Despite the protests of a local organization, the demolition of Convention Hall to make way for the construction of the University of Pennsylvania Health System's Center for Advanced Medicine is going forward.

CAM will serve as a cancer and cardiac care outpatient annex to the Hospital of the University of Penn- sylvania. Also, in cooperation with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the center will hold a radiation facility, particularly for the treatment of pediatric cancer patients. Construction is expected to begin in the fall, with projected completion in 2008.

The demolition of Convention Hall and the Commerce Museum -- a separate building nearby -- faced opposition when local preservation activists and community members gathered at the 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard location, attempting to halt the demolition scheduled for November.

"We acknowledge the significance of the center, but we do not agree that its creation must be mutually exclusive," co-Chairman of the Committee to Save Convention Hall James Aslaksen said.

"We believe the building has historic and artistic merit," the Engineering senior added. "An open discussion for its future should be held before it is completely demolished."

UPHS spokesperson Susan Phillips described the Civic Center site as the only available space that could be connected to HUP.

"Physicians will be going back and forth to see inpatients in HUP and outpatients in the new building, so it needs to be closeby," Phillips said.

UPHS hired Kise, Straw and Kolodner -- an architecture, planning and historic preservation firm -- to assess the condition of the Commerce Museum and Convention Hall and the structures' ability to support the planned clinical facilities.

According to KSK, the Commerce Museum's structural system, which includes wood framing, would be inadequate in supporting the anticipated loads created by the heavy radiation machinery.

While KSK deemed the Convention Hall building structure and exterior to be in "relatively good condition," it said the building systems -- including heating, air conditioning and ventilation -- would need total replacement.

Additionally, KSK concluded that the interior of the structure would require either rebuilding to support clinical facilities or retrofitting a new building within the existing structure.

According to Phillips, beyond the $80 million additional cost, two issues prevented reuse of Convention Hall: The space would be smaller than the planned facility, and there would be no possibility for underground parking -- "a need for our patients who come from all over the mid-Atlantic."

After reviewing the UPHS study, John Gallery, executive director of the Preservation Alliance of Philadelphia, agreed that the buildings could not be salvaged.

Phillips described the steps taken by UPHS to preserve the historical significance of the buildings.

"We have been working with the state offices of the federal government in order to develop a list of items that represent the architecture of the time," Phillips said. "These items have been removed and wrapped and will be available for reinstallation on campus and the new building."

Sections of the frieze -- a massive decorative concrete band on the front of Convention Hall -- have already been removed and stored, according to Phillips.

Although Aslaksen is "happy that some recognition is being made on the aesthetic value of the building," he expressed frustration that the University had been "less than forthcoming" to the public about its plans and reasoning for demolition.

But Phillips denied the claim.

"I've personally appeared in public hearings at public zoning agencies," Phillips said.

The Committee to Save Convention Hall is not ready to abandon the building to the demolition crews and, according to Aslaksen, the committee will continue to appeal to the University in the interests of a community that has been "blindsided."