Inky Brass Seeks Zoning To Cover Itself With 300 Lb. Bees
First it was pigs, now it’s… bees! As we speak, Philadelphia Media Holdings reps are before the City zoning commission in search of a variance that would allow them to cover parts of the historic Inky building at Broad & Whatever in 75-foot promo wraps for The Bee Movie, some Pixar thing starring the voice of Jerry Seinfeld you’ll watch a few years from now, after you have a stroke or kids. It’s an ambitious wrap-program that would top the building off with, as anti-urban blight group SCRUB notes, “a 300-500 pound inflatable image and would be placed on the roof atop the 14th floor.” Giant bees on top of Old Inky? Cool! Ah, but SCRUB doesn’t think so. After the jump, their rally-the-troops letter. Good luck with this one, Tierney: You’re gonna need it.
Dear Friends and SCRUB Members,
Philadelphia Media Holdings is requesting a variance allowing the erection of three advertising signs on the walls and roof of the landmark Inquirer Building located at 400 North Broad Street.Two of the signs proposed are flat wall signs 50′ x75′ with one facing Broad Street and the other facing Callowhill Street. They would be placed 182 feet above grade.
The third sign is actually a 300-500 pound inflatable image and would be placed on the roof atop the 14th floor. We imagine it will look something like the giant bees that appear on the movie’s website .
The Inquirer Building falls within the Vine Street Parkway Area where outdoor advertising signs are strictly prohibited.
In addition, the proposed signs violate Philadelphia’s 1991 Outdoor Advertising Sign Controls due to their proximity to a school and residences, and the excessive size and height.
Allowing Media Holdings Company to erect these signs, even temporarily, would set a terrible precedent for our city and the protections we have fought so hard to preserve.
Please join SCRUB at tomorrow’s ZBA hearing to protest the granting of this variance, helping us to provide a strong public voice for public space.
