Friday, November 18, 2005
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY ANNOUNCES NEW LOCATION FOR BUILDING
The National Museum of American Jewish History has announced that it has exercised an option on the “KYW Building” at 5th and Market streets and will construct its new building at the site.
Currently, the Museum is located a half block away from 5th and Market streets. “Right now we are on the fifty yard line on Independence Mall. With our new location, we will be in the owner’s box,” said Museum board member and Capital Campaign Chairman George M. Ross.
“This is the premier museum site in Philadelphia because of its proximity to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, two of the major attractions in the city,” said Ron Rubin, Chairman and CEO of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and a Museum board member. “It has three street fronts, making ingress and egress and loading much more functional than the current site.
“We were very excited when we learned that this property was available. When an opportunity like this comes along you must take advantage of it. We’re not only building the museum for ourselves and our children, but for generations to come,” Rubin said. Rubin chairs the Museum’s Building Committee with Carl Dranoff, Chairman of Dranoff Properties. The new location has many advantages over the current one, according to the Museum’s Director/CEO Gwen Goodman.
• Visitation will be enhanced by being across the street from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Center; the latter attracts about 2 million tourists annually.
• The site’s larger footprint offers a more effective layout of exhibition space and the opportunity to build and operate a more efficient museum.
• The site offers the ability for enhanced revenue from: a potential parking garage; improved and expanded rental spaces; and a Museum Shop with a visible and separate entrance on Market Street, a major thoroughfare.
Goodman added that the new site’s corner is also the location of a station on the Market Frankford Line, making it easily accessible for public transit riders. In recent years, both the Liberty Bell Center and the National Constitution Center opened in Independence National Historical Park on Independence Mall as part of the largest urban revitalization project in the nation. Concurrently the park managed a $5.2 million rehabilitation of Independence Square, the site of Independence Hall. Spurred by the new construction, park visitation surged by 35 percent and now has four million visitors annually.
"We are delighted that the Museum is taking over this location,” said Mary A. Bomar, director of the Northeast Region for the National Park Service. “The Museum’s presence on the mall is fitting because the story of the Jewish community in America is a story of what can be achieved when a group finds freedom. Visitors from around the world will now have another way to experience this vital American value during visits to Independence National Historical Park.”
The Museum announced its $100 million Capital Campaign for a new Museum at its present location in November 2002, at which time local philanthropist Sidney Kimmel, founder and chairman of the Jones Apparel Group, made a lead gift of $25 million. His gift was followed by that of Ed Snider’s, Chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, who contributed $5 million.
The Museum’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the move at its September 29, 2005 meeting. According to Museum Chairman D. Walter Cohen, the timetable for the move is dependent on when the building’s current tenants move to their new location. Building occupant KYW-TV, and its sister stations located in the building, have not officially announced their relocation plans. Congregation Mikveh Israel, which shares its location with the Museum, will remain at the current site.
Museum architect James Polshek has begun drawing preliminary designs for the new location. Polshek, design principal of the Polshek Partnership in New York, is the building’s lead architect. The award-winning firm has designed many top museums, including the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the Clinton Presidential Center.
FOR ART, CONTACT JAY NACHMAN AT 215-923-5978 OR BY EMAIL AT JNACHMAN@NMAJH.ORG
Currently, the Museum is located a half block away from 5th and Market streets. “Right now we are on the fifty yard line on Independence Mall. With our new location, we will be in the owner’s box,” said Museum board member and Capital Campaign Chairman George M. Ross.
“This is the premier museum site in Philadelphia because of its proximity to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, two of the major attractions in the city,” said Ron Rubin, Chairman and CEO of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and a Museum board member. “It has three street fronts, making ingress and egress and loading much more functional than the current site.
“We were very excited when we learned that this property was available. When an opportunity like this comes along you must take advantage of it. We’re not only building the museum for ourselves and our children, but for generations to come,” Rubin said. Rubin chairs the Museum’s Building Committee with Carl Dranoff, Chairman of Dranoff Properties. The new location has many advantages over the current one, according to the Museum’s Director/CEO Gwen Goodman.
• Visitation will be enhanced by being across the street from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Center; the latter attracts about 2 million tourists annually.
• The site’s larger footprint offers a more effective layout of exhibition space and the opportunity to build and operate a more efficient museum.
• The site offers the ability for enhanced revenue from: a potential parking garage; improved and expanded rental spaces; and a Museum Shop with a visible and separate entrance on Market Street, a major thoroughfare.
Goodman added that the new site’s corner is also the location of a station on the Market Frankford Line, making it easily accessible for public transit riders. In recent years, both the Liberty Bell Center and the National Constitution Center opened in Independence National Historical Park on Independence Mall as part of the largest urban revitalization project in the nation. Concurrently the park managed a $5.2 million rehabilitation of Independence Square, the site of Independence Hall. Spurred by the new construction, park visitation surged by 35 percent and now has four million visitors annually."We are delighted that the Museum is taking over this location,” said Mary A. Bomar, director of the Northeast Region for the National Park Service. “The Museum’s presence on the mall is fitting because the story of the Jewish community in America is a story of what can be achieved when a group finds freedom. Visitors from around the world will now have another way to experience this vital American value during visits to Independence National Historical Park.”
The Museum announced its $100 million Capital Campaign for a new Museum at its present location in November 2002, at which time local philanthropist Sidney Kimmel, founder and chairman of the Jones Apparel Group, made a lead gift of $25 million. His gift was followed by that of Ed Snider’s, Chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, who contributed $5 million.
The Museum’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the move at its September 29, 2005 meeting. According to Museum Chairman D. Walter Cohen, the timetable for the move is dependent on when the building’s current tenants move to their new location. Building occupant KYW-TV, and its sister stations located in the building, have not officially announced their relocation plans. Congregation Mikveh Israel, which shares its location with the Museum, will remain at the current site.
Museum architect James Polshek has begun drawing preliminary designs for the new location. Polshek, design principal of the Polshek Partnership in New York, is the building’s lead architect. The award-winning firm has designed many top museums, including the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the Clinton Presidential Center.
FOR ART, CONTACT JAY NACHMAN AT 215-923-5978 OR BY EMAIL AT JNACHMAN@NMAJH.ORG
