__NOTOC__ The Inquirer Building, formerly called the Elverson Building, is an eighteen-story building at the intersection of North Broad and Callowhill Streets in the Logan Square neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, completed in 1924 as the new home for the newspaper ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

'', which was joined by the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Da ...

'' in 1957. The original name refers to James Elverson, the publisher of the ''Inquirer'' from 1889 until his death in 1911. His son, "Colonel" James Elverson Jr., took over as publisher, and had the building constructed and dedicated to his father.Hunter, Sarah L. (researcher)
"Philadelphia Inquirer Building"
''Hidden City, Philadelphia'' , the building is being renovated to house the new headquarters of the

Philadelphia Police Department The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD or Philly PD) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, fourth largest ...

History and description

Construction

Construction began on the building in July 1923. It was designed in the

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporat ...

by Rankin, Kellogg & Crane, and was, at the time, the tallest building north of

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. Its gold dome, and the four-faced clock under it, could be seen for many miles. The building is tall.

As headquarters of the ''Inquirer''

The first issue of the ''Inquirer'' printed at the building came out on July 13, 1925. The newspaper operation was considered at the time to have the most modern printing plant in the world, with the largest composing room and fastest printing presses. The building also featured an auditorium and an assembly hall, and had its own refrigeration and water filtration plant. The interior features a globe chandelier in the lobby, and a catwalk over the former press room. Elverson and his wife made their home on the building's 12th and 13th floors. In 1996 the building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as the Elverson Building. An extension to the building at 440 N. Broad Street, called the Rotogravure Building and designed by Albert Kahn Associates, was built in 1948 by Walter Annenberg, who was the owner of the newspapers at the time. It was sold in 2005 by

Knight-Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper b ...

. In 2011 the extension was made the headquarters of the

Philadelphia School District The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the 8th largest school district in the nation, by enrollment, serving over 200 ...

Sale to Bart Blatstein and redevelopment

Inquirer Building Tower from Vine Street near Logan Circle

In late July 2011, it was announced that

Philadelphia Media Network The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC (formerly Philadelphia Media Network (PMN)) is an American media company. It owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and ''Philadelphia Daily News''. The company is owned by The Philadelphia Foundation, a nonprofit orga ...

, which owned the newspapers and the building, was selling the building to a developer for a price believed to be more than $19 million. That deal closed in October, and the next month the company announced that a downsized operation () would move into the renovated former

Strawbridge & Clothier Strawbridge's, formerly Strawbridge & Clothier, was a department store in the northeastern United States, with stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The Center City Philadelphia flagship store was, in its day, a gracious urban emporiu ...

store at 8th and Market Streets in the Market Street East area. The relocation to the building's third floor was completed by July 2012. The developer who bought the Inquirer Building, Bart Blatstein, announced in May 2015 that he would attempt to turn the building into a 125-room

boutique hotel Boutique hotels are small inventory, design driven, unique hotels with their own character, personality and storytelling at the heart of their concept. Positioning is secondary for these hotels as they focus on authenticity and personalization ...

. He applied for $5 million in funding from Pennsylvania to go towards the $36.4 million project. According to Blatstein's schedule, construction would begin in August 2016. Blatstein had originally planned on using the building as part of a hotel/casino complex. Blatstein said that he wanted to preserve the building and its historical features, although his previous casino plan, "The Provence", called for new construction in a "faux-French theme", which drew criticism as being "tacky". However, Blatstein failed to receive the necessary licensing from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. In 2017 Blatstein abandoned plans to use the building as a hotel, opting instead to lease the building to the

to serve as the new headquarters. The City plans to buy the building from Blatstein at the end of the lease.

References

External links