Redesigned Garden Court community garden rendering provided by the Community Design Collaborative.

Community members are invited this Friday (Sept. 21) to learn more about a major fundraising effort in West Philly’s Garden Court neighborhood – the Corner Park Renovation project – which includes renovation of the community tennis courts and redesign of the community garden at 47th and Spruce.

Garden Court Community Association is partnering with the Community Design Collaborative on this project. The Collaborative prepared a plan and diagram for the redesign of the garden after conducting a community input process last spring. They will be presented at Friday’s event. The plan for the garden includes reconfiguring garden plots to allow more residents to garden, creating a new pedestrian-only entrance and gathering space with picnic tables and chairs, and more.  Continue Reading

A monthly Cedar Park zoning meeting will get underway on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at the Calvary Center for Culture and Community (48th and Baltimore). One of the development projects to be discussed at the meeting is a proposal for a self-service pet washing space at 806 S. 47th Street, in the space formerly occupied by Goffredo Plumbing (see Google map above).

The new business requires a special exception for the first-floor commercial space in the three-story mixed use building because it’s an “animal service.” The residential use above will remain unchanged. Stay tuned for more information.

More details about tomorrow’s meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., is available here.

A couple of weeks ago we noticed that Indego bike share station disappeared from 40th and Woodland. No worries, the station is not gone, it’s been moved to another nearby location. It’s now on Baltimore Avenue near 40th, adjacent to the newly opened Trolley Car Station restaurant. This new bike share station is a part of the Trolley Portal Gardens project, which is officially opening on Sept. 27th at 5 p.m. And now you can hop on a bike and burn some of those calories after dining at the restaurant.

Photo courtesy of Clark Park Youth Soccer

The success of local community soccer programs depends on volunteer help. The fall season of Clark Park Youth Soccer begins on Sept. 22, and the program organizers are still looking for volunteer coaches.

It takes place on Saturdays at Clark Park, with kids ages 5 to 7 playing from 10:30 to noon, and ages 8 to 11 playing from noon to 1:30. Volunteer coaches will be asked to commit to being there most of the Saturdays through the season, until mid-November. The organizers try to assign three to four coaches to each team so that they always have backup. The program is especially in need of coaches to work with older kids from noon to 1:30 p.m.  Continue Reading

The developers of the sprawling former Provident Mutual Life Insurance property at 46th and Market Streets began a series of stops at neighborhood groups last night at the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) monthly board meeting to garner support and input for its proposed health campus.

A partnership between Philadelphia-based commercial developers Iron Stone and the Public Health Management Corp. (PHMC) will develop the 13-acre site, once slated to be the new home of the Philadelphia Police Department.

PHMC will run three programs at the site, including a federally funded health center that will provide primary care and dental services, a public health office and a 20- to 30-bed overnight site. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) plans to operate a children’s mental health services center from the site and several day care providers, including the YMCA, are interested in opening a large (some 120 children) facility, Andrew Eisenstein of Iron Stone Real Estate Partners told the SHCA board.  Continue Reading

If you missed the first Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll in June, here’s another opportunity to enjoy this great outdoor event. This year’s second and final Dollar Stroll will take place Thursday, Sept. 13 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Over 30 businesses and food trucks will line up between 43rd and 52nd streets to offer $1 deals – from their signature food items, drinks and treats to memberships. The full list of participating businesses is available here; also check out the map below.  Continue Reading