Penn Museum is organizing two great family events this month and inviting West Philly kids and their families to attend.

Philadelphia READS! community night (free):
On Wednesday, Apr 10, Penn Museum celebrates literacy with a free community night and kickoff to a month-long book drive, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event, co-hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s Groundswell Initiative, will include storytelling in the galleries, dance performances, a poetry workshop, and a hieroglyph-writing workshop. Guests are asked to bring a new or gently used children’s book to contribute to Philadelphia READS, a program that provides books to educators in the city.

For more information go here.

Rome’s Birthday:
On Sunday, April 21, “All roads lead to Rome,” as the museum celebrates the founding of Rome (753 BCE) with an afternoon of gladiatorial bouts, toga wrapping, ancient hairdressing, arts and crafts, a pasta demo, pop-up poetry readings in the galleries, and a talk about Rome. This event will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. and is free with Museum admission.

For more information visit this page.

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 48^th 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

The final public meeting on the University Southwest District Plan is tonight at Quorum in the University City Science Center (3711 Market St.). The meeting is an open house and community members are invited to attend any time between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

At the meeting, the City Planning Commission will present the draft of the plan including recommendations for zoning changes in the area. You can also learn about the feedback the planning commission received from the Philadelphia2035 online game. The game developers will be there to share results and hear from you about your gaming experience. Most importantly, they will award $500 prizes to the top three local causes supported by participants. The following causes were presented in the game: Greening Lea initiative, Neighborhood Bike Works, the Kingsessing Recreation Center and the University City Arts League. More than 900 people signed up to play the game.

For more information, please contact Andrew Meloney, 215-683-4656, Andrew.Meloney@phila.gov.

The deadline to appeal property assessments under the new Actual Value Initiative (AVI) is fast approaching. First-Level Review Request forms are due in the Office of Property Assessment (OPA) by Sunday, March 31 (or 30 days after you received your assessment notice).

The OPA recommends submitting other documents that may help the office consider your case. These could include photos or recent third-party appraisals. The First-Level Review Request form should have been included with the new assessment notifications. If you need a new form, they are available to download here. The forms should be mailed here:

Office of Property Assessment
P.O. Box 51498
Philadelphia, PA 19115

They also can be dropped off at:

311 Walk-In Center in Room 167 at City Hall
Municipal Services Building Concourse-level, 1401 JFK Blvd.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your appeal, you can file another appeal with the Board of Revision of Taxes. That appeal is due by Oct. 7, 2013.

Below is a video produced by the City as a guide to the appeal process.

The 18th Police District is organizing a crime prevention event this Friday, March 29, where community members can learn about new programs designed to help combat property related crimes. The event will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Sayre High School parking lot located at 5800 Walnut Street.

The goal of the event is to spread awareness and encourage participation in the following programs (information provided by Philly Police Blog:

OPERATION I.D. is a Property Identification Program developed to aid in the prevention of crime and identification of personal property in the event that it is lost or stolen (e.g. cell phones, computers televisions, GPS, DVD headrests, car stereos, etc.).

The B.O.N.D. [Business Owner Notification Decal] Program is a program that registers local business owners with the police department in the event of a burglary or other emergency and ensures the owner is contacted immediately.

The S.A.V.E. [Stolen Auto Verification Effort] Program is an effort in which citizens register their vehicles with the police department for the application of a special decal to their car window. Enrollment in the program permits officers to stop their vehicles and conduct an ownership investigation when the vehicle is being operated on the streets of Philadelphia between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., seven days a week.

VIN ETCHING [Vehicle Identification Number Engraving] is an effort to prevent theft of vehicles and theft of glass parts from vehicles in which the VIN is professionally etched on the car windows. Etching can be done on side mirrors and on some headlights.

All the programs are free to the public and are very effective, according to police. Residents are invited to participate in all or some of them. Friday’s event will also provide other crime prevention information.

For more information please contact P/O Andrew Campbell (CPO) or P/O Mike Davis (CRO) at 215-686-3180 or 215-686-3181.

Here’s a chance to learn a lot about the quality soil – especially if you plan to grow something in it. The Soil Kitchen will be open in Clark Park this Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. Urban soil is often full of contaminants like mercury, cadmium and lead, so if you want to have it tested and see if it’s safe to use, bring a plastic bag of dried and homogenized soil (with as few stones as possible). The University of Pennsylvania Department of Earth and Environmental Science’s mobile lab will be on site to do the soil testing. The results will be provided for free and can be location-anonymous. You can also learn strategies for dealing with gardening on contaminated soil at this event.

NOTE: if it rains tomorrow, the event will be held at the lobby of Hill College House at the University of Pennsylvania (3333 Walnut St).

For more information visit the Soil Kitchen 2013 website. And here are soil sampling instructions… in comic strip form: