Changing Skyline: Powering down

There comes a point in the life of our workhorse industrial buildings when we stop seeing them for the marvels they perform, and soon after that, we stop seeing them altogether. In Philadelphia, which abounds with the unused relics of a mighty industrial past, it's all too easy to forget that these are the structures that made the city modern.

Such has been the sad fate of the art deco steam plant behind 30th Street Station, built in 1929 by the architects of the rail terminal, with the same progressive ideas and design skill. Although the plant's octagonal smokestack soars 323 feet off a six-story base, making it one of West Philadelphia's tallest structures, one wonders how many of the thousands of passing commuters ever consciously note its presence. In two weeks, it could be gone, unceremoniously deleted from the skyline by Amtrak.

A building that churned out steam and electricity may not sound like a big deal. But the plant enabled the Pennsylvania Railroad - one of Amtrak's ancestors - to shift its main depot from Broad Street in the heart of Center City, to downtown's perimeter on 30th Street.

That allowed the railroad to electrify its train fleet and tear down the loathsome Chinese Wall tracks, paving the way for Market Street to become Philadelphia's premier high-rise office corridor - a modern business center. Those accomplishments are one reason the steam plant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

As a result of the planned implosion, which could take place as early as Nov. 15, Philadelphia will lose not only a landmark - living evidence of its railroading heritage - but also a structure that might have provided an incubator for a new, more up-to-date, industry.

Yet Amtrak can't even provide a straight answer about why the steam plant - along with a dormitory built for Pullman porters and a small outbuilding - must be demolished right now, nearly half a century after they were mothballed. The steam plant, of course, is contaminated with asbestos and PCBs, like all generating stations. It's not in the best condition either, which isn't surprising for a building that has been shuttered since 1964.