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Thu
Mar 29
2012

New Parking Lot is on the way for the Philadelphia Zoo

Walking down memory lane the other day, childhood days spent at the Philadelphia Zoo came to mind, making us feel all warm and fuzzy. Sure, it’s been many years since we rode a pony or teased the monkeys at the Zoo, but the place still has a special place in our hearts. That being said, it’s not exactly located in the glitziest part of town, and the Zoo is now making an effort to improve the experience for the visitors that drive in.

Love the balloon

The Centennial District Intermodal Transportation Center Project will improve accessibility for the Zoo, increase and streamline guest parking, and possibly stimulate economic development in the immediate area. Increased signage, improved lighting, decorative landscaping and streetscaping, and additional greenery will make this area more attractive for drivers and walkers alike. Additional parking spaces that are in closer proximity to the Zoo will make life easier for guests, especially considering that most will have a kid or two in tow.

Project will be centered on Area A

A new parking garage, which was recently approved by the ZBA, will include 683 parking spaces. According to the Philadelphia Business Journal,  the garage will cost $24M, of which funds will come from federal, state, city, and Zoo sources. It’s expected to be completed by the spring of 2013. Additional phases that include office space or retail at this site are possible, though we have not confirmed whether they will happen concurrently with the garage, at some point farther in the future, or not at all.

Early rendering, from 2010

A more recent image, in sort of low-res. Image credit: Nj.com

It’s great to see this infrastructure improvement at the Zoo- hopefully it will lead to more fun for kids and grownups alike.

9
COMMENTS
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Posted in Brewerytown | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments
  • qguy

    Now if they can only get a regional rail station built…  I know, I know, one step at a time.

    A regional rail station will be a tricky thing to engineer at that site due to the complexity of the zoo interlocking, the most complex interlocking in the entire SEPTA regional rail system. But here’s hoping. Someday.

  • http://hiddencityphila.org/2012/03/every-luxury-highrise-helps/ Every Luxury Highrise Helps | Hidden City Philadelphia

    [...] Philly looks at the Philadelphia Zoo’s plan to increase accessibility with the construction of a $24 million, 683-spac…. “Additional phases that include office space or retail at this site are possible, though we have [...]

  • CW Mote

    Wouldn’t they need to go through the Park Commission to build that secondary lot? And yes, if this doesn’t stimulate immediate development in the very worst neighborhood in West Philly, it must at the least call attention to the eyesores of blocks below Girard and between 38th and 40th that are supposedly located in the richest country on earth.

    The irony is that over on Parkside Ave. across from the Please Touch Museum/Memorial Hall, you have the historic Brantwood estates and a beautiful row of Victorians that pretty much look like they were when wealthy families lived in them…and everything surrounding them is just in decay. I’m not sure what effect it’s had on the area yet since the move to Memorial Hall just happened recently, but any discussion of the zoo’s expansion should include the PTM. It could well be, sadly, that the zoo and the museum are stuck in a bubble that tourists (and thus development) will never breach.

  • guest

     The secondary parking is an existing lot, not a proposed one.

  • Sherman

    That secondary parking lot is already there and already used for zoo parking. 

  • Guest

    There’s no reason Regional Rail should stop there or that Amtrak would want another station right by a busy, congested interlocking.  We need better transit service to the zoo but that’s not going to happen on those tracks.

  • ea

    No reason other then people would like to get there without driving. I could understand Amtrak not wanting it, but Amtrak is not interested in intra-city transit.  To say there is no reason Regional Rail should stop there is ridiculous.  You might say it is not feasible or not cost effective, but given the Zoo is there; lots of people go to the Zoo; traffic around the Zoo is very congested; and the trains go right by the Zoo, there certainly are reasons trains should stop there.

  • CW Mote

     My bad; yes, it’s already there. And neighborhood investment is just pouring in…sigh.

  • http://garagelightinglighting.com/ Hareluyacos

    It looks great.

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