Penn Park, the rejuvenated 24-acre strip of land along the train tracks between Walnut and South streets, officially opens on Thursday.

The park occupies former parking lots and vacant land in a once fairly desolate area that was a parking area for postal trucks. It is now part of the University of Pennsylvania campus.

So what can your typical West Philly resident get out of the new park? Some of its facilities will be open to the public on a regular basis. Those include about two acres of grassy open areas, including a “picnic grove,” with a good view of the Center City skyline in and around newly constructed athletic facilities. The area also includes 548 new trees.

“Penn Park marks the first time that the University has, by design, developed open space for the use of the Penn community and beyond,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann.

Those athletics facilities include a spiffy 12-court tennis center, a 470-seat multi-purpose stadium and two athletic fields with synthetic surfaces. A parking lot for 210 cars sits along Walnut Street near the Class of 1923 Ice Rink. In case you had any notion of getting your Nadal on and playing tennis on those new courts (we did), Penn has said that they will only be open to the public on special occasions.

Still, the park provides a nice place to relax, enjoy the skyline and maybe take in a field hockey game.

The park is accessible by Walnut Street to the north, a walkway near the picnic grove to the west and another entrance near the South Street bridge. Here is a map of the park: Penn Park map

The park cost $46 million, but not a dime of public money went into it, according to Penn officials.

Tomorrow’s ceremony begins at 5 p.m. and will include a ribbon-cutting, recreational activities and a fireworks display at 7:30 p.m.

West Philly’s newest bike shop, a branch of the Glenside-based Keswick Cycle, opened this weekend just in time for the return of students to the area. The shop occupies about half of the first floor in the building that formerly housed the Strikes Bowling Lounge at 4040 Locust St. Workers were still moving in bikes and other merchandise Saturday afternoon, but customers were invited in to have a look around.

Kids ages 5-11 are invited to register for the Fall season of Clark Park Youth Soccer League (CPYSL). The registration is open until Tuesday, September 6, and all the necessary forms can be downloaded here. If you want your forms to be mailed to you e-mail: clarkparksoccer [at] yahoo.com or call: 215-552-8186.

The Fall season begins Saturday, September 24, and ends Saturday, November 19.

CPYSL needs volunteers to help with the pre-registration data entry work and coaching (no experience is required). For more information visit: www.friendsofclarkpark.org.

The league is also looking for sponsors, local people and businesses alike, to support their program. In exchange your logo will be appear on T-shirts, website and newsletter. The cost is $160/year (two seasons of soccer).

Are you a runner or considering becoming one?  Here are some like-minded people who can help you get started or keep you going. Clark Park Track Club welcomes people of all ages and skill levels to join them for runs around the perimeter of Clark Park (o.5 mile loop).

The club was founded in the winter of 2010 by neighbor Janine Schwab to provide a safer environment when running in the dark during winter months. But soon Janine saw other opportunities for the club to flourish, including a chance for parents to run in the park while their kids play at the playground.

Now the club meets every Monday at 7:30 p.m. (6 p.m. in the winter) at the #13 trolley shelter (43rd & Chester) and as many as 10 people have shown up for the 1-4 mile runs. The club is looking to grow so that they can accommodate different paces for partnering. Right now paces range from sub-elite to turtle. Rollers and walkers are welcome too.

The club doesn’t have a website yet, but you can visit their Facebook page.

Another West Philly running club, West Philly Runners, is also open to runners of any experience level. They meet each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. outside of Abyssiania at 45th and Locust. Runners usually do a 2-, 4- or 6-mile pre-planned route around the neighborhood.

The club is not affiliated with any of the universities but students are welcome. Those who take part are also invited to convene at Fiume (above Abyssinia) for a post-run beer or two.

This morning a crew from the University City District began installing the city’s first “parklet,” a wood and metal platform complete with tables, chairs and planter boxes at 43rd and Baltimore designed to reclaim parking spots for more leisure space.

The platform, which extends six feet into the street and is the length of two parking spots along 43rd Street in front of the Green Line Cafe, essentially widening the seating area of the cafe, although you won’t have to buy anything to sit there. Oddly, the spot chosen for the first parklet is about 50 feet from an actual park – Clark Park – which was recently renovated to add additional cafe-style seating.

The parklet will occupy a parking spot where a Philly Car Share vehicle was once parked. That spot will be moved up 43rd Street.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the parklet will be at 43rd and Baltimore at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Parklets, which are designed to be temporary and portable, have become a fairly common site in many cities. They are designed to extend pedestrian space in busy urban neighborhoods and encourage people to drive less (presumably by making parking spots harder to find?) and slow down the spread of asphalt.

The parklet is a cooperative effort with the City of Philadelphia and the University City District and with money from a William Penn Foundation grant.

One of the area’s best-known bicycle shops will open a location at the former Strikes Bowling Lounge (and an original Urban Outfitters store) at 4040 Locust St. later this summer.

Keswick Cycle will reportedly open the 4,000-square-foot store in late August, just as students start to return to the area en masse. The store, which will include bike and clothing sales and maintenance, will likely be the largest bike shop in West Philly.

The store will also include a studio to help elite riders and triathletes get fitted for bikes.

Keswick Cycle has been a neighborhood fixture in the Montgomery County suburb of Glenside since the 1930s and also operates a store in Cherry Hill, N.J.