Community residents will have a chance to learn more about two development proposals during a Spruce Hill Community Association Zoning Committee meeting on Monday, Dec. 17, including the proposed sale of an affordable housing building.

The two main agenda items are:

7 p.m.: A development proposal to replace Millcreek Tavern at 42nd and Chester with residential housing will be discussed. This is not an official zoning meeting, just a presentation of intent with an opportunity for neighbors to offer comments and ask questions.  Continue Reading

The proposal to convert the Provident Mutual Insurance Co. site at 46^th and Market into a healthcare campus hit a major roadblock on Thursday when Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell halted a vote on legislation that would have allowed the city to sell the property.

The move followed a contentious public meeting in West Philly on Tuesday where several community members spoke against the proposal, which the city selected this summer after a bidding process. Criticisms included the low sale price of $10 million and a lack of transparency in the bid selection process.  Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up post to last month’s post “Building winter shelters for community cats“, submitted by Project MEOW, the West Philly-based volunteer-run cat rescue organization.

Last month I wrote about the importance of winter shelters for outdoor cats. Now, with winter upon us full force, let’s take an in-depth look at making your own shelter out of Rubbermaid containers. Rubbermaid is the best brand of tote to use, as the plastic does not crack in freezing temperatures. Raising the shelter a few inches off the ground by placing it on bricks or a pallet will prevent rainwater or snow from getting into the shelter, as well as keeping the cold ground from soaking up all the heat building up inside.  Continue Reading

Some of SEPTA’s trolleys have again been decorated with twinkling lights, festive wreaths, and shiny ornaments for the holiday season, putting commuters in that holly, jolly spirit. Two “jolly” trolleys are hitting the rails this month, thanks to operators Gary Mason and Dave Musgrave, who used hundreds of lights, yards of garland and tons of ornaments, all to make the season brighter for their passengers.

The festive trolleys can be found on the following routes:

• Trolley #9001, operating on Route 15, Tuesday-Friday from 12:24-10:49 a.m.
• Trolley #9055, operating on Route 36, Monday-Friday from 10:56 a.m.-8:40 p.m.  Continue Reading

Residents criticized developers and city officials for a lack of transparency in the proposal to convert the city-owned Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. building and surrounding land at 46^th and Market into a campus focused on mental health services and child care during a public meeting on Tuesday night.

About 125 residents gathered in the auditorium of West Philadelphia High School at 49^th and Chestnut for presentations from the developers, a city official handling the deal, and proposed tenants, which include the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania and the YMCA.

The city chose that plan earlier this year after a call for proposals. The call came after a long-anticipated plan proposed by former mayor Michael Nutter to move the police headquarters and related offices to the 13-acre site was scuttled by Mayor Jim Kenney, Nutter’s successor. The police headquarters, the Medical Examiner’s office and the 6th and 9th police districts will now move into the old Philadelphia Inquirer building at 400 N. Broad St..

That change and the city’s subsequent choice of this new proposal caught many residents off guard.

“People aren’t mad, they’re just tired of hearing a lot of things that they didn’t have any say in,” said one resident. “The process is defective.”  Continue Reading

Carol Jenkins (left) gardening at Clark Park with Lisa McDonald Hanes and Susie Pierce, gardener volunteers. (Photos courtesy of Friends of Clark Park)

Editor’s Note: This post has been submitted by Anna Selfridge, Vice President of Friends of Clark Park.

If you’ve strolled through Clark Park this past summer, you might have noticed the rejuvenation of the gardens along the park’s sidewalks and borders. This welcome change was the result of the new Gardening Program at Friends of Clark Park. The program is headed by Carol Jenkins, who has lived on the border of the park for 30 years.

“Since I spend so much time in Clark Park, I felt I needed to do something when I saw wild trees growing up through flowering shrubs, and weeds taking over flower gardens,” she said.

Carol joined the Friends following her retirement from teaching at Temple University specifically to put her green thumb to work.  Continue Reading