This 10-story limestone and terra cotta structure on North Broad Street was built in 1926 for Bankers Trust. It is an Art Deco building topped with a pyramidal roof penthouse. It was renamed the Beury Building in 1930 to honor a director, Dr. Charles E. Beury.
During World War II, it served as a piece of infrastructure. Room 1018 handled rationing, while another section became the largest of 28 designated air raid shelters in the city, holding up to 2,600 people. In late 1950, a new headquarters for the Selective Service opened on the third floor. In 1995, the building's owner, Mohammed Mizani, pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally remove asbestos from the building in 1988 and 1992 using the unskilled labor of homeless people from the city's Center City homeless shelter. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail in February 1996.
Today, the building is undergoing redevelopment. Plans have shifted from a project to create 80 apartment units to a renovation into a Marriott hotel with a sit-down restaurant. Following public outcry, developers agreed to incorporate the 'Boner 4Ever' and 'Forever Boner' graffiti into the redevelopment of the historic building.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Kyle McLonely
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.