Ruin Porn

Willow Street Steam Generation Plant, 9th and Willow Street, Callowhill/Eraserhood, North Philly.

This is one of those hulking ruins you see from 676 all the time, but never actually drive by the place itself. This huge building is tucked away by parking lots, food processing plants and a Union Hall on the edge of Callowhill and Chinatown.

According to the fabulous Workshop of the World Site, it was “built in 1927 by the Philadelphia Electric Company as part of Center City Philadelphia’s elaborate steam delivery system.”

Now it seems like the need for a giant asbestos cleanup is preventing a rush to use it for anything else.

Philadelphia Electric Company Delaware Station, 1300 Block of North Beach Street, Fishtown, North Philly.

You can read about the History of this massive structure on the Internets, but what is going to happen to this “as seen from I-95” eyesore next to Penn Treaty Park in Fishtown?

There is a big-ass project in the works that includes making this site and Penn Treaty Park the “cultural and civic hub of the northern portion of the Central Delaware Waterfront.” You can visit the website for the Master Plan for the Central Delaware and read the entire plan online.

It’s a project 3 years in the making and will take 25-30 years to roll out. It looks pretty awesome. The PECO building in particular will be “renovated into a large museum and an outdoor theatre and concert venue.”

In the meantime I wish PECO would take some of the $$ from last year’s rate hike and at least paint those smoke stacks or something. They look like crap.

The Philadelphia Electric Company Susquehanna Sub Station, Susquehanna Ave and American Street, West Kensington, North Philly.

I have come up with a big zero about this building on the Google Machine. I am surprised, because it has a for sale sign on it. You would think it would at least be on the real estate company’s site.