Philadelphia Historical Commission to consider Spruce Hill for historic district designation, to hold public meetings

The Philadelphia Historical Commission, the City’s preservation agency, is calling for public meetings to consider the proposal to designate a part of the Spruce Hill neighborhood as a historic district. The agency will hold two public meetings, on April 17 and May 10, when property owners and other interested parties are invited to comment on the proposed district. Both meetings will be on Zoom.

The proposed historic district consists of 572 properties and the boundaries are shown on the map above. The map also shows parts of Spruce Hill already designated as Historic Districts and properties included in the Registrar of Historic places.

The historic designation was proposed last year by the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA), which submitted an application to the Historical Commission after a series of community meetings in the neighborhood. The goal of obtaining historic designation is to provide an added layer of protection of historic structures amid a building boom in the area. Designation could also regulate exterior changes to existing buildings like masonry and window replacement.

The April 17 meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. and the May 10 meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. More information on how to join the meetings is available here.