Languishing Deshong property frustrates Chester

A six-foot-tall barbed-wire fence holds back vagrants from the crumbling Italian Renaissance mansion in Chester. Malt liquor bottles, a car rusted to the color of mud, and old chairs litter the once pristine grounds.

In its heyday at the turn of the 20th century, the house was occupied by Alfred O. Deshong, a wealthy businessman with an extensive art collection. Several years after his death, a small museum for the art was built on the site.

The hard times that eventually drained the health from the city also took a toll on the house and museum. In the early 1980s, a court took control of the estate, giving the art to Widener University and the property to the Delaware County Industrial Development Authority.

For 26 years, development proposals for the site have been considered, but financing has proved elusive. Under a current idea, a hotel and office complex would be built.

Residents and others voice frustration over the lack of progress, which has left the landmark in disrepair and a haven for prostitutes and drug users. One longtime resident with a unique perspective, Laurence McCall, 49, said: "It saddens me to see how it once was and how it was neglected over the years. That is a gem."

He should know. As a teen, he stole paintings from the museum and sold them, using the money to live the high life in Center City for a few years before going to jail.

After serving with Union forces at Gettysburg during the Civil War, Deshong made his fortune operating the family's stone quarries in Delaware County.

An eccentric bachelor, he was known for his philanthropy and his lavish parties at the mansion for artists, musicians, and politicians.

The art collection - more than 300 pieces - contains carved Japanese ivory figures, Chinese carved hard-stone vessels, and 19th-century American and European paintings.

In his later years, Deshong rarely left home and reportedly ate meals with his beloved dogs seated at the table.

He died in 1913 at 75, and his will gave the 22-acre property, his art, and money to Chester so it could open the museum to share the artwork with the public. For years, the museum flourished, and the house was used as a residence and office. By the 1970s, the museum was in decline. Trustees of the estate were not replaced when they died. In the early 1980s, the house was falling into disrepair.

In 1984, in a controversial move, Delaware County Judge Francis J. Catania dissolved the trust that had been funding the museum after trustees said it was running short of money. He transferred the art collection and $500,000 to Widener, the estate and museum to the development authority, and the remaining $800,000 to the county.

Catania ordered that the property be developed in a way to return it to the tax rolls.

A lawyer who challenged the court order still laments the outcome. "Chester had, at that point, lost so many things," Ann S. Torregrossa said in an interview. "Here is this beautiful green spot right in the heart of Chester. It seems to be one more terrible loss."

Chester officials have pushed to ensure that the two historical structures be part of any development. "There has been a consensus the mansion and museum are part of the city history," said David N. Sciocchetti, executive director of the Chester Economic Development Authority. Chester received a $300,000 federal grant in 2000 to shore up the house.

At one time, officials considered moving the Police Department and City Hall to the building. A hotel and water park were later envisioned, but financing failed. Later, a restaurant and cinema complex languished when a movie company could not be interested.

J. Patrick Killian, director of the Delaware County Commerce Center, which oversees the Delaware County Industrial Development Authority, said he had told his staff in his annual speech that this was the year Deshong was going to be developed. Killian once even approached the Barnes Foundation to see if it would be interested in the site.

To aid in the development plans, the city and authority have been buying adjacent parcels to expand the property, now about nine buildable acres.

Killian said that there were ongoing discussions with an unidentified firm to develop the site, but that any plan hinged on financing. He expects that development today would cost between $20 million and $40 million, he said.

The newest plan includes an office park, a 200-room hotel, and a commercial area with restaurant and retail space, but no specific ideas for the two buildings or arboretum yet, Killian said.

The location is attractive, he said, citing its proximity to Philadelphia International Airport, a ramp off I-95, Harrah's casino, and the new Major League Soccer stadium.

"This may be the year," Killian said. "I stress may be."

In the 1970s, Laurence McCall attended Chester High School and from time to time skipped class. On some days, he ended up at the Deshong Museum, where he would read - and dream of being someplace else.

On one such day at the museum in 1976, when he was 16, he was going through the New York Times when he saw an article about the value of certain 19th-century European art.

McCall stole numerous paintings, slipping them out windows. He would carefully wrap the works, dress in his best clothes, take a train to New York, and go into the offices of the prestigious Sotheby Parke Bernet auction house. He would deliver the art to the 19th-century-painting department and leave his name and address. Few questions were asked, and Sotheby's would send him checks. "I met a restorer in my travels," said McCall, and used the person to repair damage on paintings from pencil marks or chalky material from a leaky roof.

In two years, McCall stole more than 50 pieces. He bought a car; rented an apartment in the Academy House in Center City, where Julius Erving and Riccardo Muti were neighbors; and wore expensive clothes and jewelry.

Eventually, his scheme was discovered. At 19, McCall was arrested and convicted of the theft of more than $300,000 worth of art. He served three years in a federal prison. The FBI seized 22 paintings from Sotheby's.

McCall still lives in Chester. He has been unemployed for a number of years. He has not had any scrapes with the law since the thefts, he said.

What began as an adventure, he said, took on another dimension when others took interest in the art.

That, he said, and the general lack of interest Chester had for the property. "I don't recall a time when it was appreciated," McCall said of the collection. "It made it somewhat easier to defend the removal."