The renovation project remains on hold after Gov. Corbett proposed a state budget Tuesday that held mass transit spending at current levels.
Above the stations, the Center City District is overseeing the remake of Dilworth Plaza, which will transform the concrete desert west of City Hall into a large lawn with trees, a fountain, and a cafe by 2014. It will also provide five elevators to the Market-Frankford and Subway-Surface lines.
SEPTA is spending about $14 million for the elevators and associated construction.
The Dilworth remake will include improvements to the mazelike concourse to make entry and exit easier, and the turnstile areas will be rebuilt.
But "once you get past the fare line, it's the same station that it is now," said Jeff Knueppel, chief engineer for SEPTA.
No elevator access will be provided to the Broad Street line, although shafts will be built as part of the Dilworth Plaza renovation to accommodate elevators if future funding is provided, said Paul Levy, president of the Center City District.
"That way, there'll be no need to rip up Dilworth Plaza to put in elevators if and when they get the money," Levy said.
For now, though, "nothing's happening on the Broad Street Line at all, except where you pay your fare will be improved," said Robert Lund, SEPTA's senior director of capital construction.
Contact staff writer Paul Nussbaum at 215-854-4587 or pnussbaum@phillynews.com.
