been modified and the proposed structure will be 3 stories with underground parking).

The date is set for July 15th at 5:30 at Borough Hall at 401 East Gay Street.

The Daily Local News describes the Hickman as ”a non-profit Quaker sponsored residential and personal care community consisting of three separate buildings off North Walnut Street between Marshall and Biddle Streets.” The Quaker Block includes a Colonial Revival building, the West Chester Friends School and the historic High Street Meeting.

The property is located in what is called the Neighborhood Conservation District 2 zoning although it has been described as “nonconforming use” in the borough.

If you are a careful reader of the Daily Local News editorial page, you may remember my previous editorial, “Will the Hickman Raze Its Buildings?,” a piece I had hoped would rally preservation-minded residents to express their views for a plan that would be the embodiment of the expression “demolition is forever.”

The Hickman plan calls for the demolition of “Sharpless-Hall,” seen here in an early photograph taken a few years after the Hickman’s founding in 1890. It’s easy to describe the project as a necessary action – that is if you believe that the Hickman has explored all options. As a historian and resident ( I live only a few blocks away from the Mary Taylor House) I believe that the Hickman plans ignore not only the history of Quaker Block but the unique atmosphere and historic character of the neighborhood.

in my opinion, building “Mary Taylor’s sister” – as people I know have jokily have called the proposed building – would also destroy the peaceful setting of the block. The new building will only serve Alzeimer’s patients, who require confinement and 24-hr nursing care, and consequently the community interaction the Hickman is known for will be lessened. Hickman residents will no longer be able to sit on the side porch and many trees including a towering oak will be razed in the process, as Hickman officials have noted,

The proposed building will also encroach on the Friends School, where officials have apparently agreed to give up their parking lot and use the planned underground parking.

As one can see from the present Mary Taylor building – another example of “boxy” architecture – nothing about the proposed building matches the craftsmanship and architecture of the neighborhood.

Please consider coming to the hearing and voicing your opinion. I hope the public will consider this: Where else to do we have an example of West Chester’s Quaker heritage?

Many residents I know still mourn the loss of the East Chestnut Street Friends Meeting, once the centerpiece of the first Quaker block.

I see the razing of Sharpless-Hall and replacing it with a massive “mock-Tutor” style structure will be another sad milestone in West Chester’s history. It will be another example of what the borough has done for decades: demolish buildings over the objections of its residents.

A short list of the landmarks, including the East Chestnut Meeting, are the Market Street depot, the Warner theater, the Turks Head hotel, the Thomas U. Walter-designed prison, the Hoopes Spoke Works, the Mansion House, High Street School, the historic black Gay Street School (now the site of Borough Hall) ,the WPA-designed “Auditorium” school, and “Old Main,” once the largest freestanding serpentine structure in the nation.

In the past, people have said “you can’t save everything. “ But to quote a friend and fellow historian, if you start with that position, you won’t save anything.