Writer Ann L. Rappoport has discovered and written about a well-kept secret in West Philly: The bathrooms at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College (4207 Walnut St.). They are pretty magnificent.

Rappoport writes in today’s Phialdelphia Inquirer:

Entering it through the bar in the school’s international restaurant, I was greeted by hundreds of antique perfume bottles. Vintage ladies’ hats and beaded bags commanded notice, posed on vintage hat racks suspended from the walls and ceiling, which also host over-the-top sconces and chandeliers. Lace and feathered boas drape the stalls, recalling at least the French Quarter of the Big Easy, if not Paris itself. Somebody had a blast putting this together.

College president Danny Liberatoscioli had the initial idea to make awesome bathrooms to compliment the school’s restaurants.

“We’ve got this thing for restrooms here,” he told Rappoport.

Click to enlarge.

If you are interested in or concerned about the planning process in West Philly or elsewhere in the city, then you should check out the courses offered by the Citizen Planning Institute aimed at helping residents learn the planning process. The institute is an outreach arm of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

The one-off evening classes begin April 25. The “core” courses include:

• The BIG Picture: Planning in the City, April 25

• Land Use and Zoning 101, May 5

• The Development Process: Nuts and Bolts, May 9

The cost for all three sessions combined is $30. Completion of the core allows residents to participate in “elective” courses on commercial development, public transport and healthy communities and environmental justice.

The deadline for applying for courses is April 8.

The application is available here in the column on the right side of the screen.

Demolition crews knocked down the last couple of walls at the Windermere Court Apartments at 48th and Walnut Streets on Saturday. Fire devastated the building on January 10 and led to a protracted battle between residents, the building’s owners and the city. A class action lawsuit against the building’s owners, David and Sam Ginsberg, was filed in February.

There has been no announcement about plans for the half-block lot where the buildings once stood.

West Philly residents fanned out across the neighborhoods today to pick up trash, rake leaves and sticks and even clean up a stop sign or two as part of the spring cleanup activities around the city.

Organization is in the works for a cooperative cleanup of Cedar Park (50^th and Baltimore) on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Cedar Park Neighbors is sponsoring the event with help from the West Philadelphia Cooperative School and the University City District. Free coffee, juice and snacks will be available for those who help out.

Organizers would love it if people RSVP’d on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=198483680174195.

A few scholarships still remain for the Neighborhood Bike Works summer cycling camp. Half of camp spots go to scholarship recipients ages 8-12.

Based out of the Neighborhood Bike Works shop at 3916 Locust Walk behind the St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, the summer camp offers kids the chance to rebuild a bike and earn a bike, helmet and lock over a two-week session. The camp also includes rides and field trips and instruction on safe cycling, nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

The camp, now in its ninth year, runs Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and there are four two-week sessions available. The sessions begin on July 5, July 18, August 1 and August 15. Only scholarships slots remain for all camp sessions. The fees for campers normally run $425 to $450 per session.

A half-day session is also available at the North Philly Neighborhood Bike Works shop.

For more information go to the Neighborhood Bike Works website or call Summer Camp Director Daniel Helms at 215-386-0316. His e-mail is dan – at – neighborhoodbikeworks.org.