An Assessment of Terra Cotta Replacement and Recommendations for the Belmont Pumping Station, East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Theses (Historic Preservation) Graduate Program in Historic Preservation 1999 An Assessment of Terra Cotta Replacement and Recommendations for the Belmont Pumping Station, East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia Kelly R. Atwood University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses Part of the Historic Preservation and Conservation Commons Atwood, Kelly R., "An Assessment of Terra Cotta Replacement and Recommendations for the Belmont Pumping Station, East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia" (1999). Theses (Historic Preservation). 292. https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/292 Copyright note: Penn School of Design permits distribution and display of this student work by University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Suggested Citation: Atwood, Kelly R. (1999). An Assessment of Terra Cotta Replacement and Recommendations for the Belmont Pumping Station, East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. (Masters Thesis). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/292 For more information, please contact [email protected]. An Assessment of Terra Cotta Replacement and Recommendations for the Belmont Pumping Station, East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia Disciplines Historic Preservation and Conservation Comments Copyright note: Penn School of Design permits distribution and display of this student work by University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Suggested Citation: Atwood, Kelly R. (1999). An Assessment of Terra Cotta Replacement and Recommendations for the Belmont Pumping Station, East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. (Masters Thesis). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/292 Sii'^^iWU: iiil mW, UNIVERSITVy PENN5YL\^^NL^ UBKARIES AN ASSESSMENT OF TER-RA COTTA REPLACEMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE BELMONT PUMPING STATION, EAST FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA Kelly R. Atwood A THESIS Historic Preservation Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE 1999 iS^lVXtuu^ Reader JohnlD. Milner John Fidlef Adjunct Professor of Architecture English Heritage Ka\x?^ Create Group Chair FrardTGrMatero Associate Professor of Architecture r Of ^ . cfNNSYl.VAM^ LIBRARIES Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my husband, Mike, who moved halfway across the country so I could complete my education, and to my parents, for their encouragement and support. Acknowledgements Several individuals and organizations have assisted me in my research. I would like to extend my thanks to a few of them here: John Milner, for serving as my advisor John Fidler of English Heritage, for sharing his expertise in terra cotta replacement The Philadelphia Water Department, for allowing me to use one of their buildings as the subject of my thesis. Specifically, Ed Grusheski and Bill Falck and the roof maintenance crew for help in sampling. Gomaa Omar, for his overall encouragement and assistance on the petrological analysis Oumama Belkhayat of Drexel University, for her assistance with the strength tests Mark S. Landstrom, The Witkoff Group, for graciously showing me through the Woolworth Building Neale Quenzel, John Milner Associates, Architects, for providing information about Reading Terminal Bill Donohoe, Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn, Architects, for his help concerning the Equitable Building Table of Contents Title Page Dedication a Acknowledgements Hi Table of Contents rv List of Figures, Tables, and Illustrations Introduction / Chapter One: History and Manufacture of Architectural Terra Cotta 6 Chapter Two: Terra Cotta Replacement 13 Chapter Three: The Belmont Pumping Station: History And Introduction to the Problems 34 Chapter Four: Assessment of Replacement Materl\ls: Case Studies 49 Chapter Five: The Belmont Pumping Station: Materl^s Analysis 65 Conclusion and Recommendations 80 Bibliography 86 Index 93 Appendices A; Summary of Replacement Materials 96 B: Supplemental Photographs: Belmont Pumping Station 100 C: Supplemental Photographs: Woolworth Building 104 D: Supplemental Photographs: Reading Terminal 107 E: Supplemental Photographs: Equitable Building no F: Testing Matrdc 113 G: Laboratory Analysis 114 List of Illustrations and Tables Figure 1: First Belmont Pumping Station, 1872 Figure 2: Second Belmont Pumping Station, 1902 Figure 3: Intersection of Montgomery Avenue and West River Drive Figure 4: Belmont Pumping Station—addition to north fafade Figure 5: Belmont Pumping Station during construction, 1901 Figure 6: Northeast comer of Belmont Pumping Station Figure 7: Belmont Pumping Station—broken brackets (28, 30) on north fagade Figure 8: Historical drawing of Woolworth Building Figure 9; 1940s alterations to Reading Terminal Headhouse Figure 10: Reading Terminal Headhouse, 1999 Figure 11: Equitable Building, 1999 Figure 12: Equitable Building—detail above main entrance Figure 13: Belmont Pumping Station, location of Sample 1 Figure 14: Belmont Pumping Station, location of Sample 2 Figure 15: Photomicrograph of thin section (Sample 2) Figure 16: Belmont Pumping Station and new boilerhouse to the south (PWD Archives, ace. 1902.689) Figure 17: Behnont Pumping Station—drawing of cornice detail (PWD archives, no designer or date) Figure 18: Belmont Pumping Station—broken bracket (north facade 35) Figure 19: Belmont Pumping Station—examples of discoloration, poorly pointed and inappropriate mortar, salts, tar, and bird droppings (north end of east fagade) Figure 20: Belmont Pumping Station—broken bracket (north facade 19) filled with cement Figure 21: Belmont Pumping Station—corroded anchor pin from Sample 1 Figure 22: Belmont Pumping Station—detail of general wear on beltcourse Figure 23: Belmont Pumpmg Station—column base (left side of main entrance) showing fading, crack, and comer patch Figure 24: Woolworth Building—difference in reflectivity between glazed terra cotta and uncoated concrete (northeast comer of building, fifth horizontal division) Figure 25: Woolworth Building—large areas of replacement units (east fa9ade, fifth horizontal division between third and fourth bays) Figure 26: Woolworth Building—darker concrete units (east facade, second pier from south, fourth floor) Figure 27: Woolworth Building—lighter concrete replacements in spandrel (30* floor, west wall of tower) Figure 28: Woolworth Building—close-up of adjacent terra cotta and concrete showing differences in color and texture Figure 29: Historic drawing of Reading Terminal and Headhouse (Architectural Record, June 1898, p. 514) Figure 30: Reading Terminal Headhouse (eastern end of Market Street fa?ade)—original terra cotta detail and new aluminum cornice Figure 31; Reading Tenninal Headhouse—reconstructed second-story loggia Figure 32: Reading Terminal Headhouse—comer bay with cast stone corbels Figure 33: Reading Terminal Headhouse—pitting and small edge losses on cast stone railing Figure 34: Reading Terminal Headhouse—wear caused by water drainage from hole in the western wall of loggia Figure 35: Equitable Building—south fa9ade at Broadway comer showing lighter FRP blocks Figure 36: Equitable Building—south end of Broadway fa9ade showing prominent joints and plugs in comice and pilasters Figure 37: Equitable Building—detail of comice at southeast comer of south fa9ade (Note faintness of false joints which are supposed to approximate the dimensions of the terra cotta below.) Figure 38: Equitable Building—detail of protruding plugs and discoloration at top of comice Figxire 39: Equitable Building—southemmost pilaster on Broadway facade (detail of plugs) Figure 40: Equitable Building—east facade comice detail showing difference in color (terra cotta still has the appearance of granite, while FRP has yellowed) Figure 41: Photomicrograph of Sample 1 thin section at 25x magnification under plane polarized light Figure 42: Photomicrograph of Sample 1 thin section at 25x magnification under crossed polars Figure 43 : Samples in cold water bath Figure 44: Samples during boil absorption Figure 45: Compressive strength machine Figure 46: Compressive strength gauge Table 1 : Porosity Table 2: Saturation Coefficient Table 3: Compressive Strength Table 4: Elasticity/Tensile Strength Table 5: Comparison of Values for Architectiiral Terra Cotta Institute and Belmont Pumping Station Table 6: Summary of Replacement Materials Table 7: Water absorption Table 8: Water absorption capacity Table 9: Boil absorption Table 10: Saturation coefficient Table 1 1 : Capillary rise Table 12: Compressive strength Graph 1 : Capillary rise v. time Graph 2: Capillary rise v. square root of time — Introduction Architectural terra cotta is an ornamental or cladding material manufactured from select clays which are hand molded or cast into hollow blocks with internal stiffening webs and then fired in a kiln. Italian for "burnt earth," terra cotta contains a clay body with inclusions of sand or grog (crushed fired clay) m varying proportions/ Though red unglazed terra cotta resembles brick, it is differentiated by its higher firing temperature, generally larger size, and manufacture from damp, plastic clay, rather than dry. Terra cotta became popular in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. Articles in trade publications such as The Brickbuilder, The Clay- Worker, and the Journal ofthe American Ceramic Society lavished praise on the material: there

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