Recycling the Convention Center

The location of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine – 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard – is the former home of the Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center. In 2004, the Municipal Auditorium and what remained of the Civic Center Complex were torn down to make room for the Perelman Center.

Before the demolition began, however, architecturologists from Olde Good Things, specialists in architectural antiques and artifacts, sought to excavate and recycle many of the deco-style architectural items from the site. Some of the materials recycled from the excavation of the Civic Center include:

• seven 40-foot limestone figural friezes – each with a different theme
• geographical friezes of the continents of the world
• thousands of feet of copper roof material, to be transformed into handmade mirrors and artifacts
• deco-style bronze hardware with the Philadelphia Seal Insignia
• bronze plaques
• marble moldings
• theatre and folding seats
• iron and terra cotta balustrades
• doors
• copper lights
• corbels
• turnstiles

In the end, over 90% of the original building was recycled. Below are some specific statistics:

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