PHILADELPHIA: A “GREENE COUNTRIE TOWNE”

 FLURRY OF NEW PARKS AND PUBLIC SPACES AFFIRM PHILADELPHIA’S IDENTITY AS A “GREENE COUNTRIE TOWNE”

City’s Filled With New Pocket Parks, Sculpture Parks, Connector Parks & More

PHILADELPHIA, January 25, 2012 – While Philadelphia has always enjoyed and promoted its greenspace—of chief importance when city designer William Penn developed his “greene countrie town”—modern city planners and dwellers are now concertedly bringing them to the forefront once again. 2011 welcomed the addition of many new parks and public spaces, and 2012 will bring even more. Here’s a look at what’s here and what’s next:

Parkway Museums District:

·       The Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which will welcome the renowned Barnes Foundation in May 2012, has been under renovation for more than a decade, with city planners focusing on improving pedestrian access and sprucing up public plazas and parks. Aviator Park, located across the street from The Franklin Institute and Moore College of Art + Design, recently underwent reconstruction. Thanks to the addition of paved walkways, plantings, benches, trash receptacles and light fixtures, the park is now an open and green family-friendly oasis from which to admire the Parkway. 222 N. 20^th Street,centercityphila.org/about/Parkway.php

·       When it opened in October, Lenfest Plaza became an OLIN-designed anchor for burgeoning North Broad Street. Because the plaza is owned by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, public art and performance are focal points. Alongside a permanent stage, sculpture and other artwork will rotate through, starting with PAFA alumnus Jordan Griska’s Grumman Greenhouse, a 45-foot sculpture made from an American bomber plane. The installation of Claes Oldenburg’s 51-foot Paint Torch sculpture—his only large-scale work to incorporate light sources—makes Philadelphia home to more outsized Oldenburgs than any other city in the world. Soon, an upscale restaurant will provide a perfect seat from where to admire the artwork. 
118-128 N. Broad Street, (215) 972-7600, pafa.org

·       In the Works: The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul will have a front yard worthy of its grandiosity in spring 2012. Sister Cities Park, located at the steps of the cathedral in Logan Square, will boast a contemporary, eco-forward pavilion that houses a cafe, a community room and a green wall. The pavilion will be surrounded by a brand-new outdoor children’s garden and play area, a boat pond and an interactive fountain that pays tribute to Philadelphia’s 10 sister cities around the world. 18^th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, centercityphila.org/about/parkway.php

University City:

·       Penn Park, a 24-acre urban recreational area on the banks of the Schuylkill River, is a prime component of the University of Pennsylvania’s 30-year master development plan to connect the campus to the rest of the city. Bike trails, walkways and native trees are just the beginning of the improvements to the former parking lots. Areas for relaxation, vegetation and formal and informal athletics add 20% more greenspace to Penn’s campus, while an elevated walkway and a raised central plaza offer prime vistas of the river and Center City’s highrises. 31^st Street between Walnut & South Streets, pennpark.upenn.edu

·       Now that Penn Park has begun to greet visitors to University City, the adjacent 3.75-acre Shoemaker Green is performing its stated mission: to connect The University of Pennsylvania’s central campus to Penn Park. Native landscaping, a rain garden, porous pavers and ample grassy areas for events and recreation turn this former stretch of urban land into an environmentally conscious community gathering spot that’s been chosen as an international pilot project to test a new Sustainable Sites Initiative rating system for landscapes. 220 S. 32^nd Street, pennconnects.upenn.edu

·       [Back to Press Releases Main]