Philadelphia

Union Trust Steakhouse to be Torn Down?

February 13, 2013 by HughE Dillon 1 Comment

I was walking down Chestnut Street yesterday and noticed the sidewalk closed in front of the former Union Trust Steak House.

The steakhouse closed it’s doors back in October as Foobooz reported
as an orange sign on the door read “TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR PLUMBING REPAIRS” at the time, and then it was reported later that the restaurant would not be opening again.

 Yesterday I spotted a Notice of Violation sticker on the door stating that the facade of the restaurant was crumbling (click to make larger)

 and that if repairs weren’t made by March 6, the City had the right to tear down the building.

I would hope that someone, anyone, The City itself would move to save this tremendously important architectural gem the building which also once served as The Union Trust Company Bank. The 19th century Greek revival building housed the Union Trust Steakhouse restaurant, which opened with great fanfare in 2/9/09, and suffered under the collapsing economy and glut of high end steak houses. (This story reminds me of when the old Brasserie Perrier facade collapsed in 2009 after the restaurant had abruptly closed earlier that year.)