Times Square comes to Market East

Allan Stein

is a professor of law at Rutgers Law School in Camden and a resident of Washington Square

Visitors to historic Washington Square Park have long been drawn to its quiet solemnity. Amid the eternal flame and statue of President George Washington lie bodies of the Continental Army as well as victims of the slave trade that once operated in Philadelphia. The historic buildings that dot the square and fill the surrounding neighborhood can't help but evoke the epic events that took place here.

That's changing. Now visitors to the park have also been treated to the blazing digital graphics of Dunkin' Donuts, United Health Care, and the Hard Rock Cafe, thanks to the Philadelphia Planning Commission.

In June, the commission approved a developer's proposal to construct a 75-foot-wide, vibrant, continuous video commercial on the edge of the city's historic district, on the top of the old Lits building at Seventh and Market. The display, two blocks from Independence Hall, now illuminates Washington Square from 6 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week. A similar installation is slated for a block west.

Notwithstanding vigorous opposition from residents of Old City, Society Hill, and Washington Square, the commission applauded the idea of bringing a little of Times Square to Market East. The high-tech display, reasoned the commission, was consistent with the historic design of the building since a painted sign originally stood atop it.

I don't want to quibble with the commission's airtight logic, but I don't think that sign could be seen from outer space. I imagine that a helipad is not out of the question either, since pigeons once landed on the Lits roof. I do take comfort in knowing that the psychedelic light show now illuminating my entire apartment, as well as all the other historic buildings surrounding it is, according to the Planning Commission, not a significant change. Nothing evokes the founding fathers like flashing neon.

But the real genius of the decision lies not in its acute sensitivity to the historic character of the neighborhood but in its deep insight into urban development.

The signs are part of a designated "Advertising District" created on East Market Street. I kid you not. Having failed to lure any significant retail to the location, our city planners determined that the best spur to economic development was to site advertising there. Clearly the stores and shoppers that once shunned the area will now flock there to bask in the glow of light-emitting diodes. There's nothing like a United Health Care ad to draw the crowds.

Although it could appear to the uninformed that the Planning Commission has marred Philadelphia's most historic neighborhood for no reason other than to line the pockets of developers, rest assured that it extracted a valuable quid pro quo: The developers are obligated to invest $10 million in "improvements" to the block, including installation of bike-locking posts and renovations to the underground SEPTA concourse.

Of course, as was made clear in the June hearing, the cost of these megatron displays will be credited as part of the $10 million "improvements."

And guess what? A September article in The Inquirer put the cost of the signs at exactly $10 million! So if that number is correct, the developers have no obligation to spend one more penny on additional "improvements" to the block. After all, they've already done so much.