May 20, 2014 12:06 pm

Improvements Continue on East Passyunk Avenue

Image via Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corporation (PARC) Over the past decade, the East Passyunk Avenue commercial corridor between Broad and Dickinson streets in South Philadelphia has become one of the trendiest places in the city to shop and dine. The Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corporation (PARC), which aided in this improvement by redeveloping vacant properties, is […]

no text

Image via Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corporation (PARC)


Over the past decade, the East Passyunk Avenue commercial corridor between Broad and Dickinson streets in South Philadelphia has become one of the trendiest places in the city to shop and dine. The Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corporation (PARC), which aided in this improvement by redeveloping vacant properties, is looking to make the corridor even more popular through a new plaza and other developments along the avenue and in the nearby community.

The plaza, to be located at Broad and McKean, will be designed by Studio Bryan Hanes and will include streetscape improvements and large planters. Sam Sherman, executive director of PARC, said that the work will begin this June and is scheduled to be completed by October.

The new plaza will also  include a fountain, wireless Internet access, landscaping, a pavilion for performances, and a bike share station. The station will be installed when bicycle sharing comes to the city in April 2015. There will also be new lighting by The Lighting Practice, which has worked on the lighting for a number of Center City landmarks, including City Hall, the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, and the Broad Street side of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The improvements to the plaza are the result of a $495,000 grant from the William Penn Foundation which was announced in mid-January.

As work begins on the plaza, PARC, the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District, and the East Passyunk Crossing Civic Association are collaborating on a mural at the nearby SEPTA substation at 13th and Mifflin. The mural should be completed by the end of June. PARC donated $1000 towards the mural. The BID is expected to donate $1000 as well.

Sherman said PARC and the East Passyunk BID have developed a close relationship. “We work in parallel,” said Sherman, who describes his organization as a property management and neighborhood service organization and the BID as a marketing organization. He added that the BID helps PARC identify potential retail tenants on Passyunk Avenue.

From our Partners

Sustainable transportation has been another focus for the corridor going forward. Sherman said he encourages tenants to practice “localism” by living, shopping, and playing on and around the corridor. As a result, he said half of his tenants do not own a car. Sherman himself rides the subway to work.

The East Passyunk Crossing Civic revealed at their last general meeting that the community will recognize the emphasis on alternate forms of transportation by placing Walk!Philadelphia way-finding signs along Passyunk Avenue and at the Ellsworth/Federal, Tasker/Morris, and Snyder subway stations. East Passyunk Crossing will be the third community in the city to get these signs, with the other two being Center City and University City. The civic association estimated the signs would be installed in six to eight months.

-30-

From our Partners

Gentrification and affordable housing: What’s the remedy to a sick situation?

From Disenfranchisement To Empowerment: Uplifting Neighborhoods

Village of the Arts seeks to deepen and scale its impact as it reflects on its legacy

SPONSORED

Generocity Philly

Meet Kim Andrews, new executive director for The Fund for Women and Girls

Media, PA

Natural Lands

Director of Development Services

Apply Now
Philadelphia, PA

Pennsylvania Prison Society

Education and Advocacy Director

Apply Now
Radnor, PA

The Grace S. and W. Linton Nelson Foundation

Communications and Outreach Manager

Apply Now

Black-led BanksGiving and Empify are focused on changing financial futures

Dan Rhoton: ‘What if Camden is a place you can source remote workers from?’

‘If you start to address the affordable housing issue, you will begin to address the poverty issue’

SPONSORED

Generocity Philly

Be the leader to bring a 26-year mission into the future in Chester County

Philadelphia,PA

DiverseForce

Director of Communications

Apply Now
8033 Germantown Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19118

harp-weaver LLC

Administrative & Grants Associate

Apply Now
Hamilton, NJ

Grounds For Sculpture

Manager of Wellness Programs

Apply Now
   
       
       

Subscribe to Generocity

       
* indicates required