Last night at the Philadelphia School, representatives from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Cooper Robertson and Partners held a community meeting to discuss plans for CHOP’s significant project coming soon to Schuylkill Avenue. This presentation represented the fourth large community meeting regarding this development, and included some details that came to light for the very first time.

The site

To review from the last time we covered this project almost a year ago, CHOP intends to construct a huge new facility just below the South Street Bridge on nine acres of land currently occupied by Springfield Beer Distributor and the former JFK Vocational High School. Built over four phases, the facility will mostly house clinical research and operations for the hospital, in a gross development area that will exceed two million square feet. Phase one, a…

Last summer, work began on the construction of a 680-foot connector bridge between Schuylkill River Park and the Schuylkill River Trail. Construction of this bridge was necessary to resolve a law suit between the City of Philadelphia and CSX, the company that owns the rail line that separates much of Center City West from direct access to the river. As a side effect of this $6M project that was funded mostly by federal stimulus money, the Friends of Schuylkill River Park were to receive several improvements to their park, including new landscaping, and stellar new dog parks. For about a year and a half, neighbors have had to make do with their park being an active construction site. But no longer!

Site plan of the park

Over the weekend, the new connector bridge was officially dedicated at a ribbon…

Despite meddling efforts from the less-than-well-informed Citizens for Saving Schuylkill River Park, it appears that construction for the Connector Bridge is finally underway. We don’t know how everyone will be able to survive the next year and a half with a smaller dog park, but from what we see, it seems like some people have already figured it out. And don’t expect construction to suddenly stop- the old dog park is way gone. Here’s a small gallery of photos showing that we’re speaking the truth.

Temporary dog park, small dog section

Temporary dog park, large dog section

Site of former and future dog park

Can hardly wait til next October! Not to worry, folks. We’ll keep you updated along the way.

After learning about the Schuylkill River Parks Connector Bridge and the At-Grade Crossing at Race and Locust Streets, we were left to wonder why these related projects were not kick-started sooner for convenience and pedestrian safety.

The pedestrian bridge connecting Schuylkill River Park to Schuylkill Banks will span across the CSX tracks about 500 feet south of Locust Street and have ADA-compatible ramps leading up to it on both sides. “The bridge is being built to provide a safe crossing for the railroad tracks even if the nearby Locust Street grade crossing is closed,” explains Danielle Gray of the Schuylkill River Development Corporation. Designed by HNTB, the bridge is under contract to SRDC and the Philadelphia Streets Department is overseeing construction on this project, which will begin in July and last about 18…