Art Commission questions community input, and delays approval on planned police HQ on Diamond St. historic corridor

The Philadelphia Art Commission has postponed a vote on whether to approve a $32 million 22nd District police headquarters on the Diamond Street Historic Corridor in North Philadelphia.

At its Dec. 13 monthly meeting, the Art Commission voted unanimously to table a vote on the new police building until February.

In the interim, Art Commission Chairperson Robert Roesch advised city officials to have more community engagement meetings despite the approaching Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Several commission members said more input is needed so the city can determine how much opposition or support there is for the proposed new police building being planned for 2100 W. Diamond St.

The new police headquarters would be located a couple of blocks west of the historic Church of the Advocate, a Gothic Revival cathedral built in 1897.

The application for the police headquarters was also scheduled to go before the city’s Zoning Board on Tuesday on a request for a lot adjustment to create one lot from previously condemned lots. .

The city recognized Diamond Street, from Broad to North Van Pelt Streets, as a historic district in 1986, mainly due to the number of Victorian redbrick rowhouses and brownstones that were built between 1875 and 1897.

“We have three national historic landmarks nearby, the Church of the Advocate, [at 1801 W. Diamond] the Tanner House [at 2908 W. Diamond] and the John Coltrane House, [at 1511 N. 33rd St.,],” said Jacqueline Wiggins, a retired teacher involved in a project to preserve the Henry Tanner House.

Wiggins said rather than build a police headquarters, the city should build new housing to replace the houses torn down 20 years ago, leaving three vacant lots.

“This is such a travesty.”

The city has described the new police headquarters as “the North Central Public Safety Building,” but over the years the city has made it clear that the building is intended to replace the current 22nd District police headquarters at 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue.

Plans call for a large police headquarters that will include a Police Athletic League (PAL) gym and a community center on Diamond between 21st and 22nd streets.

However, the entire police complex would span three city blocks on Diamond, from Lambert, which is one block east of 21st Street, to Van Pelt and then to 22nd Street.

The police building will be in the center lot, with parking lots on the two blocks flanking the headquarters. The lot between Van Pelt and 22nd Street will also have a fueling station.

The Art Commission decided to hold off approving the police headquarters after hearing from three speakers who told them the city has held only one community meeting about the massive police project.

“And that was held on a Friday afternoon at 6 p.m.,” said Judith Robinson, a representative of the 32nd Ward RCO, who opposes putting the police headquarters on Diamond Street.

That community meeting, hosted by the St. Elizabeth’s RCO, or recognized community organization, was held on Oct. 20 at the Honickman Learning Center.

That one community meeting was not sufficient for a large police district with boundaries that extend from 10th Street to 33rd Street, and from Poplar to Lehigh Avenue, the opponents said.

“This is such a travesty,” Wiggins said. “I was at the meeting that the St. Elizabeth RCO held, and the 50 people who were there don’t represent [all the people who live] within the boundaries” of the 22nd District.

Wiggins also called attention to the two public elementary schools on Diamond Street, the William Dick School, at 2498 W. Diamond and the Tanner G. Duckrey School at 1501 W. Diamond.

There is also a third elementary school, Frederick Douglass, at 22nd and Norris, one block north of Diamond. She said children from the schools walk along Diamond Street to the Hank Gathers Recreation Center at 2501 W. Diamond.

She later told The Inquirer she mentioned the schools because she is concerned that police cars, responding quickly to police calls, would create traffic risks to children.

In a statement emailed to The Inquirer, a spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney wrote: “The City met with the community on Oct. 20, 2023, and will do so again, as instructed by the Commission. The City intends to present to the Art Commission for final approval at the February 2024 meeting.”

The three members who spoke against the project have all been active with historic preservation programs.

» READ MORE: Reversing its initial denial, the city’s Historical Commission approves controversial 22nd Police District construction proposal

Commissioner Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta said “one community engagement meeting is pretty low,” compared to the amount of community engagement that developers of privately funded projects must provide.

“For us to jump from concept to final review with one [community] meeting is a bit rash to say the least,” Kenyatta said. He also said the fact that retiring City Council President Darrell L. Clarke has spoken out in favor of the police headquarters gives the appearance of an unequal “balance of power.”

“[There is] a power dynamic of a council person’s office basically telling you that ‘this is happening,’ and you are more or less forced to respond to this thing happening and not being a partner in deciding what’s happening in your own neighborhood,” Kenyatta said.

“There are some legitimate concerns in how the conversation is being conducted,” he added.

Modesto Bigas-Valedon, the architect with Ballinger architectural firm, said “the most recent public engagement meeting was very well attended with over 50 [people] attending.” He said the vote tally was in “resounding support for the project as also conveyed by the ward leader and the letter from the RCO.”

“The underlying issue going on here is that the leaders and stakeholders in that community have not had full participation.”

Pedro Pinto, of the Department of Public Property, told the commissioners that “the community engagement process was spearheaded by Council President’s Clarke’s office. I believe he may have had other community meetings as well, but I don’t know.”

When commission member Sarah McEneaney asked if anyone from Clarke’s office was attending the online meeting to answer questions about community involvement, no one spoke up.

While some commission members said the design of the police building is more attractive because it now has a brick facade, commission member Pepón Osorio said the beauty of the building was not the main concern.

“The underlying issue going on here is that the leaders and stakeholders in that community have not had full participation and conversation in the process,” Osorio said.

Pinto, of the Department of Public Property, said there have been discussions about planning a new police headquarters for the 22nd District since 2017, in a city planning document.

He said the city believes the Diamond Street location works because it is a major artery and is centrally located within the 22nd District. Because it is a wide, two-lane street, he said police can respond to police calls more quickly.

Although Pinto said the city has already had a traffic study, a parking study and an environmental study completed, Robinson said the community has not seen those studies.

By city regulations, the Art Commission, which is part of the city’s Department of Planning and Development, must approve the design and location of any construction projects and public art to be built on city property, including streets, or that is funded by city money.

» READ MORE: Historical Commission rejects plans for new North Philly police station

In May, the Philadelphia Historical Commission reversed its 2020 vote, which had been to reject building the 22nd District headquarters on Diamond Street.

At a 2020 historical commission meeting, in the wake of protests after the killing of George Floyd, about 130 people spoke out against that location for a police station

“You’re doing the same thing as the 76ers Arena project.”

When the Historical Commission reversed its position in May, Clarke appeared at the meeting and spoke in support of the police headquarters.

In her comments at the Art Commission last week, Deborah Gary, who was speaking as founder of the Society to Preserve Philadelphia African American Assets, said the community should have been involved choosing a location long before any one spot was decided.

She accused city officials of adding the brick facade and PAL Center to gain community support.

“You’re doing the same thing as the 76ers arena project,” Gary said. “You’re trying to pretty it up to make it more acceptable for the community.”