Woodburne Master Plan Phase ll

[john Haigis]

Dear Tracey Strickland and Robert Linn: it is my understanding that your firms will be working on Phase ll of the Delaware County Park Master Plan for the new, as yet unnamed, County Park on the heights of Darby. (summary of the 2018 Park Master Plan attached as PDF) and I would like to talk with you about the project and see if our 15 years of involvement with Woodburne may be of interest or value.  Phase I of the plan resulted in the wonderful and very successful park and now my understanding is Phase ll will focus on the other half of the property containing a number of compromised buildings capable of a variety of adaptive reuses. 

 I am enclosing the description of the earlier building called Woodbourne which we think was built by George McHenry prior to 1850 when it was sold at Sherriff’s sale in 1862. In addition to the description of the house and the vistas it looked out upon, there is mention of a spring being on the property which may still exist.

Jan and I first saw the inside of the building when we did a musical program for the residents of the nursing home in the 1980s. We next saw building in 2009 when developers with an option from the Sisters came to us on the Darby Historical Commission and said they wanted to build a shopping center and asked our help in finding an adaptive reuse for the mansion. The Nuns left the building in 2005, vandals stole copper from dormers and valleys in 2013, and the County bought the property in 2016. This is a video we made after the County bought the property. The 2.5 minute video is called Uncommon Common Ground since the plateau is the place where Aldan, Clifton Heights, Collingdale, Darby, Borough, Lansdowne, Upper Darby, and Yeadon intersect. https://youtu.be/4M1nP4t5KUs?feature=shared

The entire Woodburne Plateau can be a learning opportunity telling stories starting in the 1600’s when the Great Minquas Path passed over the property connecting Susquahannock with the Dutch, Swedish and  later English fur trading posts through the present day when we face multiple financial, social, and environmental challenges. 

Donovan Rypkema once said the greenest building is the one already built because of the embodied energy of materials and past investment. I believe there may those who want to demolish the building, but Trumbauer is said to have built not only to impress, but to endure. The stable 21 inch thick stone walls and steel I beam frame, along with parts of the building that are not compromised by leaks, demonstrate resilience, and two of Marcus Vitruvius Pollo’s classical three pillars architecture, beauty and strength. The third pillar of usefulness (utilitas) is a challenge. One of the possibilities is using the building to teach the skills necessary to take care of older buildings and offers a unique opportunity to see how Trumbauer built. We are entering a new age where our frontier has turned inward to suggest the re-evaluation and utilization of assets we already have. I am sending a picture of the courtyard behind Woodburne and a picture of "The Ruins" in Budapest where bombed out buildings have become vibrant places. The words of Theodore Roosevelt still resonate "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." 

I am hoping there is a time we can meet to talk.

John and Jan Haigis

1006 Main Street 

Darby, Pa 19023

610.809.5856

Woodburne