Celebrating National Historic Preservation Month

May is National Historic Preservation Month. To celebrate, the Preservation Alliance asked 31 historic preservation leaders in Philadelphia to name a building that has inspired them and why. We invite you to watch this space daily and hear from leaders in the local preservation movement as they reveal the historic buildings that have inspired them.

Fon Wang, AIA, LEED AP Fleisher Art Memorial 719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia

Growing up, my mother had a loom that took up the size of our living room. She made weavings for fun and sold a few. It was really cool to watch my mom and the loom in action. She seemed to have more coordination than a pro athlete as she manipulated her feet on the pedals while stringing the yarn through. After about a decade of use, she donated our family loom to the Fleisher Art Memorial. That’s when I first heard about this amazing place.   The Fleisher Yarn Company began in Philadelphia in the late 19 th century. As a benefit to the mill’s employees, the Fleisher family made arrangements for free art classes to the neighborhood children – and has become a local institution that has adapted its physical space over time, evolved its programming, and remains available to Philadelphians to this day as the Fleisher Art Memorial.

Since its founding in 1898, Fleisher is constantly reinventing. Over the years, Fleisher purchased a number of buildings on the block and weaved them together on the inside. The outside façade still fits nicely within the neighborhood marked by typical Philly row houses. It’s a real community hub. Fleisher has all sorts of cultural celebrations from the Day of the Dead to Cambodian dance lessons.   Fleisher’s has the rare urban amenity of parking, which sounds dull, but the blank walls are constantly repainted with “real artist murals” to random collaboration from neighborhood kids. . I also love Fleisher’s teen lounge program. It’s a place where kids can hang out after school and make things. It’s an awesome mess -- like a teenager’s room.   I’ve always loved the Fleisher Art Memorial’s sanctuary. As a young adult just out of college, I took life drawing classes there with a few friends. Classes were free with a fee to pay the models. It was a great way to continue drawing by hand while working on the computer at work. Many years later, I got married there in the original marble pulpit with our family seated in the choir stalls on either side (That’s me and my husband Bob in the photo. )

Fon Wang Director of Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse at Ballinger. Ballinger is a 142-year-old architecture and engineering firm and one of the first firms in the United States to provide an integrated approach to building design. In addition to her work at Ballinger, Fon contributes to the preservation community with her work on the Philadelphia Historic Preservation Task Force and teaching in PennDesign’s Historic Preservation Program.

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Tuesday, May 26, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM Penn Square, City Hall, and the Emergence of Modern Philadelphia Presented by Paul Steinke ,   Executive Director,  Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia The building of Philadelphia City Hall at Center Square in the late 19th century was not only a monumental feat of art, architecture and engineering. It was also a powerful catalyst for city building, and for the forging of a civic identity. Preservation Alliance executive director Paul Steinke discusses the forces that led our municipal headquarters to be located where it is, as well as the forces it unleashed to transform the surrounding neighborhood.

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Tuesday, June 2, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM Saving Neon and Rowhouse Culture Presented by Len Davidson ,   Founder,  Neon Museum of Philadelphia For over 40 years Len Davidson has produced new neon and collected the old, both in sign and story. His 1999 book "Vintage Neon" is an essential photo archive and cultural history for sign lovers. Len’s interactive talk will examine Philly neon history including his establishment of the Neon Museum of Philadelphia in lower Kensington.

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