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Community Preservation: Chinatown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
What Happened
The Vine Street Expressway first appeared in plans for downtown Philadelphia in 1945 as a
multi-lane, below-grade, limited-access highway. Traffic congestion and access problems were
widely recognized, even at that time, as being major contributors to the overall decline of the
Philadelphia CBD. It was logical, therefore, to pick the widest existing rights-of-way and
utilize them to relieve traffic problems. Vine Street was one of the oldest major arterial
streets in downtown Philadelphia, with 10 at-grade lanes and a right-of-way width of 170 to
180 feet.
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In 1957, the proposed Vine Street Expressway was included as part of the National System of Interstate Highways. In 1959, the western-most portion of the expressway (from the Schuykill Expressway to 16th Street) was constructed as a below-grade, six-lane, limited-access highway with four at-grade service lanes.
City officials expected that the remainder of the Vine Street Expressway would fall into place in the 1960s as part of overall redevelopment efforts in the Philadelphia CBD, which were by that time attaining national prominence. Redevelopment plans called for ringing the downtown area with high-capacity, limited-access highways and implementing extensive redevelopment and transit improvements in the entire area, including Chinatown. Before redevelopment, Chinatown extended from 11th Street eastward past 9th Street. Urban renewal cleared the east side of 9th Street. Then a major indoor shopping center (the Gallery) was constructed on Arch Street along the southern edge of Chinatown, with the backs of parking garages facing Chinatown. At that time, the western edge of Chinatown was constrained by an elevated railroad line, and redevelopment was being discussed in that area as well. The residents of Chinatown recognized they were effectively being hemmed in on three sides by urban renewal just as the floodgates of Chinese immigration were opening.
In March 1966, Chinatown learned about plans for the Vine Street Expressway. These plans called for an extension of the six-lane, below-grade, limited-access highway from 16th Street to 10th Street, at which point it would head above ground to its intersection with I-95 and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The fact that this proposal was perceived as forming the final of four walls around Chinatown was only one problem; another concern, even more serious was that the Vine Street Expressway would require the acquisition and demolition of the Holy Redeemer Church and School, the cultural focus of Chinatown. Chinatown's residents faced yet another barrier: they had never had much political clout, never having even protested before. Now, however, the soul of the community was being threatened.
The same month they learned about the Vine Street Expressway plan, Chinatown residents formed the Committee for the Preservation and Advancement of the Chinatown Community. In 1969, this committee became the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, whose focus was not only on the Vine Street Expressway but also on providing housing in Chinatown.
At first, Chinatown's involvement in the project moved slowly. The traditional method of dealing with political matters in Chinatown was to approach the elders, in this case the Chinatown Benevolent Association. Convincing this group required considerable time and patience. Also, initially, Chinatown residents concerned about the Vine Street Expressway were mainly associated with Holy Redeemer Church and School. It was necessary, however, for this group to broaden their constituency to include other associations in Chinatown, in particular the other two Christian churches in the community.
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Planning and transportation officials, on the other had, headed into the Vine Street project largely unaware of the potential for community opposition. At the time, downtown renewal in Philadelphia had built significant momentum. Vine Street was viewed as a "missing link" between operable super-highways. Among traffic planners in PennDOT and FHWA, the necessity for the Vine Street Expressway was self-evident. It also seemed nearly everyone wanted the Vine Street Expressway and other downtown improvements to be completed in time for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration. In the planners' enthusiasm over the nationally momentous events about to occur in downtown Philadelphia, the needs of Chinatown were nearly overshadowed by the flurry of activity.
However, it was not long before the voice of Chinatown was heard in other influential quarters. The newspapers soon noticed the story, and local universities became active in support of the community. Chinatown attracted the assistance of several highly capable legal and planning volunteers. By 1973, Chinatown's involvement in the Vine Street project has coalesced, and the community, along with several others along Vine Street, had become a force to be reckoned with.
In early 1973, PennDOT held a meeting in the State Office Building in Philadelphia to explain the project to the community. They were greeted with a 3-hour demonstration by 100 residents of Chinatown, and they were surprised further when, at the end of the meeting, the proposed project was found to be unacceptable by the residents. Chinatown residents then pressed the Mayor's office for assistance. None was immediately forthcoming, and the demonstrations continued. Representatives of Chinatown then demanded meetings with the Archbishop and Governor to prevent what they called the "cultural genocide" of the Delaware Valley's 6,000 Chinese people.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, PennDOT had been steadily acquiring and demolishing the building necessary to implement the Vine Street Expressway. Their schedule took them to a location in Chinatown in August 1973. They were met there with a headline-making demonstration by 20 Chinese youths who occupied a building slated for demolition. The adverse publicity following this event let the city of Philadelphia to fund the Chadbourne Report, a planning study to determine how Chinatown could be preserved. Then, in November 1973, FHWA decided to require the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Vine Street Expressway, in spite of intense opposition from the downtown business community. The projected completion date for a "partial" EIS was January 1974. At the time, it was not anticipated that public hearings would be required, although known public comments were to be taken into account by designer. The FHWA-estimated time to complete the EIS process was a maximum of 18 months. The initial Draft EIS was not completed until 1977 (and the Final EIS completed in 1983).
The final Chadbourne Report was released in 1975. This comprehensive review of the planning situation in Chinatown was sympathetic to the views of the Chinatown community. The community was also engrossed in a second controversial transportation project--a proposed commuter rail tunnel in the east side of Chinatown. That project was the impetus for a lengthy holdout by a widowed Chinese mother of three children living in a home slated for condemnation by the city. The home became know as the "Chinese Alamo" and was not relinquished until 1984.
In the 1977 Draft EIS, PennDOT agreed to relocate rather than acquire, Holy Redeemer Church and School. This offer was refused by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and the standoff continued. Ultimately, the potential for withdrawal of Federal funding for the Vine Street project forced the dispute off dead center. Under the Interstate Transfer Program, local and State governments were allowed, with Federal approval, to delete "nonessential" links from the Interstate Highway Program and transfer the funds to other transportation improvements. All transfers had to receive Federal approval by October 1, 1983. Substantial pressure was building in Philadelphia for transferring the Vine Street funding to mass-transit projects. PennDOT and FHWA, therefore, faced the prospect that funding for the Vine Street Expressway could be withdrawn.
The impasse was broken in the spring of 1980 when the Mayor of Philadelphia and PennDOT created a Task Force to recommend actions for feasible and necessary improvements to Vine Street. The Task Force was chaired jointly by a PennDOT official and an official of the Mayor's office, and included a panel of local, State, and FHWA transportation officials. Although Chinatown was not represented on the Task Force, a change in the officials' philosophy--driven by the potential for losing funding--facilitated the community's full participation in the planning process.
Before a revised Draft EIS was issued more than a year and a half later, over 100 meetings were held with Chinatown and other communities along Vine Street. A first major step was a "break-the-ice" meeting at which PennDOT was determined to give a full hearing to the community's concerns and objections, and to encourage a climate of cooperation with Chinatown and the other communities.
PennDOT's negative negotiators were handpicked for their ability to foster trust with the communities, and only those people were chosen to make presentations. The need for the project was thoroughly explained before alternatives were discussed. All meetings were held within the communities, rather than in State or city offices, and food was brought and shared among all participants.
The Task Force developed four alternatives for consideration: (1) the full proposal, including six below-grade lanes, four at grade lanes, and a complex interchange and ramp system near Chinatown, which would have required the acquisition of Holy Redeemer Church and School; (2,3) two reduced-scale alternatives with fewer lanes and ramps; and (4) minor improvements to the then-existing Vine Street. The Draft EIS recommended one of the two reduced-scale alternatives. This recommendation was carried forward into the Final EIS in 1983, and a Record of Decision (ROD) was issued by FHWA Headquarters in Washington, DC, on September 30, 1983.