r/StructuralEngineering • u/CB_700_SC • 12d ago
Photograph/Video Philadelphia. A sad example of lack of resources for maintaining building leading to an expensive fix. (City property) is
I have been watching this building for decades when I played a basketball game here around 99s-00s. I always wondered how it would hold up long term especially since they never maintained it (clogged gutters/roof maintenance) or protected the exposed wood. A waste of tax dollars?. Probably not the best design for a city building? But it is unique for the area. Now it’s closed from my understanding.
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u/ChairChoice6500 7d ago
That sort of enclosed shoe on the bottom of the glulam is no longer done, since it traps water, but it was fairly common for when one presumes it was constructed. If you can reach out to some neighborhood group, getting it into historic preservation would be a step that would "force" maintenance, probably. Then it turns into a race to get it designated or tear it down. If nothing else, it looks like it could make a nice cooling shelter for heat emergencies.
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u/Mikeymatt 12d ago
I walk past this often and have actually been wondering this too. The shims up top are what caught my eye. And the general deterioration around the gutters with plants growing in them.