Artist’s fight to save studio space from Philly takeover is work in progress
“A prominent Philadelphia artist is fighting the city for possession of a huge warehouse he converted into artist studios on a block where the city would like to see a supermarket.
Haverford Avenue and Mount Vernon Street, and 36th and 37th streets, together define a city block with only two habitable structures. There is a rowhouse on one of the four corners, and a long commercial building bisecting the block down the middle.
James Dupree bought the building nine years ago and turned it into an artist’s paradise. He’s partitioned more than 8,000 square feet of space into a series of rooms for studios, apartments, and classes.
The building itself is one of his major accomplishments, but it is on a block that is almost 90 percent abandoned. The city condemned the entire block as blighted, and is acquiring all the parcels, including Dupree’s, through eminent domain.
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In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, many states, including Pennsylvania, clamped down on eminent domain requirements, making it tougher to seize property for private development. But the commonwealth made exceptions for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The looser, federal requirements applied until Dec. 31, 2012. Dupree received a “declaration of taking” from the PRA on December 27, 2012.
The PRA drew a box around certain parts of Mantua and declare everything within that box blighted. So even if individual properties are not blighted — such as Dupree’s art studio — it is still located within an abandoned block and can legally be declared blighted by proxy.”
Crimmins, Peter. Newswork 22 November 2013.
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