October 15: New Penn’s Landing | Skyspace opening | Uptown Theater’s tiles, old and new | Eastern Factory rehab? | Philadelphia Votes | Terror Behind the Walls income

Happy Tuesday, Streeters. Here’s what’s making news this morning:

This evening you can hear all about the possibilities of a new future for Penn’s Landing. Head out to Festival Pier at 7pm for a presentation by Hargreaves Associates on preliminary design concepts, a panel discussion, and what’s next.

James Turrell’s 76th Skyspace installation is set to open to the public at the new Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting on October 20. NewsWorks explains: “It takes about one minute and 45 seconds for the Skyspace’s roof to retract, exposing the meeting room to the sky above and the elements. A programmed sequence of LED lighting along the perimeter of a vaulted ceiling alters the colors perceived through the rectangular opening with its vanishing edges. The interior light display works in concert with the twilight to enhance the perception of the sky and its spatial relationship to the viewer… Turrell sees his Skyspaces as a visual ministry of Quaker values, deriving its power by working in silence.”

North Broad’s historic Uptown Theater is showing off new Art Deco, terra-cotta tiles on its façade, fabricated in Philly as part of the theater’s ongoing restoration campaign. Citypaper has an update on the Uptown’s progress as well as another set of tiles revealed during renovation: subway tiles leading from the Uptown’s lobby to a closed subway entrance linking to the Susquehanna-Dauphin platform.

Will the old Eastern Factory at 30th and Cecil B. Moore be reused by Mosaic Partners or will the factory be razed to make way for a new development? Property traces the many false starts to rehab and reuse the old factory and Mosaic’s poor track record with historic properties.

There’s a new website devoted to Philadelphia voter and election information, started by City Commissioners: www.philadelphiavotes.com. The Inquirer reports that the new site provides breakdowns of election results since 2007, offers voter registration and polling information, rafts of maps, and more. Philadelphia’s next election is November 5.

It’s Terror Behind the Walls season at Eastern State Penitentiary, which accounts for about 65% of Eastern State’s annual budget. “We live and die on this event,” Sean Kelley, Eastern State Penitentiary’s vice president and director of public programming, told the Business Journal. 

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest. Have a tip? Send it along.
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