In addition, the first three steps were cut from the same piece of stone, and they rested on a solid foundation brought up from the basement. This was the way most people pictured him, Calder said — and he was right. The stout Penn appeared even on the Quaker Oats advertising logo. The artist depicted Penn as he looked when he was about 50, but actually Penn was 38 years old and a good deal trimmer when he arrived in America in The controversy continued even after the statue was placed atop the tower in November According to Calder, McArthur had agreed with him when he was making the model in the late s.
It was an understandable decision, but it made the commission an easy target for critics. Critics were forever suggesting corruption, but they never found any proof to support their claims; rather, the lengthy construction stages, alterations and additions to the plans were the real culprits as the final costs rose. By law, the commission could have raised its own taxes, but decided to let the city councils do the levying. An editorial in the North American offered a balanced assessment of the cost issue.
Accuracy of the editorial notwithstanding, it was easier for Philadelphians to blame the commission rather than themselves. Burt, Nathaniel. Philadelphia Discovered. Philadelphia: Greater Philadelphia Magazine, Looney, Robert F. City Hall is a square building arranged around a central public courtyard. Its four exterior facades are all of similar appearance, and include the four monumental arched portals leading to the courtyard from the outside.
The north side is also where the famous tower is located. The tower rises feet above the ground, terminating at the top of the hat on William Penn's statue. Just below the statue is the visitors' observation deck, approximately forty stories above the ground. There are massive twenty-six foot diameter clocks on all four sides of the metal portion of the tower.
Below this area of the tower and throughout the remainder of the building are walls of solid brick covered with white marble and granite. The walls supporting the tower are twenty-two feet thick at the bottom.
The building is one of the world's tallest and largest all-masonry, load bearing structures without a steel or iron frame. Unfortunately, City Hall never held that title because the Eiffel Tower and Washington monument were both completed before City Hall and both are taller than the building. Since neither of those structure are true buildings, Philadelphia's City Hall did remain the tallest occupied building until , when New York built the Metropolitan Life Building.
It was, however, the tallest building in Philadelphia until , when a long-standing "gentlemen's agreement," discouraging constructing higher than Penn's hat, was broken with the construction of the sixty-one-story Liberty Place.
Inside and out, the building has over relief and freestanding sculptures, all created by Alexander Milne Calder. The original clay designs were sculpted and cast in plaster in the City Hall basement studio. We hope that further renovations, such as new gates into the courtyard and cleaning the entry portals, and activating the courtyard space with programming will encourage all residents and visitors to experience the beauty and majesty of this incredible building.
To see our recommendations, please go to phila Howard, I always thought of City Hall as a metaphor for the city itself: big, boisterous, ungainly, totally in-your-face and yet endearing. Thanks for bringing all that together in your essay. I remain certain the title is held by Philly City Hall. They were pretty loud too. Were the bells coming from City Hall?
I actually went to Christmas Village on November 20, , not November 25, My mistake. In assembling the statue of Wm. Penn on top of City Hall did a man seal himself inside the statue? Have you come across the name Frank W.
I remember going up the elevator in side Wm Penn statue about to the observation deck than changing to a rickedly open wire cage elevator to the brim of the hat where you could look out….. Were we dreaming.. Thank you. Your email is never shared. The location also is within view of Memorial Hall, one […].
Nine of the statues were cast in bronze , while most were started in clay, cast in plaster, and finished in marble. There are nods to naturalism and animals , Swedish settlers, mythological creatures, Native Americans, a group of cats chasing some mice , and four eagles with foot wingspans near the top of the tower.
The building remained, and opinions began to sway with the restoration of Conversation Hall in Subscribe to our Newsletter!
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