The other day, a reader gave us the heads up about a couple of zoning notices they noticed at 1715 McKean St., but when we made our way over to check ‘em out it was the building itself that really caught our attention. Have you ever seen this place in person?

Awesome building

According to the PHMC Cultural Resources Database, this building was constructed in 1921, and designed by W. Timm. And while it was a very impressive home for Abbott’s Alderney Dairies, it apparently wasn’t their only location in town. A City Paper story from last year (from our old friend GroJLart) tells the tale of another (and also very cool looking) Abbott’s building at 30th & Chestnut. According to that story, Abbott’s consolidated all their operations at 7th & Packer back…

As news of and plans for new projects along the waterfront continue to come to light, we often find ourselves wondering what other plans might exist for large and underused parcels situated along the Delaware River. Recently, a reader tipped us off to a proposal for a hotel and marketplace at the Southport Pier, a 120-acre site located just southwest of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, below Columbus Blvd and Packer Ave., and extending west to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. It’s a vision to open up Philadelphia’s presence in the global market.

Down here

Huge parcel

The Philadelphia Global Trade Center would feature a 300-room hotel with a 100-room extended stay building, a marketplace for 300-vendors in a 570K sqft building, green space, retail, restaurants and parking. The proposal was released in January and…

Earlier this week, Hidden City announced the locations for their 2013 Festival, which will take place this coming summer. In the coming weeks, we’ll not only give some more details on the festival itself, but also on some of the unique and interesting locales they’ve chosen to highlight. Today, we bring 2015 S. 4th St. to your attention, also known as Shivtei Yeshuron-Ezras Israel.

The building

In the early part of the 20th century, South Philadelphia was home to a huge Jewish population. Several synagogues were to be found, and the building that eventually became the Stiffel Center at 6th & Porter was one of the community hubs. According to the Jewish Exponent, the synagogue pictured above was founded in 1909, and was converted from a storefront. It hosted a large congregation in the early…

Student-grown zucchinis and more may grow one day soon on the roof of South Philadelphia High School. That’s where an urban roof farm might be constructed as part of a master green plan for the 5.5 acre site that would be installed in phases. A drive to raise $26,300 through crowd-funding site Projexity to develop the plan has been launched by the school through a collaboration with the Lower Moyamensing Civic Association (LoMo) and community members. It concludes June 9th. The school and the civic group have worked together since 2009 to develop green entities, like building two gardens and planting various trees.

South Philly High

“We sort of thought a master plan would be the next logical step to tie it altogether,” said Kim Massare, president of LoMo.

The campus, which includes an asphalt parking lot, represents an underutilized community…

If you’re not a pro-wrestling fan or don’t live nearby, you’ve probably never heard of the Asylum Arena at the corner of Swanson & Ritner in South Philly. Located pretty much under I95 and directly to the south of a former Forman Mills location, this old warehouse blends in with its surroundings, at least during the daytime hours. For nearly two decades, however, this spot hosted boxing and wrestling events, drawing over a thousand people at times.

The building

Old Forman Mills

Toward the end of 2011, news came out that Joanna Pang from the Trocadero would be taking over the building and converting it into a concert venue. According to Philly.com, this news was met with opposition from wrestling fans and mixed emotions from folks in the…

Waaay back in November of 2011, we broke the news that the former home of Thomas Colace Co. at 19 E. Oregon Ave., was going to become an indoor adult amusement spot with bowling, arcade games, batting cages, and of course booze. A few commenters indicated that this was the brainchild of the folks behind North Bowl in Northern Liberties, but we could not get any confirmation at that time. And it’s been radio silence ever since.

The building

Now, according to Passyunk Post, this project is officially a go. Looking at the L&I Map, it appears that owner Oron Daskal has been slowly winding his way through the process, getting some initial permits back in 2011 and zoning last summer. According to Michael Klein, the new spot will be larger…