Drexel family house won’t be disturbed during hospital construction

By Jack and Patty McCarthy for the Northeast Times

With major construction underway at Aria Health Torresdale, there has been some concern in the Northeast Philadelphia historical community about the fate of two historic buildings on the hospital’s campus.

The buildings are the Mansion House, the summer home of the Drexel family, and St. Michael’s Chapel, which was built as part of a Catholic pilgrimage center that the Drexel family established on the property. These buildings are among the few tangible reminders of one of Northeast Philadelphia’s most high-profile families and one of its most beloved citizens, Saint Katharine Drexel.

When construction began this past spring on a major expansion of Aria Torresdale’s emergency department, there was concern about the fate of the Mansion House and St. Michael’s Chapel, particularly in light of the fact that the expansion included the demolition of some existing buildings on the hospital’s campus.

Read the rest of this story and more about the property, in the Northeast Times.