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.

This week’s featured cat is Mr. Cat. Reader Lisa is looking for a new home for him. Here’s what she wrote us:

“Two years ago a cat started living in my backyard.  We could tell he used to be someone’s cat since he had a collar (tag removed) was fixed and quite affectionate, probably abandoned by students.  We put flyers up to no avail.  During the winter I caved in and gave him some food.  For the next two years I gave him food every day or two.  I never brought him inside, just gave him food since he never seemed to leave the yard.

Unfortunately last month I left West Philly for less greener pastures. I no longer have a backyard in which to keep him.  He is currently living on my 5×5 patio. Since it is close quarters on this side of town I really need to find him a home and get him outside.

We took him to PAWS where they said he was super friendly and affectionate.  Easily adoptable if I could get one of the groups to accept him (they are all full)  he is neutered, adult and is Negative for FeLV.

I call him Mr. Cat.  If someone adopts him I will gladly take him for a vet visit to the vet of their choice, and will provide some food and the crate I used for transport.  He is really a sweet guy and its time we got him back inside.”

If you want to meet Mr. Cat or have questions, email Lisa at: thecaretaker [at] gmail.com

iPraxis, a non-profit organization located in the University City Science Center, is looking for volunteers to help students prepare for science fairs. Lea Elementary (47th & Locust) is one of the schools where help is needed. See the flyer below.

Update (Sept. 14): Elvis came back home! (see Brendan’s comment below the story).

We got this email from our reader Brendan:

“Our cat Elvis went missing last night from our house at 5012 Kingsessing Avenue. He is a very fluffy orange tabby mix, with white front paws, a white chest, and an enormous orange tail. He is about 2 years old, very docile, and has no outdoor experience. Elvis is very friendly, but shy with strangers. He answers to his name, and meows like a kitten.”

If you’ve seen Elvis please call Brendan at: 267-597-9679.

Neighbor Elisha is searching for her kitten named George:

“My 5-month old kitten, George, got out sometime yesterday and is now missing from 502 S 49th St.

George is about half grown and is SUPER friendly. He’s an orange tiger. The most distinguishing feature is that the markings on his side are spots instead of the usual stripes – he almost looks like leopard print.

George loves people, so even though he’s probably scared he should be approachable.”

If anyone sees him, please call Elisha at 585-610-9024 or email: eicolter [at] gmail.com

This touching story was forwarded to us by Debby Boyd of Project MEOW, a local cat rescue organization. This is what happened yesterday to Jadee, who adopted a cat from Project MEOW a few years ago:

“I was driving home on Lancaster Ave. in the rain when I saw this tiny furball limping his way across the busy street. He made it to the edge and got washed into a flooded gutter when I stopped (without pulling over) and jumped out (without closing my car door) and scooped him up. I laid him on my lap and drove to Baltimore Pet Shoppe to get some advice from Katie. She said that I should take the kitty to a vet right away cause it looked like a car might have hit him. I called Girard Vet to see if they’d take in an emergency appointment and thank goodness they did. They took X-Rays and said that his right thigh bone was split in two and he would need a cast.

I walked around North West Philly for hours waiting for him to finish up and decided to name him Grasshopper. I got back and found him in this huge, green cast. The poor little guy!”

Jadee needs help paying off Grasshopper’s $200 vet bill. You can donate money here. She is also looking for a good home for Grasshopper. To contact Jadee email: jadee.klinger [at] gmail.com