Philadelphia’s hulkingly opulent city hall, an architectural lightning rod since shortly after its completion in 1901, may be about to see its best days yet. “A restoration of the building’s lavish statuary and exteriors, perhaps the nation’s largest-ever art conservation effort, is slowly transforming its dingy main floors into bright granite and marble. Ironwork that was once rusty is now a crisp white. Viewed from the northwest, the renewed facades are a shining panorama its builders could only imagine.”