Reading Terminal
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The Reading Terminal is a complex located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The complex is composed of three parts: the Reading Terminal Headhouse, the Reading Terminal Trainshed, and the Reading Terminal Market.
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[edit] History
[edit] Construction
In 1889 the Reading Railroad announced it would build a new train depot for its Philadelphia services at on the corner of 12th and Market Streets. Reading announced that the new depot would include a new trainshed, advertised to be the biggest in the world, fronted on Market by an eight-story headhouse, which would serve as the passenger station and company headquarters for the Reading Railroad.
The lot on which the company selected to place its new station was also the location of an open-air market, which had been in continuous operation in that location as since 1653. This announcement did not sit well with the market, as the original proposal would have eliminated the market. But following negotiations with the Reading Railroad, it was decided that the markets occupying the location on which the railroad proposed to build its new terminal would be purchased for one million dollars. The markets would be relocated to a new structure, to be built below the now-elevated trainshed and directly to the rear of the headhouse at 12th and Filbert streets, thus creating the Reading Terminal Market within the new trainshed beneath the elevated rail tracks. The subsequent elevation of the trainshed, from an at-grade to an above-grade, would also necessitate the need to construct the Reading Viaduct in order to service trains into the trainshed.
The Reading Railroad's move to build a new central station for its Philadelphia operations in Center City coincided with similar moves by two of the Reading's major competitors, the Pennsylvania Railroad with their Broad Street Station (opened in 1881), located several blocks from Reading Terminal at Broad and Market streets, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad with their 24th Street Station (opened in 1888) located at 24th and Chestnut Streets.
The building was designed in 1891, by the Wilson Brothers Architecture & Engineering firm; its architect was attributed as F. H. Kimbal. Construction would also begin the same year, concluding in 1893, with the station opening on January 29.
[edit] Reading Terminal Station
Reading Terminal not only served passengers on Reading's inter-city services heading to Philadelphia, but also served as the base for Reading's regional rail services, many of which are still in use today as part of the SEPTA Regional Rail system, from Center City to the outlying neighborhoods and suburbs in and around Philadelphia, though mainly concentrated on the northern end of Philadelphia. During its peak usage, during the time of World War II, as many as 45,000 passengers passed through the Reading Terminal complex every day. These numbers would start a steady decline starting in the 1950s, due to a shift in the transportation makeup in the United States with more people using cars and the advent of air travel. The Reading's decline in passenger travel, as well as significant declines in their other rail-related business, would prevent the company from investing capital into maintenance and upkeep of the Reading Terminal, causing the facility to also decline in line with the downturn in rail passenger traffic.
This downturn would eventually lead to the Reading declaring bankruptcy on November 23, 1971. With the subsequent bankruptcies of other railroads in the northeast area, and the formation of Conrail in 1976 to take over the freight operations of those railroads, Reading divested itself of its rail assets, with the freight services going to Conrail, and its remaining passenger service, its Philadelphia regional rail services, going to SEPTA, the regional transit authority for Philadelphia (though Conrail would run the services under contract from SEPTA until 1983). SEPTA would also gain control of the ex-PRR regional lines, leading to all of the regional rail service being placed in the hands of a one authority. Even though Reading no longer controlled the rail services into the Reading Terminal, it still retained ownership of the complex.
Now in control of both sections of the regional rail system, SEPTA began to develop a plan to connect the two separate sections of the system to form one continuous system. These plans would lead to the development of the Center City Commuter Connection, a passenger rail tunnel that would connect Reading Terminal with Suburban Station, the stub end of the ex-PRR network, located on the site of the former Broad Street Station. Because the decision was made to connect the stations underground - Suburban Station's terminal is located beneath its building - a new terminal would need to be constructed to replace Reading Terminal, which had its platforms elevated above ground. The new station, which would be built adjacent to Reading terminal, is the now Market East Station.
The last train departed Reading Terminal, a specially made up R5 Lansdale, on November 6, 1984. Rail services from that day on would be transferred to Market East, thus abandoning Reading Terminal.
[edit] Later use
The Reading Terminal's fate was uncertain in the years following, with several plans offered for its demolition or adaptive reuse. Its location within the Market Street East Redevelopment Area, an urban renewal along the Market Street corridor from City Hall to 6th Street spearheaded by Edmund Bacon, and its landmark status, staved off its demolition. The site became one of four candidates for the new Pennsylvania Convention Center. In choosing this property, the site selection team considered the Market Street entrances offered by the headhouse and the size and scale of the trainshed, keys to the success of the Convention Center. The terminal's selection as the site led to its purchase from the Reading Company by the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia on the behalf of the City of Philadelphia in 1993. Following the purchase of the terminal, extensive renovations were commenced on the trainshed and headhouse portions, the Market now under its own control.
Both the trainshed and the headhouse would become integral parts of the new convention center, with both sections undergoing a complete refurbishment. The trainshed would become The Grand Hall and Ballroom of the Convention Center, while the headhouse would become the main entrance to the center. The remaining space on the concourse levels of the headhouse would be refurbished into retail space, with Hard Rock Cafe being an anchor. The upper levels of the headhouse, the former Reading Railroad offices, were converted to additional meeting and ballroom facilities as well as an addition 200+ rooms for the adjacent Marriott Hotel, for which it also serves as a secondary entrance and is connected by a skywalk.
[edit] Architecture
The eight-story headhouse, built in the Italian Renaissance style, features brick-bearing walls with cast-iron columns and timber floors. Interior finishes are molded ornamental plaster and marble, with cast-iron detailing in the Renaissance style.
At the time of its construction, it was one of the largest single-span arched trainshed roof structures in the world. It is now the oldest surviving single-span arched trainshed roof structure in the world, and the only one of its kind remaining in the United States. The shed was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
[edit] Trivia
- The airport scene from the film 12 Monkeys was shot in the Reading Terminal Trainshed, not long after its renovation.
- There is a scene in the 1981 Brian De Palma film Blow Out with John Travolta shot in Reading Terminal.
[edit] Sources
- Highsmith, Carol and Holton, James. Reading Terminal and Market: Philadelphia's Historic Gateway and Grand Convention Center, Chelsea Publishing Company, January 7, 1994. ISBN 0-9620877-1-8
