DOGE puts Old City’s Custom House back on list of properties for ‘accelerated disposition’
The interior of the building at Second and Chestnut Streets is adorned with 31 mural panels created by the artist George Harding in 1938. Their future is uncertain.
On Thursday, the U.S. Custom House at Second and Chestnut Streets appeared back on the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s list of “assets identified for accelerated disposition.”
In March, the Trump administration proposed the sale of “non-core” federal buildings all over the country, including three in Philadelphia — the Custom House, the Mid-Atlantic Social Security Center, and the Veterans Affairs building on Wissahickon Avenue. That list of General Services Administration-owned buildings was then scrubbed and edited, and the three Philadelphia buildings no longer appeared on it until Thursday.
“GSA is focused on rightsizing the federal real estate portfolio to reduce the burden on the American taxpayer while also delivering space that enables its agency customers to achieve their missions,” the website reads. “This initiative aims to engage the market, attract interested parties, and inform strategies that will expedite the disposition of federal assets, consistent with all applicable laws.”
It is unclear why the Custom House was added back to the list, and whether the other two properties will follow suit. At the time of publishing, the GSA had not responded to queries about the May 1 change.
“To be clear, just because an asset is on the list doesn’t mean it’s immediately for sale or for sale at all,” GSA public affairs officer Stephanie Rodriguez said to The Inquirer in March. “However, we will consider compelling offers (in accordance with applicable laws and regulations), and do what’s best for the needs of the federal government and taxpayer.”
The Custom House building currently provides office space for various federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection field offices, as well as a satellite office for Sen. John Fetterman.
Fetterman’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The 17-story, art deco-style U.S. Custom House in Philadelphia opened in 1934, and was one of many federal buildings constructed during the Depression in a bid to revive the economy by creating local jobs.
After the stock market crash of 1929, Congress passed a bill appropriating funds for the U.S. Custom House in Philadelphia. The building marked the beginning of the urban redevelopment plan that went on to include the founding of Independence National Historical Park and the revitalization of Society Hill.
In 2011, the Custom House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Art at stake
With the building back on the “accelerated disposal” list, the future of the significant public artwork within the Custom House is uncertain.
The interior — the vestibule, elevator lobby, and rotunda area — is adorned with 31 mural panels created by the Brandywine School artist George Harding.
The murals, mostly revolving around themes of seafaring and navigation, are a nod to the “commerce and customs of the Port of Philadelphia,” per the GSA website. Harding drew nautical signals, seahorses, clouds, phases of the moon, and his interpretation of the various activities of the Port of Philadelphia.
When it comes to the art in buildings disposed of by the federal government, Rodriguez said in March, “The [GSA’s] Fine Arts Program makes decisions regarding final disposition of artworks in disposed buildings on a case-by-case basis.”
Around that same time, half of GSA’s fine arts and historic preservation’s approximately three dozen staff members “were abruptly put on leave pending their terminations” by the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported.
According to Rodriguez, there are several options for art housed in a GSA building being sold, including: transferring limited ownership of the artwork to the new owner of the property with a signed agreement to protect the pieces; the GSA maintaining ownership of the art even after the building itself is sold; transferring the full title of the artwork to the new owner and removing the artwork from GSA’s Fine Arts Collection; and relocating the artwork to another GSA-owned facility.
“We are actively seeking placement for the artworks in museums, and when possible, GSA-owned buildings,” Rodriguez said.
Harding’s murals are a part of the GSA’s Depression-era New Deal commissions. These artworks, Rodriguez said, are considered “historical materials,” which means they can’t be sold or be under private ownership under 44 U.S.C. Chapter 21.
The Mid-Atlantic Social Security Center and the Veterans Affairs building house newer GSA artworks: Al Held’s Order / Disorder/ Ascension / Descension (1976) and Clyde Lynds’ Sentinel (1998), respectively. These were commissioned under GSA’s Art in Architecture Program established in 1972. Not considered “historical materials,” they are not similarly protected in the event of the sale of the federal building that houses them.
“GSA is currently evaluating the protected status of the artworks commissioned under the Art in Architecture program,” a GSA spokesperson said to The Inquirerlast month. The GSA, they added, is reviewing the contracts with each artist “to ensure that the terms are honored.”
To date, more than 500 artworks commissioned under the AiA program have been installed across the country. This includes Alexander Calder’s Flamingo outside Chicago’s John C. Kluczynski Federal Building and Ellsworth Kelly’s The Boston Panels outside Boston’s John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse.