The Mall Beckons

We are building our new Museum at 5th and Market streets on Independence Mall, at a site that is the former home of KYW radio and television stations. The KYW building is pictured below; the photograph is by Jeff Holder, who will be documenting the building’s demolition and the construction of the new Museum. I’ll be periodically posting his photos.


When completed, the new Museum will look like this. At night, of course.

It’s a beautifully designed building. Even if it wasn’t, almost anything would have brightened up a drab corner on one of the most important intersections in Philadelphia, if not the country. That may sound a bit grandiose, but it’s true. A block south of the new Museum site is Independence Hall. Directly across from the new Museum is the Liberty Bell Complex. Two blocks away is the National Constitution Center.

Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Two of the greatest symbols of American democracy, and the Museum will be sharing Independence Mall with them (along with a hot dog vendor or two – God, I love democracy!)

But the Museum has a greater mandate than to be just a pretty building. Our core exhibition now being designed will tell the story of more than 350 years of Jewish life in America. The Museum exhibition will demonstrate how Jews – and other ethnic groups – benefited from the freedoms pledged on the Mall by the Founding Fathers.

I’ll be discussing more in future posts about the contents of the core exhibition and how we intend to tell the story of the American Jewish experience. In any case, we’ll find out if we are successful on July 4, 2010. That’s when the opening is planned. Hope you can make it.