RVP – We are now in out tenth year of work advocating for the reuse of the Reading Viaduct as a park. In 2009 we began working with the Center City District. CCD brought in the William Penn Foundation and Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust which funded a new environmental study that clearly showed the benefits, economic and quality of life, to turning the Reading Viaduct into Philly’s next great park. Dialogue between the City of Philadelphia and Reading International (the holding company that owns most of the Viaduct) is ongoing. Meanwhile SEPTA and the City have made an agreement to transform the SEPTA owned portion into a park. Phase one, the Spur runs from Broad and Noble to the south side of 1100 Callowhill, In 2011 and 2012 a series of community design workshops were held with Bryan Hanes Studio and we now have the plans for the SEPTA spur.
As the Urban Engineers/Bryan Hanes design team is finalizing construction documents, the CCD, as project managers, arranged a meeting with the City’s Development Services Committee, where all the relevant approving agencies review and comment on the plans and provide guidance to the design team on a range of issues from bridge clearance, water run-off, emergency access, zoning to ADA. The design and engineering team will now follow up with each of these departments to finalize all plans in the next month so they are completely consistent with city codes. At the same time, the CCD is beginning to work on putting together the potential sources of capital funding for the project – so progress is occurring on multiple fronts.
RVP (and Callowhill Neighborhood Association, CNA) continue to act as the community liasons ; working with the neighborhood, CCD, Studio Bryan Hanes, Urban Engineers and the City of Philadelphia, as the process moves forward.
Please stay tuned for more information and save the date – April 5, 2013.
RVP’s first fundraiser.
Held with the support of S.U.R.F.A.C.E
More details TBA
