Temple U. launches major campus makeover effort

The plan is aimed at turning around a sharp decline in enrollment at the university. Hoping to stem a 20 percent decline in undergraduate enrollment over the last 10 years, Temple University is planning a major makeover of its North Philadelphia campus, officials announced recently. In addition to demolishing most of a historic church, Temple's facelift plans include ripping down 19th-century rowhouses to open up space for a new quadrangle. The school would also tear down Thomas Hall, an African Methodist Episcopalian church on campus, to make way for a new dormitory. Still, Temple Director of Admissions Timm Rinehart insisted that the public university's revitalization effort is not a "desperate" attempt to attract students. "The healthiest universities in the country, like Penn, are building like crazy," Rinehart said. Temple also recently finished building the Apollo, its much-ballyhooed sports arena and concert hall, and is finishing up a new high-tech learning center. "All kinds of initiatives are under way to move the place forward and attract students," Temple spokesperson George Ingram said. Since Temple lies within a historic district, officials must get approval for any renovations or new construction from the Philadelphia Historical Commission, a city agency. One problem is that preliminary plans include partially demolishing the Baptist Church, an official city historic landmark built in 1889 by the school's founder, Russell Conwell. The church, which was sold to Temple in 1975 for $500,000, sits at Broad Street and Berks Mall. Several experts said that commission officials might be hesitant to approve the plans, explaining that city law mandates that landmarks not be destroyed unless there is a sufficient reason to do so, such as economic hardship. "We feel Temple should be encouraged to reexamine its whole approach," said Patricia Wilson Aden, senior vice president of the Preservation Alliance, a group that works to preserve such landmarks. "We have not seen evidence from Temple that there is an economic hardship." Officials from the Historical Commission did not return repeated phone calls this week. "We are hopeful that [Temple administrators] will look for an alternative use for Baptist Church, rather than demolishing it for a memorial garden," Aden said. "That is really a passive use for a building that has been part of the area throughout history." The school's plans to tear down most of the Baptist Church exclude the facade that faces Broad Street and also leaves out two undetermined portions of the church's side walls, according to Ingram. Temple's rationale behind wanting to demolish the church is sufficient, Ingram said, adding that the building is "unsafe" as it stands right now. Aden noted, however, that the estimated cost of destroying part of the church is $4 million, roughly the same amount as simply revamping the interior for safety reasons. "It's going to cost the same amount to create an outdoor garden [or quadrangle] as it would to stabilize the church," she said. Ingram stressed, however, that "Temple has not yet submitted an official request to do anything with Baptist Church." He added that Temple representatives met with an architectural review board only to discuss the plans informally. A Temple administrator is working with an outside consultant to prepare a report for the Historical Commission by an unspecified date. This is not the first time the school has sought to renovate the Baptist Church, as it has been looking for ways to upgrade the site for 20 years. In 1986, the school proposed similar plans to transform the spot into an outdoor garden, but the Historical Commission rejected the plan.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.