Here are some news briefs from around West Philadelphia.

VA Hospital to be renamed

Photo via philadelphia.va.gov.

The Philadelphia’s Veterans Administration Hospital (3900 Woodland Ave) will be renamed in memory of Michael J. Crescenz, a Philadelphian who served in the Vietnam War. He was 19 when he was killed in action. President Obama signed a bill, sponsored by Rep. Chaka Fattah and Sen. Pat Toomey, to rename the hospital last week. 

Historic Mansion at 40th and Pine to be demolished soon?

The end may be near for the historic mansion located at 400 S. 40th St, as the Historical Commission’s Hardship Committee voted Friday on a ruling that clears the way for the immediate demolition of the building, Hidden City Philadelphia reports.

The plans proposed by the developer, which would keep the original mansion, were rejected.

Architect Samuel Sloan-designed Italianate mansion, which was built in 1850’s, has been under public and media scrutiny for over six years, since plans were announced to demolish it to make room for a hotel initially and then student housing. The ongoing battle is between the building’s owner, University of Pennsylvania, which claimed “financial hardship” and wants to demolish the building, and members of the Woodland Terrace Homeowners Association. There was some hope for the building just a year ago when developer Equinox Management and Construction presented a compromise plan to keep the original mansion as part of proposed “Azalea Gardens,” a housing complex aimed at students.

According to the city’s Historic Preservation Ordinance, “hardship” exists “where there is a claim that a building, structure, site, or object cannot be used for any purpose for which it is or may be reasonably adapted, or where a building permit application for alteration, or demolition is based, in whole or in part, on financial hardship.”

Online petition launched calling on Penn to contribute to Philly schools 

Philadelphia Jobs with Justice, an economic justice coalition of over 40 community, union, student, and faith groups, launched a citywide petition last week addressed to University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann demanding that the university begin payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) to Philadelphia to help fund public schools and services. The petition calls on Penn to annually contribute 0.1% of its budget—$6.6 million dollars—to help Philadelphia’s struggling schools and underfunded public services. Pointing to the university’s land use, Jobs with Justice notes that the university owns more tax-exempt property than any other university located in a major city.

“Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania are the only Ivy League universities that refuse to pay PILOTs,” stated Jobs with Justice executive director Gwen Snyder.

SLAP members participated in a sit-in at Penn president Amy Gutmann’s holiday party last week. (Facebook photo)

The petition is the latest step in Philadelphia Jobs with Justice’s campaign for PILOTs from the University of Pennsylvania. Following a West Philadelphia community forum on the subject in May, the organization canvassed large swaths of the neighborhood surrounding the university and worked with Penn Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) on campus organizing efforts. Last week, SLAP participated in a protest at Gutmann’s annual holiday party, demanding that Penn pay PILOTs.