Development Tour

Cira Centre One and Sugarhouse Casino
The $212 million 29-floor Cira Centre One is the Tour’s first stop. It was developed by Brandywine Realty Trust on a land lease from Amtrak in 2005 and connects to Amtrak’s 30th Street Station. A Brandywine representative will speak with Counselors about the company’s other developments, including a $260 million historic rehabilitation of the 30th Street Main Post Office, which when completed this fall will serve as the new regional headquarters for the Internal Revenue Service. The Tour also will visit the new Sugarhouse Casino in the Fishtown neighborhood, opening in September. It’s Philadelphia’s first casino and revitalizes the site of a former sugar refinery along the Delaware River. The property offers public green space and scenic pathways in addition to its 45,000 square foot gaming floor. Transportation is provided.

Note: This tour is complimentary.

Tour Event †

NOTE: Select preferred tour time when you register. First - come, first - serve basis.

The Barnes Foundation
An unprecedented event – and your opportunity to view art masterpieces within the multi-billion dollar collection at The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia’s premiere educational art institution. Our intimate, small group Tours provide the opportunity to experience -- in a very personal setting – works of art from world-renowned artists including Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Gauguin, Manet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others, as well as a variety of African, European, Egyptian, Greek and Roman art forms.
The collection -- one of the world’s largest of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings -- was amassed by Albert C. Barnes, whose fortune was acquired through co-developing a breakthrough antimicrobial drug in the early 1900s. The Foundation was built on his 12-acre estate in the suburb of Merion, where he wished it to always remain. It has been the center of recent controversy as Foundation leadership launched and won a legal battle to relocate the collection to new facilities in Philadelphia, making it easier for the public to visit. Our Tour will be of galleries at the original building built in the 1920s as the Foundation looks forward to a move in 2012.

Welcome Reception at The Four Seasons Hotel

It’s a celebration of friendship -- connect and reconnect with fellow Counselors, spouses and guests at this popular welcoming event. The beautiful ballroom and terrace of the Four Seasons Hotel awaits you along with the genuine good company and camaraderie for which CRE is famous. All Counselors, spouses and guests who are registered for the 2010 Annual Convention are welcome.

Spouse/Guest Welcome Breakfast – at the Four Seasons Hotel

Start your activities with this breakfast right in the Four Seasons Hotel. If you are a first-time attendee, it’s the perfect way to meet other spouses and guests. If you are a returning attendee, it’s the best place to meet new people and see your friends before starting out on the first Tour.

Spouse/Guest Tour †

Historic Philadelphia and lunch at the City Tavern
King Charles II granted William Penn (an English Quaker) a parcel of land in the new World in 1682 as payment for a debt the Crown owed Penn’s father. The city he created there grew rapidly, becoming the second largest English-speaking city in the world just before the American Revolution.

No trip to Philadelphia is complete without a visit to the “...most historic square mile in the country.” The Tour departs from the Four Seasons Hotel – transportation is provided. The first stop is Independence Mall, where you will see key historic locations that help define the rich history of the city and the United States itself. You’ll visit the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Congress Hall. The Liberty Bell is the hallowed symbol of our nation’s freedom. Independence Hall is where the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Congress Hall is where Congress sat while Philadelphia was the capital of the United States from 1790 to 1800.

Then the Tour progresses to Franklin Court, the site of the house and print shop of one of Philadelphia’s most popular citizens, Benjamin Franklin; the Betsy Ross House, Christ Church (where many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried in the 291-year-old cemetery) and Elfreth’s Alley, popularly known as "our nation’s oldest residential street" – with preserved and restored residences and shops dating back to the first days of the eighteenth century.

For lunch, the group will convene at Philadelphia’s award-winning City Tavern, known as both a historical experience as well as a culinary one. City Tavern’s primary mission is to interpret and deliver the culinary experience inspired by the customs and foods of 18th Century Colonial America.

Following lunch, you’ll board the coach to return to the Four Seasons Hotel. We think you’ll agree, the Monday Tour is the best way to see these historical sites – and enjoy the company of friends.

Cocktail Reception at the Franklin Institute †

An intriguing evening awaits you at The Franklin Institute, one of Philadelphia’s finest museums. We’ll gather in the vaulted rotunda inside the Institute, within the Benjamin Franklin Memorial -- the only U.S. National Memorial in private ownership. The domed rotunda features a 20-foot high white marble statue of Franklin, sculpted in 1938 by James Earle Fraser – one of the most prominent sculptors in American history. Among his notable works are the designs for the Indian Head nickel (in circulation from 1913 to 1938), the bronze statue of a Native American on horseback titled "End of the Trail" and the Navy Cross. Plan now to join in the fun, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails in a truly unique setting. This venue is located within close walking distance from the hotel through beautiful Logan Square. Limited trolley transportation will also be available.

See the Special Exhibition: Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt

Attendees of the CRE Cocktail Event will have exclusive private access to The Franklin Institute’s special exhibit Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, a National Geographic exhibit making its world premiere at The Franklin Institute. This special exhibit will be closed to the public, but opened only for Counselors, spouses and guests who will be attending the CRE Cocktail Reception Event at The Franklin Institute. The hours of this special exhibit are 5:00 pm (before the Reception begins) until 8:30 pm (just after our Reception ends). Or, you’ll be able to tour the exhibition during the Cocktail Reception Event. The event includes a brief multi-media presentation and an audio-assisted tour of the collection in the exhibit.

The exhibit, organized by National Geographic and Arts and Exhibitions International, was done so with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM). Featured are over 100 artifacts. Visitors will learn about the modern archaeological search for Cleopatra’s tomb, in Egypt and the Bay of Aboukir.

Cleopatra is immortalized in books and movies as the beautiful and captivating last great ruler of Egypt, who lived from 69 - 30 B.C. Throughout that time, political intrigue and challenges to her throne took place. History links the mysterious Cleopatra to two powerful men of the day, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Later, when Rome conquered Egypt, much of the historical record of Cleopatra’s reign was lost, as the new rulers obliterated historical records. Her body has never been found. In Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, attendees will learn about her rule and the modern-day search for her complete history and her tomb.