Blackout in Cedar Park. (Photo by Amara Rockar)

Some neighbors in the Cedar Park neighborhood have been struggling to get some of the lights back on in the park. Several street lamps in the park have been dark for a few months. A request to 311 to repair the lights was submitted by neighbor Ryan Briggs on December 17, 2012 but was closed on January 1 when the Streets Department reported that “the light was found burning.” However, the request had been submitted to repair at least three lights and residents are reporting that now all but one of the park lamps are out, which presents a significant safety hazard.

Ryan wrote us and said that 311 now says it’s a Parks and Rec problem.

Another Cedar Park resident, Amara Rockar, also tried to submit an online maintenance request, including photos of the dysfunctional lights. She says that 311 is now telling her via Twitter to submit a new request under a different coding, which, she says, “seems pretty useless if citizens don’t know the exact correct coding for a particular situation.” Calling 311 is also not very effective since you don’t have a paper trail.

So while the struggle between the city and the residents is going on the problem remains unsolved and residents near the park are getting frustrated.

The 311 website is here.

UPDATE: We have received a response from 311 on Twitter:

@westphillylocal Just spoke with mgmt in @PhilaParkandRec. Requests have been received and lights in Cedar Park have been queued for repair.

— Philly311 (@philly311) January 10, 2013

UPDATE 2 (Friday, Jan. 11): We are happy to report that all but one lights in the park were back on last night (see photo below tweeted by Amara Rockar).

Love Your Park Day at Barkan Park, 50th & Spruce, took place on Saturday, Nov. 17, with 25 volunteers, including five AKA sorority sisters (above) from Penn and Drexel who heard about the event through West Philly Local. Neighborhood volunteers planted two new dogwood trees and nearly 550 spring bulbs, as well as raked leaves and cleaned up debris from Hurricane Sandy to prepare the park for the winter ahead.

Many thanks to Mark Mendenhall/Garden Court Community Association for submitting this information.

Join local community groups this Saturday (Nov. 17) for Love Your Park Day and help prep neighborhood parks for the winter. Here’s how and where you can help:

• Clark Park (43rd and Chester) – Friends of Clark Park will be raking leaves, spreading mulch, weeding, and picking up trash. Meet at the green and white shed on 45th St. between Chester and Woodland Aves. at 9:00 a.m., or just stop by when you can. RSVP here.
• Malcolm X Park (51st and Pine) – Friends of Malcolm X Park (Facebook page) will be doing some cleaning, bulb-planting, and leaf-raking in the park. Tools and refreshments provided. 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. For more information contact Greg Cojulun at 215-748-5329.
• Barkan Park (50th and Spruce) – Barkan Park cleanup is scheduled between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. For more information contact Mark Mendenhall at 215-476-2983.

If you know of other clean-ups, please let us know in the comments.

The very last public input session for the Bartram’s Mile planning process will take place this Saturday (Nov. 10) at the Garden’s Coach House. Everyone is welcome to come to an engaging design workshop and help brainstorm design and programming concepts for the park and trail space. Each group will be facilitated by Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, PennPraxis, or Andropogon Associates.

Bartram’s Mile is an exciting project to convert one mile of currently vacant riverfront property into public green space and public input is essential to its success. To read more about the project, click here.

Bartram’s Mile Design Workshop
Saturday, November 10
12:00pm-3:00pm
Bartram’s Garden Coach House, 54th and Lindbergh Boulevard

Here’s a couple of fun pumpkin carving and decorating events taking place in the neighborhood this weekend:

“Build it Bus” for pumpkin carving at Clark Park

Saturday Oct. 27, 1:00-2:00 pm

Woodland Presbyterian Church is hosting a Fall pumpkin carving and craft time in Clark Park. The “Build it Bus” will be there too! The bus is a place where kids can come and use woodworking tools to carve the pumpkins and make crafts. The first 50 to arrive will get pumpkins to take home with them. Look for the converted paratransit bus in the parking lot by the soccer field between 1 and 2 pm.

Pumpkin Day at Vineyard Community Church

Sunday Oct. 28, 1:00-4:00 pm

If you are looking for something fun and free to do this upcoming Sunday with your family, check out the annual Pumpkin Day event hosted by Vineyard Community Church. Due to the forecast calling for rain, it’ll be indoors, in the new church building located at 123 S. 51st Street.  If by chance the weather is gorgeous, the event will be held at Malcolm X Park (52nd & Pine). There will be plenty of fun things to do that involve all things fall, including pumpkin decorating, face-painting, fall crafts, jewelry making, games and prizes, and yummy fall treats!

Photo courtesy of Bartram’s Garden.

Your input is needed on a plan to transform a mile of vacant land along the western banks of the Schuylkill river between Grays Ferry Avenue and 58th Street, which is set to become a key link in the Schuylkill River trail.

The project provides an opportunity to convert publicly owned vacant land into public green space and to increase access to a West Philly gem – Bartram’s Garden. But there’s more to it; this new open space could provide riverfront access and recreation opportunities to local neighborhoods, help restore an important watershed, and extend the Schuylkill River Trail.

PennPraxis is conducting a series of public events and meetings to open up the “Bartram’s Mile” project to public input. Your input will be used to create a series of design proposals and cost estimates. The first meeting/walking tour is this Sunday, from 2 to 4 p.m. Here’s more information:

EVENT #1: WALKING TOUR

Sunday, October 28, 2:00-4:00pm

Meet at the Bartram’s Garden Trail Head (make a left at the end of the entry road)

Featuring: Mark Focht (Parks and Recreation), Maitreyi Roy (Bartram’s Garden), Jose Almiñana (Andropogon Associates)

EVENT #2: BIKE TOUR

Saturday, November 3, 1:30-4:00pm

Meet at the Bartram’s Farm for its Fall Harvest Day — celebrate its one-year anniversary before biking!

Organized with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia

EVENT #3: DINNER CONVERSATION

Monday, November 5, 6:00-8:00pm

Bartram’s Garden, 54th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard

EVENT #4: DESIGN WORKSHOP

Saturday, November 10, noon – 3pm

Bartram’s Garden, 54th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard

To RSVP email: praxis@design.upenn.edu or call 215-573-8720. If you cannot attend any of the meetings, you can also provide your input at www.planphilly.com/bartramsmile.