Existing Monastery
Proposed Development
By Miriam Hill
The old mansion at Corinthian Street and Girard Avenue was once home to the Poor Clare nuns, who filled both the building and the neighborhood with their contemplative presence.
They left 34 years ago. Now a developer wants to knock down the former monastery to build 42 small residential units - and the reaction of neighbors is anything but quiet.
"I think it would be a shame for them to be demolished," said John Gallery, executive director of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. "The development proposed in its place is really out of character, both in style and choice of materials, and in density. It seems to be overbuilt for the site."
Joseph Beller, a lawyer for the developer, 2012 W. Girard Associates, did not return calls for comment. The developer's address is in Jenkintown, and a message left at the phone number for that property was not returned.
According to city records, the owners are 1 1/2 years in arrears on property taxes, although the city updates its files only monthly.
At a June 13 community meeting, the developer presented plans to raze the three structures at 2012-2030 Girard Ave. - a chapel and two brownstones where the nuns once lived.
The developer proposed erecting two four-story buildings containing 800-square-foot units with two bedrooms each. The construction would include 16 parking spaces for 42 condominiums or apartments.
In May, the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections refused to issue a permit for the development. The refusal noted several violations of the zoning code, including exceeding allowed heights and having no rear yard.
The developer has applied for multiple zoning variances and will have a July 19 meeting before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The new structures would eliminate a garden at the side of the property. There, benches where the Poor Clares sat and prayed surround a reflecting pool long since emptied of water. The tops of the benches had been capstones for the walls of Girard College, whose stately Grecian campus sits just across the avenue.
On one of the buildings, a cross and "Monastery of St. Clare" are carved above a window. Pebbled glass protected the nuns from both prying eyes and the temptations of the outside world.
In 1977, the Poor Clares departed for a new home in Langhorne, and the Girard Avenue properties fell into decay.
Not too long ago, before a fence went up, a visitor could sit in the garden on a weekend morning and hear the bells at Girard College peal "Morning Has Broken," an old Gaelic tune later recorded by Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam.
Neighbors and community activists want the developer to preserve the Poor Clares' buildings, or at least their facades; keep the garden; and construct something that would house fewer people.
At the June meeting, community members voted against the developer's proposal, 53-1, according to PlanPhilly, an online news site that covers planning and development.
"We're still in the process of dealing with the builder, the developer, to build something that is going to complement the historic fabric of that block. What he proposed to us was way too dense," said Penelope Giles, executive director of the Francisville Neighborhood Development Corp.
She said she feared it could fill up with college students.
In addition to Girard College, designed in 1833 by Thomas Ustick Walter, who was also an architect of the U.S. Capitol, Girard Avenue is home to many elegant brownstones that speak to the city's wealthier past.
Brewer Christian Schmidt once owned the house at 2004 W. Girard, according to PlanPhilly.
The proposed design, with its simple brick-and-cream facade, does not reflect the area's grand features, neighbors said.
"It was such an unbelievable departure from what exists there now and even from what the rest of the neighborhood is like," said Gray Hansen, who lives a few blocks away. "It's not a modern-type block where they knocked down everything, and it's not 50 brick houses in a row."
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