PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Residents of one Germantown neighborhood are fighting to keep a historic house standing, and they said they won't stand by while developers tear apart their community.
Archaeologist Anne Peters has lived on Wayne Avenue for over a decade. After researching the growing number of demolitions in her neighborhood, she discovered one of the historically designated homes, the Pearson house, is now up for demolition by a developer as well.
"I live here. When I heard about this house, I was just outraged," she said.
Peters started a petition to save the house. "About 500 people signed it locally, but then it went viral and now it's 10,000 and it's all over the world," she said.
Built in 1852, the home belonged to 19th century artist Joseph T. Pearson. It's now in the hands of a developer. Neighbors say the house is the star of the neighborhood with historic designation.
"The worst of it is, they want to sell the neighborhood," said Peters. "Look, it's charming and historical. Look at all these lovely houses. They want to tear down the nicest one on the block."
Neighbor Lisa Scott said if the city allows demolition, she fears no family home is protected.
"It's a historic property. A great artist once lived at this property," she said. "We believe that this is could set a precedent for people to come in and just take these properties and turn it into a development. And we want to keep this a neighborhood."
KYW Newsradio attempted to contact the property owners, but have yet to receive a reply.
Paul Chyrstis, the spokesperson for the Historical Commission, said in a statement, "The Historical Commission has no jurisdiction over the demolition and new construction permits for this property as the property owners started the demolition process before the historic designation process began."
The commission said while it would prefer the developer preserve the building, legally, they're unable to compel them to do so.
But Peters claimed that isn't true, and she and Scott said they wont allow money to trump community.
"This is the place where we really had to draw the line," said Peters. "That house was first designated historically over 30 years ago. It's not too late."