Drexel Now Painting Its Buildings to Look Like Penn’s

Drexel has tired of its orange-bricked buildings and would now prefer the statelier red that graces Penn’s campus. “You were immediately able to tell when you left the Penn campus,” said [Drexel’s vice president for facilities]. “It was cheap and tawdry, a symbol of the old Drexel.”

Drexel brick

Penn brick

So they’re busting out the mini-rollers.

It is accomplishing this by equipping workers with miniature paint rollers and dispatching them to coat each offending orange brick, one by one…The work is time-consuming, explained painter Rick Farina, because they are striving to stay within the lines, to avoid staining the grout.

My colleague Tim Haas has his own little motto for the school, which I’ll share now: Drexel University: Close to an Ivy League School. [Inquirer]

Photos: Drexel.edu; UPenn.edu