Come to Bartram’s Garden for a day of fun on the river and shoreline; there’s lots to do for friends and family!

On the River

6th Annual Tidal Schuylkill Boat Parade: 12–2pm, with an awards ceremony at 2pm.

Victorian-era flotilla honoring 19th-century gardener Ann Bartram Carr; an 8-foot floating pizza; giant waterfowl; costumed canoes; and handmade boats of all shapes and sizes!

Free kayaking and rowboating on the Schuylkill River. Our fleet of rowboats are built by local middle and high school students as part of the Philadelphia Waterborne program

Little Baby’s Floating Ice Cream Parlor: Enjoy free ice cream for those who paddle out to the floating ice cream parlor

DJ Jay Plus performing from famous Wetlands Boat: a full set of parade music that is completely powered by solar energy

Tug Jupiter will be anchored offshore!

On the Shore

Free pony rides and children’s games

Trick horse riding by the riders of Divers Stables

Pop Up Bike Clinic provided by Rails to Trails. These clinics will provide youth with the opportunity to have their bikes repaired for free and learn how make basic repairs themselves.

Farmers Market provide by the Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

Face painting provided by Star Sisters

Creative mapmaking with the Listening School

Little Baby’s Ice Cream and The Tot Cart

It’s this time of year again when Penn students are leaving their dorms in a big two-day move-out event, which prompts the closure of a large section of Spruce Street to all traffic except for emergency vehicles. Here’s a traffic advisory for this Tuesday and Wednesday from Penn’s Public Safety Division:

“Spruce Street will be closed between 34th and 40th Streets on Tuesday, May 10th and Wednesday, May 11th between 7 a.m.-8 p.m. for student move-out.

No taxi cabs will be permitted access. Vendors will be permitted access to enter the street prior to the 7 a.m. street closure. Bikes will need to be walked on Spruce Street while the streets are closed to traffic. Septa Route 42 will be re-routed. Emergency vehicles and hospital patient transport vehicles will be permitted access. Access will be provided to the Ryan Vet Hospital.

During this street closure: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Wistar Institute and Ryan Vet Hospital deliveries will be allowed to enter Spruce Street at 38th Street. Garage 14 will be open and accessible throughout move-out.”

Indego bike share station in Clark Park (archived photo).

Philly’s bike-share program Indego celebrated its first birthday this week by announcing a couple dozen more docking stations around the city, including a few in West Philly. The program also introduced new rates and ways for low-income residents to pay for the service and a snappy new app.

New docking stations will be located near 34th and Mantua, 42nd and Lancaster and 46th and Market. Indego will also start accepting Pennsylvania ACCESS cards and offer an unlimited number of one-hour rides for 30 days for $5 – down from $15. The new rates should widen the availability of the program, something Indego officials had hoped for when the program began.

The program’s new app will allow riders to find stations, check on bike availability, renew membership passes and search trip history.

Indego has been very popular over the past year, logging about 420,000 rides and more than 8,000 memberships.

UPDATE (April 8, 2016): Parked cars were removed and a few dividers were put today on the street near the construction site, as we assume to provide a path for pedestrians:

Not sure if these are meant to protect pedestrians forced into street at abandoned constr'n site at 4128 Chester 1/2 pic.twitter.com/nVFr3BAThP

— Phila. Bikes (@philabikes) April 8, 2016

Those of you who live or pass by the area of 42nd and Chester probably have been wondering what’s happening with the new apartment building on the southeast corner. The construction of the three-story, six-unit building at 4128 Chester Ave. was supposed to have been completed last summer. All its units were leased, with move-in dates in August 2015.

But the construction stalled months ago. The site has looked abandoned for a while, looking “hideous and dispiriting,” according to Spruce Hill Community Association zoning chair Barry Grossbach.

The unfinished building is now for sale for $1.75 million, according to a listing on Realtor.com. The building sits on a 2,6140-square-foot lot and includes overall 16 bedrooms and eight full baths, according to the listing. The location makes it “desirable student housing.” The listing also states that construction of the building is currently being completed.  Continue Reading

A rendering of the proposed Trolley Car Station restaurant at 40th Street Trolley Portal.

Update (April 8, 2016) – The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the plan for the Trolley Car Restaurant following a March 29 hearing. Specifically, the ZBA approved a variance for the building as a sit-down restaurant. Construction is expected to begin this fall.

The public got a look at plans on Tuesday evening for the development of the 40th Street Trolley Portal, which includes a two-story, 125-seat restaurant with take-out beer and outdoor seating.

University City District officials and the owner of the Trolley Car Diner in Mount Airy presented the plans to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee and about a dozen members of the public.

Now an expanse of concrete criss-crossed with trolley tracks, the portal will be turned into a more navigable public space complete with moveable tables and chairs, enough racks to accommodate 48 bikes and “vegetation everywhere,” Nate Hommel, UCD’s director of planning and design, told the zoning committee. The trolleys will still run through it, but it will be more pedestrian friendly.  Continue Reading

Pub letters is an easy-going reintroduction to the joy of handwriting letters–the kind that go into the mail box. Every Tuesday (1/5, 1/12, 1/19, 1/26) evening in January, CLARKVILLE at 43rd and Baltimore, will host Publetters. Enjoy a craft beer and write a letter or three to someone special. Stamps, paper, envelopes, even pens all provided by Trophy Bikes and Casa Papel, the sponsors. Starts around 7 pm and goes till after 9 pm. “Reach Out and Write Someone!” Starts Tuesday, Jan. 5. FREE.