A drawing of the proposed building at 43rd and Baltimore. The five-story section in the foreground would include first-floor retail.

The developers of 4224 Baltimore Ave. – across from Clark Park – unveiled drawings during a public meeting last night of a modern, glassy residential building that would include a terraced section that peaks at 10 floors and includes upscale condos.

The design also includes a 5-story section on the corner of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue with first-floor commercial units that would wrap around the structure and, if built, could house a large, street-level restaurant with outdoor seating along 43rd Street. A large rooftop terrace on this section would overlook the park.

The “if built” part is important. The development firm that is proposing the project, U3 Ventures, is a liaison between the community and the property owners, Clarkmore Group LLC, have not seen the drawings. There is no guarantee that the ownership group, which paid $3.5 million for the property in 2008, will go for the plan.

Clarkmore currently has as conditional permit to build a four-story, 92-unit apartment building with six parking spaces. That building would unlikely include any retail space. U3 is hoping the group can be persuaded to build a larger building that could support retail and underground parking. A large majority of the approximately 40 community members attending last night’s meeting gave tacit approval to the plan, which includes 108 rental units – mostly one bedrooms – and 55 resident-owned condos (though that number could drop considerably if the condos are built larger). Continue Reading

SEPTA announced today that the trolley tunnel to and from Center City will be closed from 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2 until midnight on Monday Aug. 12. The 11, 13, 34 and 36 trollies will reroute to 40th and Market Streets where passengers can connect with the Market-Frankford Line, which will not be impacted by the tunnel work.

Shuttle buses that are currently being used along the Route 10 line will run to 40th and Filbert Streets during the repairs instead of 33rd and Market.

SEPTA crews will spend that week replacing overhead wire and doing ceiling work in the tunnel, according to a statement.

“We use the tunnel almost 24 hours a day, which means we have very limited opportunities to obtain track outages for extensive repair work,” SEPTA’s deputy general manager Jeff Knueppel said.

Editor’s Note: The trolley tunnel shutdown starts at 10 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 2., not at 10 a.m. as originally stated in the post.

Play On, Philly! students performing last year at Saint Francis de Sales School. (Photo Mike Lyons/West Philly Local)

The talented kids from Play On, Philly!, the innovative music and social development program based in West Philadelphia, will be playing live this Thursday, July 25 in a big ensemble concert. The concert will feature musicians from grades 1-9 who are participating in the program’s summer session.

Students in wind ensemble, string orchestra and full orchestra will tackle the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona’s La Comparsa and A La Media Noche, a Puerto Rican folk tune. Paul Bryan, dean of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, will conduct the students, who concentrated on world music over the summer. The ensemble is made up of 120 students from St. Francis de Sales School, Freire Charter Middle School, the Jubilee School and West Philadelphia Catholic High School.

The performance begins at 7 p.m. at West Philadelphia Catholic High School (4501 Chestnut St.). Entrance through parking lot on 46th Street between Chestnut and Ludlow.

The West Philly-based Play On, Philly! began in 2010 at the Saint Francis de Sales School with 110 kids ages 6-13. The idea was to bring enrichment to their lives through music. Last spring renown jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis stopped by Saint Francis de Sales to talk to students in the program. Students go through a rigorous training program that includes three hours daily of after school instruction by some of the city’s best teaching musicians. Students enrolled in the tuition-free program learn an orchestral instrument and receive instruction in music theory, composition, music history as well as ensemble performance. Play On, Philly! hopes to establish a program in every city neighborhood.

We are very sorry to report that a West Philly boy died on Saturday, two days after he was pulled from a swimming pool at Cobbs Creek Recreation Center (210 S. 63rd St.).

A lifeguard found 7-year-old Jabriel O’Connor underwater and unresponsive at about 1 p.m. Thursday. The lifeguard administered CPR and the boy was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was placed on life support. Four lifeguards were watching the pool.

Jabriel was at the public pool with a camp group of about 25 children and four counselors. Jabriel lived near the corner of Walnut and Melville Streets in the Spruce Hill section in an emergency shelter for homeless families, according to neighbors.

Mayor Michael Nutter issued a statement yesterday concerning the boy’s death:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jabriel’s parents, family, friends, and all of the young people present at the Cobb’s Creek Recreation Center on Thursday as they grieve.  The City will continue to provide support services to Jabriel’s family, the camp staff, City employees and community members affected by this tragedy. It is my hope that they can find strength and comfort from the support of their loved ones and the entire Philadelphia community at this difficult time.”

A neighbor wrote in an e-mail that Jabriel lived nearby.

“This child is our neighbor at Melville and Walnut. So, so sad. Other kids from his house witnessed his drowning, just awful. Don’t know if anything can be done on a community level to help  his mom/family, but thought I would e-mail you just in case.”

We have contacted the agency that sponsored the camp for information about how community members could help Jabriel’s family. We’ll post any information we receive back.

The sign on the front door of Saad’s Halal at 45th and Walnut is a familiar site this time of year.

Ramadan is here so that means a few good eating spots will be closed or have seriously reduced hours for the next few weeks.

Saad’s Halal at 45th and Walnut closed July 8 and will remain closed until August 12. Saad’s also has that special brown paper on its windows that usually means some sort of renovation is going on inside. We’ll see.

Manakeesh, across the street from Saad’s at 45th and Walnut, will be open 7:30 p.m. to midnight until August 9. Sweets to go only will be served from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Manakeesh staff will begin taking orders for meals at 8:15 and will begin serving food at sunset – around 8:30 p.m. Special meals will be offered on Friday and Saturday.

Kabobeesh, the terrific Pakastani joint at 42nd and Chestnut, appears to be keeping regular hours (Monday though Sunday, noon to 11 p.m.) as it did last year. Last year they offered free iftar (the evening meal during Ramadan) for those fasting during the holiday.

Malcolm X Park will be the place to be this Saturday as the first annual Park Jam takes over the green space at 51st and Pine.

Billed as a “community dance party,” Park Jam (Facebook page) will feature dj sets by Danophonic Dan (Facebook page) and Friends and a live set from the West Philly-based band HighKick (Facebook page), which will offer a quirky mix of tunes from good old-fashioned throw downs (think The Allman Brothers or Phish) to a lovely rendition of the Paul McCartney tune “Another Day” (do,do,do,do,do,do) to, perhaps, a short ode to tacos.

Park Jam will also feature the usual assortment of West Philly festival fare like food trucks, a moon bounce, face painting, artisans selling cool stuff and, importantly, a “generous dance floor.”

The fun runs from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Garden Court Community Association is sponsoring this jawn.