(Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

Ten years later, and it seems repair work has finally started on the neglected roof where the notorious looming steeple of Christ Memorial Reformed Episcopal Church (4233 Chestnut Street) once stood.

Much like Naked Philly, a reader tipped West Philly Local off about the work last month after they noticed scaffolding erected around the base of the former 170-foot-high steeple, which collapsed in 2004 during an intense storm. According to a permit pulled from Philadelphia Licenses & Inspections, that section is undergoing partial roof demolition and extensive roof repairs, including installations and replacements.

As shown in the photo above, the steeple area of the church on the corner of 43rd and Chestnut Streets is fenced in, with a rubble pile atop the steps, and construction equipment left around on the 43rd Street side. A letter from the City of Philadelphia regarding a permit for equipment placement for building demolition, dated for 11/16/2013 – 1/16/2014, was tacked to the fence.

Currently, the former Christ Memorial Church houses the Media Mobilizing Project, a grassroots community and media-organizing group, and Christ the King Prayer Chapel, which runs a Sunday school and Sunday worship service. The 127-year-old church building was sold to Guy Laren, a local private developer, nearly a decade ago after its former congregation faced legal issues with its insurance company.

-Annamarya Scaccia

Click to enlarge.

As West Philly Local has reported before, coworking is picking up steam in Philadelphia, providing freelancers, remote workers, and independent contractors an opportunity to trade in the four walls of their home for interaction with like-minded professionals.

Well, it seems The Enterprise Center (4548 Market Street) is tapping into the trend by launching its own coworking and entrepreneurial development platform, the Venture Acceleration Center. The program, opening next month in Enterprise’s Market Street headquarters, will offer business coaching, resource learning sessions, and peer-support meetings, as well as make available a coworking space fitted with free wifi, workstations, conference and event space, and video conferencing.

“The Venture Acceleration Center will offer a totally unique experience for member-businesses that is both structured and flexible,” Iola Harper, The Enterprise Center’s senior director, said in a press release. “We want businesses to grow and create jobs in the community and we are here to provide the all of the support needed.”

To introduce the Venture Acceleration Center to the community, the Enterprise Center is holding an information session at its Market Street office next Saturday, April 26th from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The event, titled “Start-Up Stampede” is open to all Philadelphia entrepreneurs looking for guidance and support in accelerating their business growth. Light refreshments will be served.

While Start-up Stampede is open to all business professionals, membership into the Venture Acceleration Center is only open to early-stage businesses in operation for six months and in the construction, beauty, hair, fashion and food industries.

Readers can register for the information session here. It is a $5.00 fee through today, and $10.00 fee thereafter.

-Annamarya Scaccia

Rendering of 4619 Woodland Avenue, courtesy of HOW Properties.

More apartment buildings are in the works on Woodland Avenue. West Philly Local already wrote about the plans to rehab the vacant Wilson Elementary school building at 46th and Woodland and turn it into a residential complex. There is another construction going on a little further west on Woodland, near 47th Street (thanks to readers who alerted us about it). So here’s what we found out about that project.

HOW Properties, a locally owned and operated real estate management firm, is constructing a three-story, 16-unit building at 4619 Woodland Avenue that will primarily serve the living needs of University of the Sciences’ (USP) students, HOW property manager Ashley George told West Philly Local. The 20,000 square foot complex will have a mix of two-, three-, four-, and five-bedrooms, with only one studio (and no one-bedrooms) available that range from $800 to $3,200 a month, although those prices may alter next year.

According to George, the company did not include one bedrooms in the Woodland Avenue complex based on feedback it received while conducting research prior to starting the project, which launched in February. Students, she said, expressed a want for units with multiple bedrooms.

“Our vision for building in the University City area is to bring a higher quality of housing to neighborhoods, which may be in need of additional housing options,” George told West Philly Local. “There is not an abundance of student housing in the University of the Sciences West Philadelphia corridor.”

There is also one commercial retail space available on the ground floor. HOW Properties currently does not have a tenant marked for the space, but they are hoping to work with USP to “find a beneficial tenant for the area and the residents of the building.” ” We would also like to contribute great retail/commercial space to the areas and create opportunities for small businesses to succeed,” George told West Philly Local.

The project was originally slated to finish this August, but HOW decided to delay completion until next summer after hearing student feedback during an information session on USP’s campus last week. According to George, while the feedback was “responsive and excited,” many students also noted that they already signed leases for the 2014-2015 school year. HOW realized there was potential for not leasing apartments to students in time for August 2014, George said.

HOW Properties are also constructing other buildings in the University City area:  complexes at 3862 Lancaster Avenue, to be complete in August 2014, as well as 3221 Spring Garden Avenue and 4812 Baltimore Avenue, which will both be complete beginning of next month.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Do you visit The Woodlands whether it is for jogging, dog walking, nature or leisurely walks or other activities? Now you can be part of the Woodlands planning and have an impact on the future of this beautiful historical site.

The people involved with preservation and development of the Woodlands cemetery and mansion would like to hear from you. They have prepared a community survey asking about your use of The Woodlands as well as about your favorite places there. The information gathered will help make improvements to the site “that align with how our community enjoys the space.”

To fill out the survey, click here.

This summer, on June 5, The Woodlands is hosting the 3rd Annual Benefit, with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, music and more. The benefit guests will get a chance to kick off the fully-funded $1 million project to preserve the Cryptoporticus (a covered gallery) and North Terrace, and peek into the basement servant’s quarters. For more information, visit The Woodlands website.

Here’s another chance for young residents to speak out about the future of Philadelphia and how it can better meet their lifestyle needs. The West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution (WPFSI) is inviting people ages 20-34 to the next round of the Roundtable Discussion: Philly, Your Voices, Our City. This is the third round table for Millennials organized by WPFSI. The discussion will focus on amenities and services in the city as well as housing needs of young Philadelphians.

The discussion will take place next Saturday, April 19, at Overbrook Arts Center, 6134 Lancaster Avenue. Lunch will be served! Check the flyer below for more info.

To register for this event, please call 215-452-0100 or email: juliana@wpfsi.com

Say goodbye to Toviah Thrift Store (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

After four decades of service, Toviah Thrift Store at 4211 Chestnut Street has shuttered its doors for good this month, and will soon be the new home of its neighbor, Dana Mandi International Foods and Spices.

When we stopped by Tuesday evening, workers from Dana Mandi at 4205 Chestnut Street were in the process of cleaning out Toviah Thrift. Its front room was mostly emptied of its low-priced products and furniture, with remnants scattered unevenly across the space. The next morning, when we returned in hopes of speaking with Dana Mandi’s owner, Toviah Thrift was cleaned out even further— a shell of its former glory.

(Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

According to local blogger Mark Krull, the owners of Dana Mandi recently bought the property from Reverend Larry Falcon, founder of Toviah Thrift, and will soon move into the shop. A worker named Suny confirmed this information to West Philly Local over the phone, but noted he didn’t have a confirmed date for the move. He did say, though, that it wouldn’t happen prior to May.

City of Philadelphia records show that Dana Mandi, under the name Asian Spice Food Inc, owns both 4205 and 4211 Chestnut Streets, which totals to over 3,000 square feet.

Toviah Thrift is a significant part of West Philly history. Around since the late 1970s, the Christian nonprofit acted as a self-declared “safe haven” for community children while funding Rev. Falcon’s Covenant Community Church through its second-hand store. The small, welcoming ministry was housed in one half of the building, while out of the back operated The Jubilee School—Toviah’s inexpensive private elementary school serving kids in West and Southwest Philly.

Opened between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., for the last three decades, locals could stop in and purchase a mishmash of donated items that were priced inexpensively. It wasn’t a perfectly coifed space—often a disorderly grouping of products—but Rev. Falcon’s agenda of “love never fails” was apparent in its messy bones.

Much like the shop—and Rev. Falcon himself—reviews for Toviah Thrift are nothing if not interesting. One Yelper gave it one star in 2011, writing, “It looks dirty as a butt 3 days into a hippy music festival.” In 2013, another Yelper, who gave it two stars, compared the space to “an episode of Hoarders,” but noted Rev. Falcon was “nice and knowledgeable.”

Most of the other reviews echoed the same response, with one Yelper writing, “What makes this place outstanding is Larry, also known simply as Papa … Come in to meet this historian if nothing else; he’ll be happy to chat with you as you browse.”

–Annamarya Scaccia