Renaissance Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center’s renovation plan includes demolition of these two attached houses on Chester Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets.
Residents living near the 4700 block of Chester Avenue can expect to see a face-lift to the area this year as Renaissance Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center undergoes renovations.
Renaissance (formerly Park Pleasant Nursing Home) will revamp its grounds encompassing Chester and Kingsessing Avenues under the guidance of its new owner, Nationwide Healthcare Services, which purchased the 123-bed long-term and short-term care facility January 1. It is part of Renaissance’s larger effort to become “a focal point of [the] community,” said Nursing Home Administrator Carmella Kane.
“One of our goals is… to have a long-term care facility to serve the community,” she said. “Aesthetically, we want to be the best thing around.”
The overhaul will include garden beautification, interior remodeling to residential living space, and demolition of two attached, vacant residences adjacent to the Chester Avenue Dog Park on the corner of 48th and Chester (Renaissance owns both the homes and the park, which will remain intact.) Signage reflecting the facility’s new name is already posted on the property.
According to Kane, Renaissance hasn’t scheduled a start date for demolition of the two houses, which are currently being gutted, as permits have not been obtained. The administrator denied rumors that the site will turn into a parking lot; instead, she noted what it will become is “unknown.” There are no plans for construction on the area, however.
“We will not do anything to hinder the community but they’re dilapidated buildings,” Kane said, “and nobody has lived in there for years, so it’s not like they’re tearing down existing living space…We’re going to be very conscious of the community.”
She said Renaissance will keep the community notified of renovation updates and other related news. By the way, this Friday, Apr. 12, one of Renaissance residents is celebrating her 100th birthday and community members are invited to the party that begins at 2 p.m.
“Nursing homes have such a stigma anyways,” Kane said. “We want to be a positive part of the community because we’ve been here for so long.”
– Annamarya Scaccia
April 9th, 2013 at 11:39 am
Sounds like a good idea. Maybe the residents of the 4600 block of Chester can get in on the face-lift and stop dumping bread (only mildly annoying) and other old food (gross!) on the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street. I don’t know if they’re trying to feed the birds or if they don’t understand composting or what, but white bread is not good for birds, and other moldy food looks disgusting and is more likely to attract vermin than to do any good for any other critters. Erm. Anyway, looking forward to seeing these renovations progress.
April 9th, 2013 at 11:40 am
That’s a shame. Those are beautiful buildings, even if they are falling apart.
April 9th, 2013 at 11:55 am
Great! Do you know anything about the building being gutted on 47th street, across from Salt-n-Pepper? They have been working for about a month and I was wondering if they are tearing it down or turning it into new apartments?
April 9th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Somehow I’m having trouble buying the whole “we are demolishing two large houses, but we don’t have a plan for that space yet” line. those buildings have a lot of character. I hope that the vacant lot that they create is well maintained.
April 10th, 2013 at 12:38 am
why would they spend a pile of money just to have a bigger lawn to mow? Acouple of days ago I asked the men who are doing the clean out what was going on and they told me straight up—demo then a parking lot.
April 10th, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Exactly the same thing that they told me.
April 9th, 2013 at 7:22 pm
There is no mention in this post of their plans for the dog park. Does anyone know anything?
April 9th, 2013 at 7:38 pm
Hi Anne – The dog park is remaining intact. There are no plans for changing it.
April 10th, 2013 at 10:42 am
The dog park is working closely with the new owners to maintain our space as well as to continue our relationship of volunteering and supporting the residents of the facility.
Christina Bach
President, Board of Directors
Chester Ave Dog Association/Park
April 10th, 2013 at 11:08 am
“RENOVATE” as per Webster’s college dictionary
“to make as good as new; restore”
doesn’t sound like demolition, but maybe I’m missing something
April 10th, 2013 at 11:31 am
What!? Is there proof that these two houses are beyond saving? Plus, the possible replacement is a parking lot?!! My goodness, I guess we should just raze the whole block and put in a strip mall! This is the WRONG direction for neighborhood development.
That this follows the destructive insertion of a driveway at a house between 48th and 49th street is quite worrying. Do people have no sense of what it means to live in a city?
April 11th, 2013 at 10:35 am
Living in a city can mean lots of things. Having a driveway doesn’t match up with your vision, but it would for me. Just saying. Lay off the uber-judgmental kick. The person installing their driveway probably does quite a bit for their block. We can evolve as a neighborhood you know. There is also enough room at the table for multiple visions of what it is to “live in a city”.
Cheers,
April 11th, 2013 at 10:59 am
Nope…you are wrong. Sorry. I’m not advocating banning automobiles from cities, but the whole development machine is, in many ways, centered around automobiles now and not people. You want a garage? Something akin to the parking solution on the blocks between 46th to 47th and Larchwood to Osage works well. I count 31 houses with only 2 curb cuts for cars–not too bad. Rowhouses with garages fronting the street, curb cuts, driveways, these all destroy urban live. People are moving back to this city for they type of life that is being destroyed by these new developments.
To create the driveway that I mentioned earlier, they destroyed a great stone wall and removed a significant amount of porous, green surface (runoff issues are very important). Plus, they removed a public, street-parking space from the rest of us. Selfish, selfish, selfish.
April 11th, 2013 at 12:13 pm
You have no idea why people are moving back to the city. Your ideals are just that–yours and yours only. Don’t speak for others or presume to know what they want.
“Destroying urban live (sic)” LOL.
April 11th, 2013 at 4:09 pm
Again, I will say that your ideals are your ideals. What you want out of “urban living” is not that same as what others may want. Try to recognize that. Sorry about your feelings on how a public space was removed, but that argument seems invalid when you consider that you don’t really want cars anywhere near you anyway…
Adding a public garage or two wouldn’t be the worst thing in West Philly. Lot’s of our neighborhoods have a mixture of people with one, none, or 2 cars. Let’s not vilify people who need a car to get to work (or for any other reason, who are you to decide that anyway?).
You want a community? Talk to your neighbors. Invite them over for a cookout. Be polite. You’re not going to make many friends by pushing your version of what city living is though.
April 11th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
These aren’t ideals. They are good urban planning and design principles. And what’s so funny about my spelling error? There’s at least one more in that post. Care to point it out? When you are so enraged about these constant abuses to our physical fabric, which no one seems to notice, then you don’t have the patience to compose a perfect post.
April 11th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
I wasn’t laughing at your spelling error, hence the “sic”. I was laughing at the very idea that somehow a parking lot is going to “destroy urban” life.
Hyperbole is not your friend.
April 11th, 2013 at 3:33 pm
My apologies, but it looked like you were trying to highlight the incorrect word, especially as it was followed by “LOL.”
I think that my hyperbole was quite appropriate, actually. I’m trying to create a strong impression, but it’s, of course, not literal (at least not completely literal).
April 11th, 2013 at 2:48 pm
This is off the point re: the upcoming (pointless) demo of the twin on Chester Ave. but I live on a block with 5 houses on my side, 3 of which have driveways. These families tend to park in the rear of their lots and go into their homes thru the back. Since I’m not one of those 3, I hardly ever see my neighbors even after living on the same block for many years. And since we are a permit only parking block, space on the street isn’t a issue. Sidewalks and front porches seem to lend themselves to personal interaction, cars don’t.
I realize many people dream about off street parking, but I will continue to speak up against it.
April 15th, 2013 at 8:55 am
I live across the street and just picked up pieces of asbestos that they are sloppily removing from the basement WITHOUT a permit and the necessary OSHA approved removal techniques. I have a newborn baby that we take outside daily and this demolition is a serious threat to his health, as well as our own. I can’t imagine that L&I would approve of this supposed “renovation” project. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I seriously hope that no one actually believes that this project is to improve the neighborhood. Hopefully someone can do something about it.
April 15th, 2013 at 9:47 am
…Because you called it in to L&I, right?
January 14th, 2014 at 8:48 am
I lived in the house next to the parking lot for a number of years. These houses were built better than anything being built today. I think they would have been perfect for off campus housing. I lived there during the late 50’s and early 60’s. A beautiful, scenic area with huge expanse of lawn and beautiful trees. Also had an apartment at the nursing home (as it was called then). I’m devastated. It seems to me that there is no respect for the past…no appreciation. Just build another parking lot…destroy, destroy. I drove into the city yesterday and pulled into the parking lot (the scene of any picnics and family gatherings). I lost it. Was devastated. If this is progress…then we’re ALL in trouble.