The Pennovation Works is a 21st Century hub for innovation and industry. Beginning with the creation of the Pennovation Center - a building redesigned and adapted from a 20th Century paint factory - the Pennovation Works consists of facilities existing for the purpose of turning ideas into economic opportunities for the surrounding area and neighborhoods. Interestingly, when you take a look at the site's colorful history, you see that it's been an incubator for industry and innovation in the Philadelphia area for more than 200 years. View the Gallery and read about its history in this article in Hidden City Philadelphia.
Eva Silvestro is a Lab Technician for one of our thriving Pennovation Center member companies, CytoVas, a healthcare company working to discover biomarkers for vascular disease, research which can help healthcare professionals assess disease progression, as well as evaluate the side effects of existing and experimental medicines. She is a part of the rich Grays Ferry and Forgotten Bottom history, running as far back as the operation of the Dupont Chemical Company, where her father worked as a Chemical Lab Assistant. Eva was happy to share with our Pennovation team about her experience working in the same exact building today, that her father worked in a generation ago, and the changes that the Grays Ferry area has undergone over the years.
When did your father work at Dupont, and what was his role?
My dad started working at Dupont in 1961 and retired in 2002. He worked alongside my grandfather who also worked here from the early 1930's thru the 60's. The Marshall Lab was a "family business" - fathers, sons and daughters.
He was a Chemical Lab Assistant, formulating mixtures for paints and resins. He also performed many experiments involving Kevlar, which was introduced in 1971.
What is your function as a member of CytoVas?
I am a Lab Technician, pretty much the same role as my dad. But I’m devising and performing experiments in a healthcare setting, instead of with car paint.
When did you realize that this is the same exact building that your father worked in a generation ago? Or did you already know this coming into your position?
I knew during the phone interview with CytoVas when I was given the address of 3401 Grays Ferry Ave. All I could do was laugh and blurt out "You mean the old Dupont?”
What are your earliest memories of your father working at the Dupont Chemical Company site?
Actually, this sight was known as just "Dupont" to the neighborhood or "The Marshall Lab" to the people that worked here. I just always knew that my dad worked at Dupont and that it was close to home. I grew up on 22nd and Jackson Streets, which is a little over a mile from here, and my dad would walk to work a lot. Especially when it snowed, so he wouldn't lose his parking spot. South Philly is a rough place for parking when it snows!
Can you describe what the building looked like at the time?
The first building when you enter the site looks similar. But Building 176 (The Pennovation Center) is completely different. My father’s office would have been located on the first floor where the main staircase is now. The second floor was where the paint booths were located; the paint would be tested there on auto parts.
Were the building and campus situated the same way they are now, with there being a broader campus environment like the Pennovation Works, anchored by a building like the Pennovation Center?
The site was pretty much as it is now with the exception of the parking lots and large fields to the right. That area housed a large pigment plant where the color pigments were made in large batches. The building was demolished when production slowed and the field remains. There were machine shops and more paint booths located in the surrounding buildings that are now Penn Vet.
How about the surrounding neighborhood? From what you have observed, how has it changed over the years?
The neighborhood has changed considerably! Most of the surrounding area, if I remember correctly, was junkyards or just open fields, no supermarkets or other stores like it has now .
How does it feel to work here, knowing the rich history that you are a part of?
It's a little weird to be the third generation working on the same property in basically the same capacity, research. But I guess I was meant to be here. That's how I look at it.
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CytoVas is a life science company with a unique cell-based informatics platform, CLOUD CYTOMICS™, that is advancing precision medicine by providing clinicians and drug developers with actionable information on novel cellular markers of disease progression and individual treatment response. Eva and the rest of the team are truly changing the game with their research - recently identifying a test which can predict the possibility of a post-surgery heart attack. The company is now seeking venture capital investment, and working with a large regional pharmaceutical company, so we know there are big things on the horizon.