West Philadelphia resident and landlord Al Krigman is trying to keep a large portion of West Philadelphia from being redesignated a historical district.
Tuesday night, Krigman alerted community activist group Neighbors Against McPenntrification to what he sees as potential problems with a new historical district of West Philadelphia, proposed by the University City Historical Society and the Spruce Hill Community Association.
Krigman spoke with the community activist group at its weekly meeting inside the Toviah Thrift Shop near 42nd and Chestnut streets. He said his goal was to help group members brainstorm ways to oppose the proposition.
"I'm trying to put some pieces together to oppose the move put forth by the University City Historical Society," Krigman said.
Currently, a large portion of West Philadelphia has been deemed a "Streetcar Suburb Historical District" by the federal government, meaning that the area does not require much upkeep from the residents themselves. The University City Historical Society, with the support of the Spruce Hill Community Association, is moving to make the area a full-fledged historical district, which would be called the Spruce Hill Historic District.
The proposed district would cover a diameter from Woodland Avenue to Market Street and from 40th to 47th streets.
Such a move would require the cooperation of the residents because any property adjustments residents wish to make would need to be approved by a city-wide historical council.
If a property is in bad condition, the historical council can also force owners to make repairs and improvements at their own expense.
The University City Historical Society says property values would increase if the new district were created, but Krigman said that he was adamantly opposed to the historical district and claimed that he represents many others in the community who feel the same way.
Krigman compared his opposition to plights that are outlined in such documents as the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address.
"We've got history on our side, we have the moral high ground and we have facts on our side," he said. "We can do this."
Krigman said he approached the the community group because of its track record in finding support for its projects.
"One of the reasons that I want to talk to this group in particular is that you're going to complement what we do," he said at the meeting. "You've got an organization that knows how [to rally people], an organization that already has."
Neighbors Against McPenntrification is a group of concerned residents in the West Philadelphia area who oppose bureaucratic involvement in residents' daily matters, particularly in the addition of commercial buildings to the area.
Under the leadership of Rev. Larry Falcon of the Covenant Community Church, the group specifically opposes the new McDonald's currently under construction on 43rd and Market streets.
Krigman said he remains optimistic about the work against the proposed district.
"We're getting into this thing early enough in the cycle so that I think we can start from a much different viewpoint and, in many senses, beat them at their own game," he said.
Among other things, Krigman said he believes the University City Historical Society has other goals in mind for the new historical district.
"Designating an area like this as a historical district has little or nothing to do with preserving the history, either structural or architectural...," Krigman said. "This is merely a power play by a small group of individuals to force a neighborhood that has actually evolved over the last century into a form that's consistent with their very parochial vision of a very idyllic sort of locale," he added.
Neither the Spruce Hill Community Association nor the University City Historical Society could be reached for comment last night.
