A Fair Exchange

PROBLEM:

The Bourse, built 1893-95, is a historic building in Philadelphia formerly used as a stock exchange, maritime exchange, and grain-trading center. It was the first stock exchange in America, and the largest of its time. The building was being renovated for use as office space with a shopping center and food court on the main floor. The old building had an antiquated electrical system, including original antique manual switchgear for transfer between electrical services. The new tenants of the building required an automatic switching system to comply with codes and to make sure the building was supplied with power at all times.

SOLUTION:

One of the areas in which Penn Panel & Box Company has excelled over the years is in providing designs for the repair and upgrading of historic sites. Because the company specializes in custom products, it can provide a design that fits modern equipment into whatever space is available or a design that upgrades existing equipment for reliability and/or future needs. The company has worked on scores of historic and landmark sites to bring electrical systems into compliance with modern codes.

Because of Penn Panel & Box Company’s recognized expertise with historic buildings, the contractor asked the company to work on the electrical design. Penn Panel’s experienced electrical engineers custom-designed a control scheme for automatic switching to be added to the existing equipment, much of which had been installed in the 1940s and ’50s. Penn Panel pre-wired the controls for installation by the electrical contractor and sent out a field engineer for supervision of testing to ensure proper operation of the system.
The final result—a beautiful historic building with all the modern conveniences, including reliable electric power, for working, shopping, and dining.

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