Great indoors

THE SESSION just recessed by City Council wasn't the worst in history, but it can't be chalked up as stellar. The city budget got resolved, but we can't shake the feeling that the biggest motivator for resolution was more the fear of having to forfeit deposits on summer rentals than it was policy urgency.

Now that Council is at the beach, it's worth singling out at least one worthwhile law that got passed: a bill that authorizes the Historic Commission to designate interior portions of buildings as historic. In a city as steeped in history as ours, it's a mystery why Philadelphia remained one of the few major cities that had no law allowing for historical designations of interiors . . . even after the stunning Maxfield Parrish-Tiffany glass mosaic "The Dream Garden" was sold from the lobby of the Curtis Building 10 years ago (and subsequently saved from its move to Las Vegas).

Councilman Bill Green deserves credit for this law, and he deserves extra credit for the PowerPoint presentation he put before Council that detailed the pros and cons of the law, with comparative data and compelling arguments. This amount of homework and research should be the standard for all laws proposed by Council. *