We are going all out this year! We will have live music, 1940s inspired dress and a red carpet in Vernon Park. Bring your own chairs, blanket, favorite movie snacks as we watch this classic under the stars.
JULY 11. Plan to arrive at 7pm to walk the red carpet and get your picture taken before showtime. Look for updated information on exact location.
You definitely will “Remember this . . . “.
May 10, 2013
By Alaina Mabaso for NewsWorks, @AlainaMabaso
A diverse panel of local innovators shared details of their eco-friendly urban projects at Germantown United Community Development Corp.’s second annual community forum on Wednesday night.
The “It IS Easy Being Green” event drew a large crowd to the Flying Horse Center on Pulaski Street near Chelten Ave. in Germantown.
Before the panel discussion, attendees perused a “trade show” of tables from groups including Awbury Arboretum, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the John B. Kelly School’s “Kelly Green” grounds initiative, the Philadelphia Streets Department and the Sustainable Business Network.
Molly Finch, an educator with the Tookany-Tacony-Frankford Watershed, passed out small packets of sunflower seeds and suggested “guerrilla planting” for those without their own gardens.
“Stuff like this,” she said of the forum, “should be happening more often.”
The keynote address
GUCDC Board President Andy Trackman introduced moderator and keynote speaker Robert Fleming, associate professor of sustainable design at Philadelphia University.
Fleming, who co-founded the university’s Engineering and Design Institute and its sustainable-design Master’s degree program, led his remarks with childhood memories of Maplewood Mall and Mt. Airy.
Fleming, who also works as an LEED-accredited consultant to firms designing green buildings, showcased real-life statements he encountered from business owners in the nineties.
Vignettes included statements like “the Internet is too slow; it’ll never catch on,” and firms that insisted they didn’t need e-mail or websites because they had telephones and fax machines.
He compared those to naysayers claiming that “green” buildings will never catch on.
Greening strategies
Fleming then referenced a series of events that have left people with a fearful eye for the future, environmental or otherwise. Those included Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, the BP oil spill, the Fukushima nuclear disaster and Hurricane Sandy.
Fleming said those pressing problems leave him wanting “a more holistic view of what sustainability can be,” noting that AbrahamMaslow’s hierarchy of needs should be a model for viable greening efforts.
Specifically, he said that clean air, water and good food should underlie diverse and inclusive communities with strong economies. To top it all off, “green” efforts must be artfully crafted, to satisfy a human need for beauty, Fleming maintained.
Panelists speak
Seven panelists then shared a range of projects with the crowd.
Christine Knapp, director of strategic partnerships at the Philadelphia Water Department, spoke about the problem of urban storm-water management.
She explained the difference between “combined” sewer systems (comprising 60 percent of Philadelphia’s sewers) which cause dangerous overflow when sewage and stormwaters mingle, and “separate” ones, which help prevent flooding by giving sewage and storm-water different underground pathways.
Knapp touted solutions like rain barrels, rain gardens, roof plantings, porous pavement and increasing the number of trees planted in the city as efforts that would beautify as well as tackle sewer woes.
Obesity and re-entry
Representing the Food Trust, Dwayne Wharton pointed to a small drop in the obesity rates of city youth.
That reduction followed a range of healthy food-access initiatives like eliminating soda drinks and fryers in school cafeterias and a proliferation of city farmers’ markets that accept SNAP benefits.
The purpose of those moves was to “make the healthy choice the easy choice,” Wharton said.
Kelly Maillie, an AmeriCorps intern with the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, described a program called “Roots to Re-Entry” which trains Philadelphia Prison System inmates in food growing and landscape management.
The program, which also helps with former inmates’ job placement, was sparked by PHS’ City Harvest and currently helps to feed about 1,200 needy families per week.
Rockland Street, graffiti and storefronts
From there, Germantown sisters Aine and Emaleigh Doley spoke about their “West Rockland Street Project” which, without the help of any official structure or umbrella supporter, has revitalized a block of Southwest Germantown.
The neighborhood activists spoke about their successful efforts to remove blighted buildings, reduce dumping, build gardens, foster community engagement and even increase voter registration through a string of targeted events and initiatives.
Germantown artist and muralist Zack Bird shared his efforts to cover rampant graffiti on the Wissahickon’s stately stonework.
His before-and-after photos demonstrated that a sealed faux-finish, done with discarded house paints, can restore the appearance of stone without the costly and damaging removal work of sand-blasting.
Vivian Nabeta, who serves as New Haven, Ct. director of arts, culture and tourism, shared that city’s successful “Project Storefront” program, which livens up corridors by helping artists and entrepreneurs get into formerly vacant retail spaces.
Germantown United CDC (“GU”) recently learned that the old YWCA building on Germantown Avenue, adjacent to Vernon Park, may be threatened with demolition.
Please join us and other community groups, including Germantown Community Connection, for a meeting at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown (“FUMCOG”) on January 22, 2015, 6:30pm, to hear about the threat to this significant historic centerpiece in Germantown’s “Town Center” and the proposal on the table that may save it.
Here’s what we know at this point:
The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (“PRA”) owns the Old YWCA after it foreclosed against Germantown Settlement four years ago. Last Fall (September 2014), the PRA put out a Request for Proposals for competitive bids from developers to purchase and rehabilitate the structure at 5820-24 Germantown Avenue. Given the historic nature and significance of the building, the RFP stated that the “City may be willing to subsidize masonry and structural improvements in an amount not to exceed $1,000,000.” Following the release of the RFP, a site visit was led by the PRA for interested developers to have an opportunity to tour the building.The site is in a significant state of disrepair resulting from eight plus years of vacancy, two fires, and multiple acts of vandalism. Despite considerable developer interest initially, only one developer submitted a proposal to the PRA.
A proposal by Mission First Housing Group, to acquire and develop 50 one bedroom senior apartments for low and moderate income older adults (62 and older), was submitted. While Mission First Housing Group will work closely with Philly Office Retail and Center in the Park, Mission First will be the sole developer of the site. Seniors will have access to on-site programming provided by Center in the Park. Philly Office Retail owns the remainder of the block along Germantown Avenue, up to West Rittenhouse Street, and plans to construct market rate residential and commercial uses, concurrently with this project. Mission First proposes utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credit financing similar to what was used for the Presser-Nugent properties on Johnson Street that served to save those buildings.
As Corridor Manager, GU feels obligated to convene a meeting of stakeholders to hear all the facts, to understand the existing proposal, and to create a community coalition to save the Old YWCA. At this point, the only proposal legitimately before the PRA, based on response to the competitive RFP process, is the one submitted by Mission First. GU supports a fair and open process that allows community voices to be heard without advocating for a specific proposal. Our goal is to save the YWCA from demolition and ensure that this Germantown gem is preserved and put to productive use. So, who is Mission First (we all know Center in the Park)? What is the proposal? Is this something our community should support? These questions – and any that you wish to raise – are welcome at the meeting on January 22nd 6:30pm at FUMCOG.
PLEASE HELP SAVE THIS SIGNIFICANT BUILDING FROM THE WRECKING BALL!!
PLEASE JOIN US TO DISCUSS AND DECIDE AS A COMMUNITY WHAT IS BEST FOR GERMANTOWN’S COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR.
Come celebrate Germantown’s four centuries of rich
history along with live music
and tour of the beautiful Oaks Cloister.
Named as one of the Seven Community Forces That Gets Things Done in Northwest Philadelphia by WHYY’s Newsworks Neighborhoods, Germantown United CDC is a 2 year-old mostly-volunteer organization, whose mission is to promote and facilitate the revitalization of Germantown’s business corridors through a sustainable, creative and community-driven approach to economic development.
WITH SPECIAL GUEST | The Honorable Ed Rendell
OAKS CLOISTER
Rescheduled date: Thursday, March 6th, 2014 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
5829 Wissahickon Avenue | Philadelphia, PA 19144
John Trower was a 19th century African American caterer headquartered on
Chelten Avenue. His menu selection included:
Chicken and Lobster Salad
Boeuf al a Mode
Boned Fowl
Oysters in Every Style
Dressed Terrapins
Come taste a bit of Germantown History as there will be some selections from
Trower’s menu from the 1880s. One of the many historic treasures of Germantown!
Tickets $50
You can also pay at the door. But please RSVP at
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Rendell to keynote Germantown United’s first-ever fundraiser on Thursday (via NewsWorks)
When Germantown United Community Development Corp. launched two years ago, the organization’s officers and board members knew it would take time for residents to not only embrace, but also have faith in its mission to improve the neighborhood’s trash…
Rendell delivers pep talk at Germantown United CDC’s inaugural fundraiser (via NewsWorks)
It can happen. Over and over, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell stressed that simple, but important, phrase as he spoke Thursday night to a room filled with Germantown residents who desperately want to turn the neighborhood’s fortunes around. “Anything…
“The Big G: Gentrification in Germantown: How it works, and for whom?”A blue-ribbon panel will be moderated by Alan Greenberger, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development for the City of Philadelphia. The panel includes:
The Forum this year has expanded from past Forums to become an all-day event, in that there will be a morning panel discussion followed by four facilitated roundtable discussions in the afternoon. The roundtable discussions will permit community engagement in a conversation in order to promote awareness, solutions, and actions. Registration for the event starts at 8:30 am, and the panel discussion starts at 9:00am. After lunch, the workshops will be facilitated for an hour and a half, with report-outs to the general group beginning at 3 pm. Topics for the roundtable discussions are: Sustainable Development of Vacant Property, Commercial Corridor Economic Development, Preserving Housing Affordability, Human Capital and Building Community Capacity. The roundtable facilitators are Kimberlee Douglas, Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture Program, Philadelphia University; Robert Fleming, Associate Professor and Director MS in Sustainable Design Program, Philadelphia University; Ingrid R. Shepard, Founder and Executive Director, The One Less Foundation; and Garlen Capita, Senior Urban Designer / Associate, Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC; and Nora Lichtash, Executive Director, WCRP.
The event will wrap up at 4 pm.
In addition to the presentations and discussions, a Resource Fair, comprised of community organizations, will have tables set up for attendees to mingle among, network with and continue the conversation.
Our Third Annual Community Forum is Free and Open to the public but you must register as seating is limited.
For some Philadelphians, gentrification is a dirty word or — at the very least — an eyebrow raiser.
As they watch their namesake neighborhood creep towards becoming a “choice” spot for newcomers, the folks over at Germantown United CDC decided they want to help prepare residents for change.
Event specifics
On Saturday, GUCDC will host a free, all-day community forum on gentrification inside Mastery Charter’s Pickett Campus, 5700 Wayne Ave.
“The Big G” will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“It’s the elephant in the room,” said board member Yvonne Haskins of gentrification. “It’s something that we need to talk about and figure out if there are ways to manage it.”
Preserving affordability and protecting homeowners and renters from potential bumps in real-estate prices will be a major focus of the forum.
The speakers
Weighing in on those topics and more will be Colvin W. Grannum (president and CEO of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation), Nora Lichtash, (executive director of the Women’s Community Revitalization Project), Steve Mullin(president of Consult Solutions) and Betty Turner (co-founder of Germantown Community Connection).
In the morning, Alan Greenberger, the city’s deputy mayor for economic development, will moderate a roundtable “Meet the Press” style discussion.
After lunch, participants will break into four groups that will each tackle a different topic connected to gentrification with an eye on possible solutions. Each workshop will be led by one of the four panelists.
Financial literacy, affordable housing and the impact of the city’s new Land Bankwill be among the subjects up for debate.
Participants will end the day by coming together to hear about each workshop’s discoveries.
“We feel the winds of change from the energy that people are showing in their attention to all of these various projects in the community,” said Haskins. “Sooner or later, Germantown is going to be a choice neighborhood. It’s going to be a neighborhood that people want to live in more and more.”
