For the park, see Washington Square (Philadelphia). Washington Square West is a neighborhood in downtown, or Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Electric Door Strike (image from bigasterisk.com) A better solution for door security hardware during a power outage is to use electric strikes. An electric strike is a mechanically operated strike that releases a door when the mechanical part is activated.
There are many manufacturers of electric strikes, and there are many things that have to be considered when buying one, i.e., type of jamb, type of locking hardware, whether one requires fail-secure or fail-safe, length of latch, depth of jamb, voltage requirements and the length of the faceplate.