I love Philadelphia, but I’d never taken a City Hall tour. Don’t make the same mistake – Paradise Post

By Stephanie Farr, The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — As I walked through Philadelphia City Hall last week, a woman was singing with gusto in the exterior north corridor about how she “don’t have to worry about Betty no more.”

She wasn’t singing for money, just for herself and the acoustics. In that moment, it felt like City Hall was as much hers as it was the mayor’s or City Council’s.

During my nearly 18 years in Philly, I’ve wandered through City Hall’s courtyard and corridors countless times, attended news conferences in the Mayor’s Reception Room, and covered civil cases in the building’s courtrooms.

But I’ve never taken a tour of City Hall, even though it’s long been on my Philly bucket list. Last Friday, I finally checked it off.

Rather than focus on facts — City Hall is the largest municipal building in the U.S., it took 30 years to build, and has 700 fully occupied rooms — I’m going to tell you how the tours made me feel and whether I think they’re worth your time and money.

Two tours are available: one of the building, which lasts about an hour and costs between $20 and $26 per person (depending on your age and military status) and one of the tower, which runs 15 to 30 minutes and ranges between $10 and $16 per person. I did both and with a $2 service fee online, the total was $44.

The public tours, which began in 1991 and were developed by retired director Greta Greenberger (who still gives one a week), are now run by the Philadelphia Visitor Center, which is currently operating out of a temporary trailer in City Hall’s courtyard due to renovations (the City Hall Visitor Center is slated to reopen this spring).

Inside, the space was tight but the mood was light. I joined Richard, a lovely retired gentleman from North Jersey whose wife was attending a conference nearby, and George Evans, our building tour guide, a retired Washington, D.C., city planner and Philly transplant who’s volunteered leading tours here for 22 years.

The building tour

I didn’t identify myself as a journalist in advance because I wanted the real-deal experience. That being said, I’m not Nellie Bly and I wasn’t undercover, so if it came up, I had to be honest about what I do.

Evans first took us to the north exterior, where he talked about the architecture (French Second Empire style), and how every side of City Hall tells a story.

I must have walked under the north arch hundreds of times, but it was only during the tour that I noticed William Penn’s face is the keystone of that arch. I felt a spark of wonder, like I’d found an Easter egg, but I was also struck with the painful realization that I may be the least observant journalist ever.

As Evans spoke, his passion for Philadelphia and City Hall was evident.

“I love this building, how can you not?” he said. “There’s nothing like it in the country.”