Decision on Boys and Girls Club in Germantown delayed

Philadelphia Historical Commission tells neighborhood groups seeking historic designation for the Boys and Girls Club in Germantown to go back to the negotiating table to settle the conflict over whether the club should be on the city's register of historic places.

There are no longer plans to demolish the 1898 building that is home to Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia in Germantown. Pictured is a view of club from West Penn Street. Read moreStaff

by Valerie Russ

Published June 8, 2018, 3:44 p.m. ET

The Philadelphia Historical Commission on Friday gave neighborhood groups and the attorney for the Boys and Girls Club of Germantown 90 days to work out an agreement over whether the 1898 building should receive historic designation.

Jerry Goodman, an attorney for the club, said it had agreed in February to renovate and adapt the existing building only if neighbors agree to withdraw their request for historic designation, which he said would restrict uses of the property at 23 W. Penn St.

Commission Chairman Robert P. Thomas noted that with designation on the city register often come tax credits and grants.

Neighbors said the original plan for an ice-skating rink would have created traffic hazards on Penn, a one-way residential street. There were also concerns development could mean the loss of the green space used by neighborhood soccer teams and Germantown Friends School. The Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia owns the land and has had agreements with schools and other teams permitting them to use the fields.