In the past, we’ve covered renovation projects at a couple of playgrounds in Philly, including Dickinson Square Park, Roberto Clemente, and Comegys Elementary. This month, another playground project is taking place, this time at Seger Playground, located at 1020 Lombard St., in the Wash West neighborhood.

Seger Park

Site plan

About a week ago, construction began here, on a project that we originally told you about over a year ago. So far, the old playground equipment has been pulled out, and the

Just a half a block south of the excitement on Fairmount Ave., a private garage will soon be replaced by a new house. On a quiet block and mere steps away from the Spring Gardens Community Garden and Clemente Playground, this garage at 1915 North St. seems like a fine candidate for improvement.

Ugly garage

Some cute houses next door

Community garden to the east

According to the zoning application, the owners intend to tear down the garage and construct a new three story home with roof decks and a (new) garage (but this time with a home behind and above it. This sensible redevelopment of an underused parcel in an area with fewer and fewer available lots is certainly an encouraging sight. Benjamin Kohl and Linda Farthing purchased this…

The Friends of Clemente grassroots group began a few years ago to revitalize the Roberto Clemente Park and Playground at 18th and Wallace. The second annual Clemente Fest on May 14 from 2 – 6pm will feature live music and performances, a moon bounce, local artists, raffle and a handball tournament, all to raise money to revitalize the park that only two decades ago was a hot spot for crime in the Fairmount neighborhood.

“We want to rally community volunteers, clean up and green up the park and create exciting programs to unite the community,” explains Sara Hirschler, founder of Friends of Clemente. Performers include Bomplé (Puerto Rican bomba and plena music), Gregory Morgan (acoustic/electric Folk), Kaligata (experimental voice/jazz/funk) and the Magic Message (disco/house/boogie). To volunteer for the event, check out the opportunities here.