Here you see one of the other legacies of urban renewal in the area of Chinatown, which is the expansion of parking lots to serve the adjoining businesses, residential complexes, and large institutions. The south side of Arch Street has a multistory parking deck called Parkade on 8th which partially covers 8th Street between Arch and Filbert. It is marketed to attendees at the nearby Pennsylvania Convention Center as well as workers and shoppers. Adjoining this garage is a 94-unit affordable housing development called Francis House of Peace, which was developed by two nonprofits, the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation and Project HOME.
On the north side of the street, there is a large surface lot. To partially screen this lot from the street, public art in the form of bronze sculptures of four Chinese dragons adorns the sidewalk alongside the parking lot. The 1500-pound dragons writhing on top of thin stainless steel poles were made by sculptor Ward Elicker and installed in 2009. Elicker told the radio station WHYY that he was inspired by Chinese New Year parades where dragons are held aloft by bamboo poles. Eliker said the snakelike dragons are meant to be a welcoming gateway into Chinatown. Comparing these dragons with images of dragons in Western culture, Elicker added: "The Western dragon is a much more feared creature. The Asian dragon is much more benevolent. It’s more of a creature that brings luck and prosperity to people… I’m hoping to bring lots of prosperity to Philadelphia and Chinatown.”
The four dragons cost $300,000 and were commissioned by the Parkway Corporation, which owns the parking lot and developed the adjacent condominiums known as the Pearl. Per city policy, construction of the condominiums required a one-percent investment in a public art installation.
A large parking lot operator and land speculator in Philadelphia, Parkway holds vacant property and surface parking lots, which it markets as development opportunities. This demonstrates what can happen to cleared urban renewal land that is transferred to private developers. The properties on this block that were once divided among many small owners were delivered into the hands of large developers and speculators such as Parkway, which held them for years or decades before market conditions became favorable to redevelopment.
As you turn the corner from Arch onto 9th, you will pass by the facade of the Pearl condo building. Note that the ground-floor businesses are mostly ethnically Chinese, signifying the occupation (or re-occupation) of these urban renewal lands by the ethnic enclave.
Source: Peter Crimmins, "Chinatown to Get Bronze Dragons," WHYY.org, April 8, 2009.
Photo by Charles Starks