It's officially official. The transformation of the corner of Broad and Spruce St. from the home of Philadelphia International Records to the SLS International Hotel & Residences has begun in earnest as crews removed the iconic sign from the Broad St. side of the building yesterday. While the famous Records song "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" proclaims "And where we'll end up, I don't know", that's not the case here. Make way for another mega-project from Carl Dranoff.
The SLS International is going to be big, like 47-story, tallest-residential-building-in-the-state type big. Plans for the building include 125 residences, 151 hotel rooms, and Olympic-sized swimming pool and restaurant and event spaces. The timeline is about two years after the building is demolished and the site is clear.
"It was bittersweet," Chuck Gamble, nephew of legendary producer/songwriter Kenny Gamble, told Metro about the removal of the sign. "It was tough." Gamble also mentioned that he hopes to open a museum in the city to honor the "Philadelphia Sound" with such memorabilia as platinum records and the piano used in the record of "Love Train". So be on the look out for that somewhere down the road.
· Philadelphia International sign comes down as building becomes part of history [Metro]
· SLS International Coverage [Curbed Philly]
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