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…

The orange line is the new section of the trail

Running from Wharton St., under Grays Ferry Ave., and terminating at 34th St., the Dupont Crescent is the newest section of the Schuylkill River Trail. This section is not likely to get much attention or attract many visitors in the near future mostly due to its access points being in the middle of a little-known neighborhood and off the heavily trafficked 34th St. Also, because it lacks a connection to the existing trail which ends on Locust St., no one is likely to stumble upon this attractive slice of park next to the river.

Schematic for the park

We decided to check the new park out for ourselves. While the greenery seemed a little thirsty, and some details seemed unfinished, the park was a wonderful…

Bethany Seawright, graduate student of interior design, MFA candidate and contributing blogger for Apartment Therapy, has given Philly architecture a great shout-out on the site. “Over and over again, I am amazed at the number of formidable architects than have come through our city and influenced its ever-changing landscape,” says Seawright. She featured the the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk by Michael Baker Engineers, the Barnes Foundation (on the Parkway) by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (as well as their Skirkanich Hall project), I.M. Pei’s Bingham Court, Onion Flat’s Rag Flats and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Beth Shalom Congregation. ”There seems to be no end to the inspiration to be found in our fabulous city,” exclaims Seawright. We thank her for posting these projects, which were additions to Arch Daily’s original (but not complete) feature on  our architectural gems.