Trolley Car Diner eyes West Philly

Newsworks is reporting that the Mount Airy-based Trolley Car Diner, which also has a location in East Falls, is considering opening a spot in West Philly. Trolley Car’s owner, Ken Weinstein, told Newsworks that the University City District came to him about opening a location in University City. “University City District approached us probably six months ago and asked if we were interested,” Weinstein told Newsworks. “I thought that the University City area would be a good match.” Weinstein said he is considering a spot that would include outdoor seating, but that one has not yet been chosen.

Why I Chose Lea

West Philly resident David Hincher and his family were featured this week in Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Miriam Hill’s “Raising Philadelphia” column. Hincher’s essay details why he plans to send his daughter to the Henry C. Lea School (47th and Locust). He writes:

“The collective hope of all those hundreds of other parents in our area all in the same situation we are in, all working together to find a solution, and improve one school, has soothed that old public school issue panic like a strange balm. For the first time in years, my wife and I are in agreement and will likely apply for a voluntary transfer for our daughter to Lea Elementary when the time comes.”

Play on, Stanford

West Philadelphia resident Stanford Thompson, the man behind the venture Play On, Philly, was profiled this week in the Inquirer. The story reveals his passion of bringing orchestral music to schools in the city. He is currently working at Saint Francis de Sales (4625 Springfield Ave.) and plans to bring the program to the Lea School in January. He hopes to have 10 programs running throughout the city by 2020. He tells Inquirer music critic Peter Dobrin in the piece:

“To be completely honest, I’ve always been obsessed with the – how do I say this? – the lack of engagement of underserved communities. I consider myself to be among the communities I see in West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia and South Philadelphia, and I sit on the trolley and I think: All of those kids could fall in love with the orchestra. I fell in love with it, they can fall in love with it – if we give these kids the opportunity.”

 
Developers unveiled plans to community members last night to transform the squatters’ paradise at 49th and Locust, the Croydon Building, into a 127-unit apartment building.

The Croydon has been an eyesore rising to the west of the West Philadelphia High School football field for years and was the site of 2007 murder. Extensive renovation work on the building, budgeted at about $10 million, could begin as early as late winter. The developers, the West Philly based Orens Brothers, still must get zoning approval, which is expected in January. Orens Brothers bought the building in July.

About a dozen community members perused plans last night during a public meeting at the Community College of Philadelphia’s West Regional Center at 48th and Chestnut. The renovation will include street lighting around the building, which will help light up the section of Locust Street on the building’s north side. Orens Brothers is interested in renovating the small blighted playground adjacent to the Croydon at the corner of 49th and Spruce, possibly turning it into a community garden. The School District of Philadelphia currently owns that piece of land.

“If we’re going to make the Croydon look like this,” said Scott Orens, pointing to an artistic rendering of the renovated building. “We don’t want something next to it looking like that.”

The renovated building will include one-, two- and three bedroom apartments and the market-rate rents will range from about $600 for a small one-bedroom to $1,300 for a three-bedroom. Amenities will include a 24-hour door person.

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell has supported the Orens Brothers’ efforts to acquire the building, which should help facilitate the zoning process.

“I really don’t think we could have asked for a better organization to do this,” she said.

One resident, who lives on St. Bernard Street, voiced some concern about Orens Brothers’ plans to acquire the city-owned parking lot on the south side of Spruce Street to use for Croydon parking. She is worried that the cars parked in the lot during services at nearby churches will be forced to park on St. Bernard, which she says won’t be able to handle the additional traffic.

Orens Brothers sought to acquire the lot after community members during a meeting over the summer said they were concerned about the possible influx of cars that might accompany the renovation of the Croydon.

The Croydon has a checkered history. Known by squatters as “Paradise City,” the building’s rooftop was the site of a murder in 2007 after a squabble between two squatters. The school district was also briefly interested in acquiring the building as a site for the new West Philadelphia High School, but instead built on a nearby site at 49th and Chestnut.

The little orange tabby cat that a West Philly resident found lying half-dead in a gutter earlier this week is a fighter. That’s why the folks at The Cat Doctor, who have performed a blood transfusion, rid him of a nasty flea infestation and detected a piece of metal lodged in his colon, have named the cat “Clark Kent.”

The staff at The Cat Doctor are reporting that Clark Kent is recovering, though he still has a long road to get back to full strength. His temperature has risen from a low of 90 degrees when he was found (102 degrees is normal for cats) and he received a blood transfusion from another cat, Diamond, who is one of the house cats at The Cat Doctor.

“If he would not have had that he probably would have died,” said The Cat Doctor’s Lori Horwedel.

Horwedel said Clark Kent is still sleeping on a warming blanket to keep his body temperature up. But he is eating and interested in his surroundings.

“He’s bright and alert this morning,” she said. “When I opened the door (to his cage) he tried to jump out.”

Clark Kent was found in a gutter near Clark Park. He had obviously not been eating well (doctors suspect the piece of metal they found was part of something he tried to eat). He had no collar but he did have a microchip that included information on the people who adopted him. When someone from The Cat Doctor contacted the owner, who adopted him about six months ago, the woman’s mother said they put him outside because they thought he was sick. Enforcement officers from the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) are investigating.

Clark Kent has gained scores of fans worldwide in the two days since he was found. The West Philly-based feline rescue group City Kitties has received donations from Germany, Australia, Ireland and 30 U.S. states that will more than cover Clark Kent’s sizable medical bills.  Now City Kitties is asking those interested in helping to donate at the PSPCA website and choose “humane law enforcement” when asked where they want their donation directed.

One of the two men who died during the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday was a University of Pennsylvania senior.

Jeff Lee, 21, of Cerritos Calif., died soon after crossing the finish line of the half marathon, which preceded the full marathon race. Lee was a nursing and business major.

G. Chris Gleason, 40, of Clifton Park, NY died about a quarter of a mile before the finish of the full marathon on Sunday. Gleason was an experienced triathlete and marathon runner. Philly.com has a story about him here.

Penn students gathered to remember Lee on campus yesterday. The Daily Pennsylvanian has a report here. The Channel 6 report is below.

School lunch in Philadelphia is a social justice issue for many.

This summer the School District of Philadelphia closed the kitchens at several schools, leaving just a handful of schools in the City – mostly high schools – with meals cooked onsite. The vast majority of schools serve pre-packaged lunches trucked in for out of the area. Health concerns surrounding these pre-packaged lunches coupled with the fact that 40 percent of kids are at risk for childhood obesity have sparked concern among parents, teachers and activists.

Those folks and others will gather at the Henry C. Lea School (4700 Locust St.) on Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. to discuss where school food comes from and how to make it healthier. Interested community members are welcome to join the discussion.

Speakers will include:

For more information about the event please contact: Bryan Fenstermaker at 215-895-4020 or by email: bfenstermaker[at]theenterprisecentercdc.org.

UPDATE: A commenter helped clarify this story. A jury found Thomas not guilty of the murder charge on Sept. 13, which explains why he was free. We should have done a little more homework before we speculated on that.

Police say the man fatally shot near 49th and Springfield early Saturday morning was 26-year-old Maki Thomas, who was arrested last year in connection with a 2001 murder.

Thomas, who was connected with home addresses in the Overbrook section and the 4100 block of Cambridge St., reportedly called police on a cell phone at about 1:10 a.m. after he had been shot in the head and neck. Police arrived to find Thomas unconscious at the wheel of a Nissan Maxima, which was still running. He was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m.

Thomas was arrested in April 2010 in connection with the March 2001 murder of Quentin Armstrong in front of a deli at 52nd and Warrington. Police had been looking for Thomas for years and almost had him in 2009 when he used his real name to check into a Haverford medical facility to reportedly get a gunshot wound treated. He fled before police arrived.

Police caught Thomas when he was detained at an Atlantic City casino for trying to pass counterfeit bills.