Reading Viaduct
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox park The Reading Viaduct, also called The Rail Park, is a disused elevated rail line in the Callowhill district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that has been partly transformed into a rail trail. The viaduct opened on January 29, 1893, and originally led to Reading Terminal in Center City Philadelphia. It was abandoned in 1984 after Philadelphia's Center City Commuter Tunnel opened. In 2010, the Center City District and a new community organization, Friends of the Rail Park, began to evaluate options to convert the abandoned viaduct into an elevated park. Phase 1 of the park opened on June 14, 2018.
HistoryEdit
Railroad useEdit
The Philadelphia and Reading Terminal Railroad was incorporated on April 13, 1888, leased by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway on May 1, 1891, and soon began construction.<ref name=":0" /> The viaduct was built by the Reading Company as an approach to the then-new Reading Terminal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The viaduct and terminal opened on January 29, 1893.<ref name=":0">Reading Terminal, Philadelphia</ref> The viaduct heads north from Reading Terminal and at Callowhill Junction, forks, with the Ninth Street Branch formally merging with the current SEPTA Main Line. The viaduct cuts through the street grid at a diagonal angle, creating several irregularly shaped lots.<ref name="Walsh b374" /><ref name="n165270679">Template:Cite news</ref> The primary section of the viaduct, the Ninth Street Branch, has four tracks.<ref name="n165271125">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1984, the Reading Terminal closed,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Philadelphia's Center City Commuter Tunnel opened.<ref name="Snags">Template:Cite news</ref> The southern section of the viaduct, south of Vine Street, was razed in 1990 to make way for the Pennsylvania Convention Center.<ref name="Perez-Castells g092">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The section south of the Vine Street Expressway (I-676/US 30) was demolished to make way for the convention center.<ref name="Walsh b374">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="n165268654">Template:Cite news</ref> The rest of the viaduct still exists, as it was too cumbersome to demolish the structure.<ref name="n165268654" /> Additionally, the viaduct was full of pollutants that had to be removed before the structure could be demolished or repurposed.<ref name="n165270679" />
The viaduct includes a Template:Convert westward branch known as the City Branch.<ref name="n165270679" /> The City Branch diverges from the Ninth Street Branch at Callowhill Junction, traveling toward the former Reading Company main line at Belmont Junction. West of 13th Street, the City Branch descends into an open cut known as the Cut, which was operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The Cut was used until 1992; the final freight customer on the Cut was The Philadelphia Inquirer.<ref name="Burnley e476">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Rail ParkEdit
First phaseEdit
By the 1990s, the Reading Company's successor firm Reading International Inc. had offered to give the Philadelphia government $2–3 million to take over the viaduct. The city government did not accept this offer.<ref name="Walsh b374" /> In the 2000s, there were suggestions to convert the Reading Viaduct to a rail trail.<ref name="Walsh b374" /><ref name="n165268654" /> This effort was led by two local artists, John Struble and Sarah McEneaney,<ref name="n165270679" /><ref name="n165271409">Template:Cite news</ref> who in 2004 formed a nonprofit called Friends of the Rail Park.<ref name="Perez-Castells g092" /> Students at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design suggested converting the viaduct into a rail trail similar to the Promenade Plantee in Paris.<ref name="n165270679" /> The success of New York City's High Line, a similar rail trail which opened in 2009, encouraged further efforts to convert the Reading Viaduct to a park.<ref name="Walsh b374" /><ref name="n165271125" /><ref name="n165271409" /> Although gates had been installed to prevent access to the decrepit viaduct, people still trespassed anyway, leaving debris and garbage there.<ref name="n165271409" /> Planning for the park accelerated in 2009 after the Center City District joined the project.<ref name="Blumgart u953">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The district's leader, Paul Levy, commissioned a study that found that it would cost $36 million to convert the viaduct into a park, versus $50 million to demolish it. In addition, Reading International owed $1.4 million in unpaid taxes and was required to conduct environmental remediation.<ref name="n165268654" />
In 2010, the Center City District and Friends of the Rail Park began to evaluate options to convert the abandoned viaduct into an elevated park.<ref name="Patten 20132">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They also began raising money for the planned park.<ref name="n165271409" /> The next year, the planned park was included in a master plan for Philadelphia.<ref name="Perez-Castells g092" /> However, residents of the nearby Chinatown neighborhood preferred demolishing the viaduct, as they feared that it would lead to gentrification.<ref name="Walsh b374" /><ref name="n165271125" /><ref name="n165271409" /> The Callowhill Reading Viaduct Neighborhood Improvement District was proposed to raise money for streetscape improvements around the viaduct,<ref name="Perez-Castells g092" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but the district was not created due to local opposition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Philadelphia city and Pennsylvania state governments agreed in 2014 to provide money for the conversion of the Reading Viaduct into a park;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the city initially allocated $1.8 million to the project.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2015, the Center City District received another $1 million from the Philadelphia government.<ref name="Saksa p561">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the city proposed acquiring the spur from Broad to Callowhill Street,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the City Planning Commission approved the acquisition in May 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bryan Hanes was hired to design the first phase of the park,<ref name="Hahn h446">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Orso v980">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Philadelphia Art Commission approved designs in June 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first phase of the project was originally planned to cost $9.6 million.<ref name="Burnley e476" /><ref name="Saffron y487">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a $3.5 million grant in September 2016, which covered all remaining funding shortfalls.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Construction began on the Rail Park's first phase on October 31, 2016.<ref name="Blumgart u953" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Rail Park's first phase added a boardwalk, benches, landscaping, and swings.<ref name="Orso v980" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The park's opening was delayed after workers discovered severe deterioration to the bridge that carried the park and Noble Street above 13th Street.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first phase opened to the public on June 14, 2018,<ref name="Merriman t448">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Sasko 2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> having cost $10.3 million<ref name="Perez-Castells g092" /><ref name="Chernaskey q550">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or $11 million.<ref name="Hahn h446" /> The city's mayor Jim Kenney predicted that the park would encourage development in the area.<ref name="Perez-Castells g092" /><ref name="Merriman t448" /> The Rail Park began hosting public art festivals in 2019, starting with the Site/Sound festival that October.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Second phaseEdit
Supporters of the Rail Park were raising $60 million for the second phase, including environmental work and land acquisition.<ref name="Mosbrucker-Garza t666">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This was complicated by the fact that the route had never been formally abandoned; this meant that the viaduct could theoretically be reopened for rail service at any time, even though it had been partially demolished.<ref name="Mosbrucker-Garza t666" /> The old Spring Garden Street station, along the northern section of the viaduct, was razed in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Work on the second phase stalled for several years,<ref name="Perez-Castells g092" /> and the abandoned Ninth Street Branch portion was used as an illegal dumping ground.<ref name="DOnofrio q631">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In June 2022, Philadelphia City Council member Mark Squilla proposed legislation that would authorize the city to acquire the rest of the viaduct from Reading International.<ref name="Perez-Castells g092" /><ref name="DOnofrio q631" />
By 2024, Reading International wanted to sell the unused part of the viaduct for $50 million, a figure the Philadelphia government was unwilling to pay.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The William Penn Foundation gave a $2 million grant in August 2024,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the federal government provided another $2 million for the park's second phase in January 2025, allowing design to proceed.<ref name="Mosbrucker-Garza t666" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania agreed to provide $475,000 for the project, and additional funds were being raised from private sources.<ref name="Mosbrucker-Garza t666" /> The second phase could connect with the proposed "Stitch", a highway cap above the Vine Street Expressway.<ref name="Mosbrucker-Garza t666" />
ApproachesEdit
The main line of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway (originally the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad and Northern Liberties and Penn Township Railroad) came into Philadelphia on the southwest side of the Schuylkill River and crossed at a point northwest of downtown (this line is now used only by freight). It then passed into a tunnel under Pennsylvania Avenue and turned east just north of Callowhill Street. The original alignment turned south along Broad Street, with a passenger station at Broad and Vine. The line continued east past Broad Street for freight to the Delaware River, using Willow Street. The passenger station was later moved to half a block east of Broad Street, on the old freight line. The spur from the viaduct was built just east of this station.<ref name=":1" />
The other Reading line, originally the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad, and now used for passenger service by SEPTA, ran north on 9th Street from the east-west line on Willow Street. Its passenger station was at Ninth and Green, again where the new viaduct merged with the old alignment.<ref name=":1">Template:Holton-Reading-1</ref>
Park descriptionEdit
The Rail Park's first phase stretches from Callowhill Street to Noble Street, along the former City Branch,<ref name="Hahn h446" /><ref name="Lubetkin n242">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> measuring Template:Convert long.<ref name="Chernaskey q550" /> To the west, it is accessed from Noble Street, where that road and the former City Branch cross 13th Street on a bridge; this is the park's ADA-accessible entrance.<ref name="Lubetkin n242" /><ref name="U.S. News Travel t610" /> The bridge over 13th Street contains several planters. The rest of the park has wooden benches, trees, and raised gardens.<ref name="Hahn h446" /> There is also a mural on the viaduct,<ref name="U.S. News Travel t610" /> in addition to industrial-looking steel frames with swing sets.<ref name="Hahn h446" /> At the east end of the park's first phase, there is a staircase descending to Callowhill Street between 12th and 11th streets;<ref name="Lubetkin n242" /><ref name="U.S. News Travel t610">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a steel gate separates the park from the rest of the abandoned viaduct.<ref name="Hahn h446" /> The park is open between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. each day.<ref name="U.S. News Travel t610" />
The Friends of the Rail Park's original plans called for renovating not only the Ninth Street Branch section of the viaduct from Vine Street to Fairmount Avenue, but also the City Branch to Girard Avenue.<ref name="Burnley e476" /><ref name="Hahn h446" /> The Ninth Street Branch section, known simply as "The Viaduct", extends about Template:Convert and creates a "V" shape with the City Branch.<ref name="Chernaskey q550" /> West of the first phase is the Cut, an open cut from Broad Street to the Rodin Museum at 22nd Street.<ref name="Lubetkin n242" /><ref name="Chernaskey q550" /> This connects with the Tunnel, which extends further west to Brewerytown and the Philadelphia Zoo.<ref name="Chernaskey q550" />
See alsoEdit
- 30th Street Station
- Chinese Wall (Philadelphia)
- Bloomingdale Trail, a converted elevated line in Chicago
- Dequindre Cut, a converted below-grade line in Detroit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Friends of the Railpark
- VIADUCTgreene
- Photo Tour: JJ Tiziou, "Philadelphia's Secret Garden", January 8, 2012
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