PHILADELPHIA (AP) — After standing empty for more than two years, the glass-and-granite Liberty Bell Pavilion is coming down, marking another major step in the $300 million redevelopment plan for Independence Mall.
City and National Park Service officials Monday announced plans to tear down the 30-year-old structure and open up an unobstructed view from the National Constitution Center to Independence Hall.
The mall has been transformed significantly in the past five years, with the opening of the Independence Visitor Center in 2001 and the National Constitution Center and the new Liberty Bell Center in 2003. The only major project remaining is a memorial to be completed next year marking the footprint of the early presidential residence.