ABSTRACT

Unable to contain himself, Augustine Salvitti sprang from his chair, circled the desk, and tugged Mark Dichter’s shirtsleeve. “Come here for a minutelook at this,” he said. He swept aside a curtain, revealing a bank of windows, knee-to ceiling-height. Market Street was seven stories below. One hand squeezed Dichter’s shoulder, the other gestured at the Gallery complex a few blocks away, its glass skin glistening in the afternoon sun. The Gallery: a newly completed, enclosed mall containing 125 shops linked to parking and two subway stops, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority’s trophy project of the 1970s.