Independence Seaport Museum pins redevelopment plans on Penn's Landing Park

As budget proposals from Mayor Jim Kenney and Gov. Tom Wolf began to chip away at the $250 million needed to fund the creation of an 11-acre park capping I-95 near Penn's Landing, another player in the future of the Delaware riverfront has been keeping a close watch on the project.

"We are keeping a sharp eye out for what the timeline will be on the park," said Independence Seaport Museum President and CEO John Brady in an interview with the Business Journal.

A 2014 feasibility study from the Delaware River Waterfront Corp. on the redevelopment of Penn's Landing indicated the Seaport Museum would undergo construction as part of the plans.

Now Brady, while still painting with broad strokes, has switched to a somewhat finer brush.

"Where you're seeing stone now, or concrete, you would see glass," he said.

The last time any major changes were made to the building was in 1997, he said.

Careful to caution that any construction plans are still in the nascent stages, Brady said discussions between the DRWC and the Seaport Museum have been ongoing.

Both organizations would like to see more glass incorporated in the building – which could prove pricey according to one expert.

"We are of like minds on where we would like to be in terms of the building being transparent. The better an attraction we are, the better it is for the DRWC," Brady said. "Nothing is edged in granite, but the room for improvement for this building is in the realm of opening it up … so it is not an obstruction to the park and the boat basin."

The museum leader declined to speculate on the cost of overhauling the museum property, but said as plans finalize for Penn's Landing Park, the institution will shift its capital campaigns to raise money for the building changes.

With only sparse details available, David Greenbaum, of the architectural and engineering design firm SmithGroup JJR who focuses on museums and other civic spaces, said it's difficult to speculate on price.

"Inherently, museums have certain embedded costs to do that kid of work," he said. Adding glass to a waterfront property that already needs to account for humidity to maintain exhibit integrity indoors adds a challenge that could up expenses, Greenbaum explained.

"It's a level of technicality you have to address in a museum environment that you wouldn't have in an office or other buildings because you want to make sure the artifacts don't crack or get damaged in any way," he said.

Greenbaum estimated typical construction costs for a museum could range anywhere from $500 to $1,200 per square foot, "depending on the level of exuberance and complexity of the project.

"Despite the potentially high overhead, Greenbaum said the investment is crucial for the Seaport Museum's future growth.

"The big move is the park," he said, "The museum needs to step up to earn that new site in a way."

Aside from creating a more aesthetically pleasing view for those admiring the waterfront from the future park, Brady said he'd like the museum to better its visibility from Columbus Boulevard, and maintain or enhance accessibility to its entrances. How parking fits in to the overall redesign of Penn's Landing is also of interest to the institution.

Set to cover the interstate from Chestnut to Walnut streets and slope downwards towards the Delaware River, the Penn's Landing Park is still $10 million shy of the $225 million total cost, said Ajennah Amir, a spokeswoman for the city, on Friday. Kenny set aside $90 million for the park, doled out over the next several years, in his budget proposal. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation also pledged $100 million for the project, and a previous $10 million from the agency was already put towards a feasibility study, according to BillyPenn.com. Another $10 million from the William Penn Foundation rounds out the existing funds.

Construction of certain, periphery aspects of the redevelopment – like trail improvements – could begin within the next 12 to 18 months, Amir said, though the bulk of the work is targeted to begin in 2019 or 2020.

"We would try to go in lockstep so we opened the brand new 'us' at the same time the park opened," the Seaport Museum's Brady said, a strategic choice since the park's construction would likely negatively affect visitation while underway.

Mirroring the timeline for the creation of the Penn's Landing Park is "perfect timing," according to Ira Rosen, a professor with Temple University’s School of Sports, Tourism and Hospitality Management.

Calling a glass façade a smart idea to draw tourists, Rosen said this type of investment is necessary for the Seaport Museum to stay in line with the messaging coming out of organizations like Visit Philadelphia, which markets the city as a tourist destination.

"Philadelphia has such a strong tourism reputation that people expect to see the best of the best when they visit Philadelphia attractions," he said. "If our attractions don't keep up with that expectation, then we aren't delivering on the tourism promises our marketing people are selling quite effectively."

"One of the challenges they face in their current location, many tourists walk past the building but don't really know what is inside the building," he continued. "It is a really good idea to increase the visibility of the museum, in this case literally with the glass façade."

With 75 years left on its lease of the city-owned building at 211 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., the Seaport Museum is occupying space that is an odd fit for a museum and major upgrades to the property were just a matter of time, Brady said.

"Regardless of what happens to the park, we will get to a place where we want to make major changes to the building," the Seaport CEO said. "But the park would make it more likely that we would get that done first because of the enthusiasm that would generate."

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal