Changing Skyline: New IRS building now an even bigger barrier to uniting Schuylkill's banks

For all the monumentality of the old 30th Street post office, Philadelphia would be better off had it been located in some less-visible corner of the city. Armored in a quarry's worth of limestone, the full-block building lords over the Schuylkill like a medieval fortress. Its main charm was the lavish art deco retail store on the ground floor. But now that the Internal Revenue Service has moved its regional headquarters there, even that space is off-limits to the public for security reasons.