National Constitution Center

Bruce Springsteen, whose music and lyrics have long celebrated the common man, with patriotism in mind, is the spotlight of the National Constitution Center's spring and summer events. Unless the Boss makes one of his famous impromptu appearances, there is not a big Day One promotion for Friday's opening of "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen. " But "Six Nights With Bruce Springsteen" have been scheduled over the next several months.

The transformation of Independence Mall from a barren expanse to a landscaped park dotted with civic buildings will advance another step today when architect Henry Cobb presents his design for the National Constitution Center, a museum intended to dramatize America's guiding principles. Until now, only a general plan for the remaking of the mall has been available, although architects are working on designs for several important new buildings. When a scale model of the Constitution Center is unveiled tonight at the Annenberg Center, the public should have a clearer sense of how the finished mall will look.

Investment guru John C. Bogle can take great pride in being succeeded as chairman of the National Constitution Center by former President George H. W. Bush. But the one-time commander in chief may find that Bogle isn't an easy act to follow. The founder of the Vanguard Group Inc. led the Constitution Center during its critical final design phase, its construction on Independence Mall, its July 2003 opening, and beyond. The cornerstone of Bogle's seven-year tenure on the board, of course, was a $185 million capital campaign.

Domingo Los Baños, a self-described "plantation boy" from Kalaheo, Hawaii, is among seven Americans who fought during World War II and are honored in the "Fighting for Democracy: Who is the 'We' in "We the People"? exhibit at the National Constitution Center. Raised in America, Los Baños, Bill Terry, Hazel Ying Lee, George Saito, Carl Gorman, Frances Slanger, and Héctor García all were treated as second-class citizens, because of their culture, sex or race. Some of them struggled to be accepted into predominantly white and male institutions, like the U.S. Air Force and the Army.

There was a flurry of phone calls to the new president of the National Constitution Center (NCC) some months back - all but one from creditors pestering the then-financially ailing nonprofit. The other call was from University of Pennsylvania president Judith Rodin. Good thing she got through. Dr. Rodin called to ask if there was anything the university could do to help. As NCC president Joseph Torsella recalls, that led to the announcement yesterday of a multifaceted partnership with Penn.

An ex-president or two may be what's needed to push the National Constitution Center museum planned for Independence Mall past the dream stage. The project still needs to earn the public support and high profile it deserves - and prominent Americans can play a key role. So George Bush's agreement to serve as honorary chair of the campaign to build the $170 million attraction is a milestone. It's also long overdue. What relegated the Constitution Center to the northernmost block of Independence Mall in last year's planning for a mall makeover was uncertainty about its feasibility.

Fund-raising for the National Constitution Center planned for Independence Mall is to get another hefty boost today when First Union Corp., the recent purchaser of CoreStates Bank, announces a $1 million cash gift. The contribution is the largest so far to the capital campaign of the once-floundering push for a high-tech exhibit and educational institution dedicated to the American charter drafted in Philadelphia in 1787. The timing also helps burnish the image of the company that acquired Philadelphia's last big, locally based bank in April.

Less than three years old, the National Constitution Center has established itself as one of the city's cultural celebs, attracting a million visitors a year, putting pizzazz into civic and educational offerings, hosting blockbuster exhibitions - of history, no less - and attracting the nation's intellectual cognoscenti and media elite like bears to honey. Yesterday, Richard Stengel, president of the center for more than two years, passed the reins back to his predecessor, Joseph Torsella, who brought the center into existence, overseeing a $175 million fund-raising campaign and the construction of the center's angular glass-and-granite temple on the northernmost block of Independence Mall.

Some of the best and brightest historians gathered in Philadelphia recently to ponder the deeper meaning of the U.S. Constitution. What a roomful of furrowed brows, right? Well, actually, the scholars just kicked back and started trading stories they figured other folks might enjoy. The storytelling went on for several days - stories of Franklin, Abigail Adams and James Madison . . . of wrenching civil war . . . of protests and Old Glory . . . of riding at the front of the bus, not the back.

The National Constitution Center is planned to combine high purpose and theme-park-quality entertainment when, and if, it opens in 2002. It already has been a roller-coaster. In the front seat is Joseph M. Torsella, a 35-year-old entrepreneur and inventor with a passion for history and politics and a penchant for solving financial problems. As president of the fledgling center, he will need all of those qualities. The long-planned and long-stalled project finally got traction this year, when Pennsylvania's senators moved it meaningfully ahead and sizable private contributions began coming in. There have been setbacks, too. The latest: Congress appears likely to adjourn without acting on a bill to appropriate $20 million or so for the Constitution Center, one tiny detail among the numerous federal spending bills awaiting action, even though the new federal fiscal year already has begun.

Celebrate Earth Day on Sunday at the National Constitution Center and learn how you can go green. From noon to 5 p.m., guests can learn how to become active citizens working for a better environment. You can take the "It Is Easy Being Green" quiz and see how much you know about living an eco-friendly life, and learn about environmental trailblazers such as Lady Bird Johnson. At 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., guests can do the math by calculating the founding fathers' carbon footprint to see how environmentally friendly Philadelphia was during Revolutionary times.

Events are free unless otherwise indicated. Symposiums & Seminars Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a few information sessions on how to become a Big Brother or Big Sister. Center City office, 123 S. Broad St., Suite 2180; 215-790-9200 or www.bbbssepa.org. 6 pm Wed•Noon Thurs•10 am Sat National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., Independence Mall; 215-409-6700 or www. constitutioncenter.org. Reservations required. Income Tax Day, free with museum admission 9:30 am-5 pm Tues•Social Media: The New Political Battleground, 6:30 pm Thurs•One University: FDR and the Path to WWII: What We Know Now That We Didn't Know Then, Admission $89. Reservations are required at www.onedayu.com.

R OXBOROUGH native/actress Kim Delaney has finally spoken publicly about her strange speech at the National Constitution Center in September, when former Defense Secretary Robert Gates received the Liberty Medal. Delaney, star of Lifetime's "Army Wives," told Entertainment Weekly that she had been having a "bad week. " "I wasn't feeling great, and there were technical problems," Delaney told EW's Lynette Rice about her freeze-up at the event, at which she struggled reading from a prompter and was escorted from the stage by a handler.

Firstrust Bank , Conshohocken, has hired John D. Rooney as senior vice president, director of new business development for commercial lending. He had been senior vice president for commercial banking at Wells Fargo Bank. Public Health Management Corp. , a Philadelphia nonprofit public health institute, has hired Renée Cromartie as managing director for Total Quality Management. She had been director of quality assurance and performance improvement for South Jersey Healthcare LIFE.

Repertory Films Ambler Theater 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler; 215-345-7855. www.amblertheater.com . Batman (1966) $4. 2/25. 11 am. Oscar Party & Birthday Celebration. $40-$60. 2/26. 6:45 pm. Bristol Riverside Theatre 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol; 215-785-6664. www.brtstage.org . Annie (1982) $5. 2/26. 7 pm. Bryn Mawr Film Institute 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr; 610-527-9898. www.brynmawrfilm.org . Going Gaga. $7. 2/29. Have Rocket, Will Travel (1959)

Does an exhibit on Bruce Springsteen have any place at the National Constitution Center?

Last week's opening of an exhibit on Bruce Springsteen at the National Constitution Center raises a question: What in Asbury Park does Bruce Springsteen have to do with the Constitution? True, both were born in the same country (the U.S.A.) and, in fact, within about 50 miles of Trenton. And both were born to run (in the Constitution's case, a nation). And, of course, both continue to enjoy rock-star adulation despite advanced age and significant imperfections. Springsteen is not the most incongruous figure the Independence Mall museum has featured.

Saturday-Monday Salute the presidents, taste chocolate Historic Philadelphia is offering two special events this weekend: marking President's Day Weekend from 2-5 p.m. Saturday-Monday, and Colonial Chocolate-Making from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. those same days. Young visitors will hear Once Upon a Nation storytellers relate the lesser-known stories of U.S. presidents at Historic Philadelphia Center, Sixth and Chestnut streets. The history of chocolate and free samples of the confection will be given at the Betsy Ross House, 239 Arch St. Information: 215-629-4026, www.historicphiladelphia.org . Saturday Raise dollars to reduce obesity Ahmir Khalib "?

Bruce Springsteen, whose music and lyrics have long celebrated the common man, with patriotism in mind, is the spotlight of the National Constitution Center's spring and summer events. Unless the Boss makes one of his famous impromptu appearances, there is not a big Day One promotion for Friday's opening of "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen. " But "Six Nights With Bruce Springsteen" have been scheduled over the next several months.

Toward the end of the National Constitution Center exhibit "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen," which opens on Friday, there's a section called Book of Dreams. To get there, you walk by the 1960 Chevrolet Corvette that Springsteen bought in 1975 after the success of Born to Run , and pass through rooms lined with fliers advertising gigs by early Springsteen bands like Steel Mill and Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom. There are trophies like the 1994 best-song Oscar for "Streets of Philadelphia," and artifacts such as the jeans and T-shirt the Boss wore on the cover of 1984's Born in the U.S.A.