The 1938, deco Bok Vocational high school has been converted into a multi-use facility, with spaces for craftsman, offices, a pre-school, etc., all housed in classrooms that once instructed students in auto mechanics, welding, hair styling and cooking. The roof now houses Bok Bar, with terrific views across South Philly to Center City and the Ben Franklin Bridge. Try to arrange your visit to coincide with sunset.
Yup, a trip to the bathroom will take you right back to high school!
In these crazy times, all ages are welcome, and reservations are required. The bar is open seasonally, with local chefs (rotated weekly) providing fancy bar snacks.
Irwin’s, a sit down restaurant with views to the stadiums, occupies the other side of the roof. In pre-covid times, they offered free building tours every Wednesday evenings, so check to see when these will resume.
Nice view! Those toilets made me shudder a little though. I hate American style toilet cubicles anyway, with the massive gap under the door and the big cracks on the sides of the door (why do you want people to be able to see you sitting on the toilet? So weird), especially after becoming accustomed to the much more private British variety, and those look particularly bad!
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Yup! That lack of privacy, along with the price of the drinks should insure that no one has a few too many… Probably a good thing with the distance down to the pavement from the roof.
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