18 Pa. Super. 477 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1901
Opinion by
There was no question of fact in dispute in this case, and whether the building against which the plaintiff had filed his lien was an addition to an existing building, within the meaning of the Act of May 18, 1887, P. L. 118, and subject to the provisions of that act, or an independent structure subject to the provisions of the Act of June 16, 1836, P. L. 695, was a question of law for the court. The church edifice of the defendant congregation was situated at the southeast corner of Tasker and Thirteenth streets in the city of Philadelphia. The building now in question consisted of an extension to the eastward, which was designed and suitable for Sunday school purposes in connection with the church. The front wall on Tasker street was connected with the wall of the main church edifice so that they formed one continuous wall, the materials and architectural design of the exterior were in all respects similar to those of the main church edifice, and the two buildings were covered by a continuous roof. What had been the rear wall of the church was used as the fourth wall of the new room. In the interior a large section of the wall between the
' The result of this operation was to enlarge the old building, and the new work and the old were structurally so connected as -to produce an edifice which was a unit. In external appearance the completed edifice was one structure, and in interior arrangement the Sunday school room was but an annex to the auditorium of the church. The new extension was subservient to the old building into which it was structurally incorporated. That this was the design of the character of the completed work and the only purpose for which it could be made available was made clear by the contract under which the work was done. This was an addition to an existing building, of which it became an integral part. When an addition to an old building is of this character the provisions of the act of 1887 must be complied with in order to sustain a mechanic’s lien : Best v. Baumgardner, 122 Pa. 17. It is contended upon behalf of the
Judgment affirmed.