Screen capture from NBC10′s on-site coverage
- On Saturday morning, 13 million gallons of water came rushing into five businesses of the Baker Shopping Center at Fox Street and Roberts Avenue, after an underground, 48-inch water main broke in the parking lot.NBC10 was taken inside to get a sense of the extensive damage, which Jae Kim, whose family owns Hair Buzz, figures will be “a very long-term reconstruction.” The ShopRite was closed for just one day, and reopened yesterday. Just this morning, Axis Philly ran a piece chronicling the palpable changes to be had among the surrounding neighborhoods– Nicetown-Tioga, Allegheny West, Hunting Park, East Falls–since the ShopRite’s August opening. The 71,000-square foot store is more than just a necessary accoutrement, it has been seen as a significant catalyst for investment and pride here in North Philadelphia. Majeedah Rashid, Chief Operating Officer of the Nicetown CDC, explains, “this neighborhood has basically been overlooked for decades… But this ShopRite phenomena has changed that. It shows we’re committed to revitalization. We think we own this supermarket. I’ve never seen that before, where people feel like they have a part of something.”
- NewsWorks speaks with Angie Williamson, Mt. Airy’s new business improvement District (BID) director. Williamson spent three years at the New Kensington CDC as its head of Economic Development, where she focused on streetscape improvements, establishing a beautification program, “and securing funding for both a model block project and marketing plan for E. Girard Avenue.” Prior to that, she worked as a city planner and housing development specialist in her native Virginia. Williamson says her first initiatives for the Mt. Airy BID will primarily focus on filling storefront vacancies on Germantown Avenue, which would also see spruced up street poles and banners.
- Plan Philly relates the happenings of Friday’s meeting of the Historical Commission. Nine-townhouses were approved in the Rittenhouse-Fitler Residential Historic District, while a proposal in Society Hill was denied, as it was deemed too conspicuous and divergent in architectural style.“The commission also unanimously supported the staff recommendation to nominate the Brownhill & Kramer Hosiery Mill at 406-26 Memphis Street and the Happy Hollow Recreation Center at 4740 Wayne Avenue to the National Historic Register.” Both received support from the 12 members present due to their social significance—the mill being the scene of “numerous and innovative labor strikes” in the interwar years, and Happy Hollow for being the oldest continuously operating rec center in the city.
- The Inquirer delves a bit deeper into the context of last week’s announcement from the Obama administration that several West Philadelphia neighborhoods would receive a leg-up in the competition for scarce federal grant money. (There will be no one big check.) It becomes clear soon enough just why Mantua made the cut: it’s rare to find a neighborhood simultaneously replete with such absolute dejection and promise. The White House evidently regards it as a relatively safe bet towards the further legitimization of government investment in urban areas, seeing as it’s so close to the zoo, the Please Touch Museum, 30th Street Station, and of course, two major universities.
About the author
Stephen Currall recently received his BA in history from Arcadia University. Before beginning doctoral studies, he is pursuing his interest in local history, specifically just how Philadelphians engage their vibrant past. Besides skimming through 18th century letters, Steve is also interested in music and travel.
