Tomorrow night, on the heels of the anniversary of the original Pennsylvania Station’s historic demolition (October 1963), Randall F. Mason, author of The Once and Future New York: Historic Preservation and the Modern City, will be giving a book talk at the Philadelphia Center for Architecture (1218 Arch Street, 6:00 PM).
Mason’s book discusses how the demolition of Penn Station seems to have, in the popular imagination, given birth to New York City’s historic preservation movement. Mason’s book challenges several myths about historic preservation and documents its emergence in NY at the turn of the twentieth century. He focuses on three major projects: the restoration of City Hall Park, the ultimately failed attempt to save St. John’s Chapel, and the construction of the Bronx River Parkway.
For more book information, check UMP’s website (please note that our website is temporarily down. We apologize for this inconvenience). You can also check out Mason’s interview with ROROTOKO and a review in the Englewood Review of Books. Further event info can be found here.
Related: Demolished! 11 Beautiful Train Stations That Fell To The Wrecking Ball from The Infrastructurist.