City says it has no plans to sell Civic Center

Although Medical Center officials said this week they have long-term plans to move HUP to the site of the Civic Center, city officials said yesterday that they have no plans to put the facility up for sale. Several city officials said they had never heard of the Medical Center's plan. According to Civic Center spokesperson Nancy Morley, any discussion of a purchase of the center is "pure speculation" at this point. "We have shows booked here through '95 and '96," Morley said. "There has been no discussion about selling the center anyway." According to Medical Center officials, the Civic Center could be available once the new Pennsylvania Convention Center is completed in 1994, which the officials believe would take the bulk of the Civic Center's business. But Morley said that the Civic Center and the Convention Center will be handling different shows, and that the Civic Center would be able to survive the competition. "Who would've thought there would be both a Spectrum and a Civic Center," said Morley. "We have the Bugs Bunny Show and they're having Sesame Steet. Philadelphia is a big city and there is probably room for everybody." Philadelphia Deputy Commerce Director Jim Cuorato said that there may be enough business to support both the Civic Center and the new Convention Center and that the two properties will be managed jointly to prevent competition between the two centers. "The new Convention Center is targeted towards larger national shows, but there is still a significant market for the Civic Center in terms of the flower, auto and boat shows," he said. Civic Center Executive Director Robert Boris said he is heading a committee which is discussing the future of the facility. He said that he has not spoken to anyone from the University about selling the center and that he is not certain the center will be sold to anyone. "It's not necessary that we will have to close," he said. Boris said that a planned commuter rail station adjacent to the center "may allow us to tie the two conference centers together." The rail line runs from the airport to Center City, where the Convention Center is being built. According to City Planning Director Barbara Kaplan, the current plan is for the Civic Center to remain in operation even after the new Convention Center is completed. "The idea is to maintain [the Civic Center] for regional shows which don't need as much hotel space," she said. Kaplan said that although she has met with University officials as recently as earlier this week, she had not heard of the Medical Center's interest in buying the site. Kaplan added that the Mayor's office has not put the Civic Center on the market and that such a decision would require approval from City Council. Senior Vice President Marna Whittington said that the Trustees' Facilities and Campus Planning Committee is currently drawing up a master plan for the next 20 to 30 years. Whittington said the committee believes the Civic Center site "to have a clear potential for purchase." The master plan is not expected to be finalized for another year, Whittington said. Whittington said that any purchase must be approved by the Budget and Finance Committee before it can be voted on by the full Board of Trustees. "This is a huge decision for us," she said. The possible purchase of the Civic Center was also mentioned by Robert Zemsky, the University's chief planning office at this month's University Council meeting. "We need to acquire the Civic Center," Zemsky said. Cuorato said that he does not think that any decision regarding the future of the Civic Center will be made before the new mayor and administration takes office in January. He added that city officials are reticent about putting a price tag on the Civic Center for fear that any speculation could influence future sale negotiations. "I don't know if anyone in the city would want to suggest even a ballpark figure as to how much it would cost," he said. City Real Estate Specialist Alan Mandel said that it would be "very difficult even to begin to make a guess" at the property value of the Civic Center. "Since the property comes under the category of 'special purposes' you would have to use the construction approach," said Mandel. "You would have to figure out what it would cost to build a similar structure at its site and then consider the condition of the market. Everything depends on the market."

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