Gallery Shutting 10th Street Doors to Commuters in August

It's gonna be a chilly next few winters for the thousands of commuters who pass through the concourse at The Gallery each day. Pending City Council's vote on Thursday to approve the redevelopment, the first stage of demolition, slated for August, will occur between 8th and 10th streets. And, since it's gonna be a construction zone, the more than 9,000 commuters who use the concourse at 8th and Market every day will actually be able to see what Market Street looks like at street level.

PREIT's half-a-billion dollar transformation of the now nearly-empty center city mall will entail breaking down its "fortresslike" exterior and replacing it with glass storefronts, even changing its name to the "Fashion Outlets of Philadelphia."

"To do the work we want to do, you have to close," said Joseph Coradino, chief executive of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust. "There's significant structural work that needs to go on."

During construction, a barricade will block access to the stairs and escalator at 10th and Market Streets. Once the second phase of the project starts - "likely next year" - construction will move west to 11th Street. There is still no word on which Jefferson Station exits will be affected —approximately 26,000 commuters use that station daily.

But, once it's all said and done, the redevelopment might just turn the outdated stretch of Market Street into a place people won't just want to commute through. And that's a pretty big deal.

Says Coradino: "We're going to want to open this," he said, "like a Broadway show."

· The Gallery And The Reading Viaduct Are The Darlings Of Today's City Planning Agenda [Curbed Philly]
· When The Moon Is In The Seventh House, The Gallery Gets Turned Inside-Out [Curbed Philly]
· Gallery closing to expose commuters to the, gasp, outside [Philly.com]