A revised proposal to build a 49-unit, 6-story apartment building on a parking lot at 4045 Baltimore Ave. will be considered at an upcoming Spruce Hill Community Association zoning meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 2. Officials from New Horizon Housing, which owns the lot, presented the previous proposal at the Spruce Hill zoning meeting on June 16, but it wasn’t approved by the City’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. This Wednesday will be the third time the construction project will be presented to Spruce Hill residents.

Community members are invited to the meeting to learn more about the design alterations for the building.

“[There was] some trouble with the design [of the] entryway and elevator shaft prominence,” according to Spruce Hill Zoning Committee Chair Barry Grossbach. Also, the initial plan of having a commercial space in the building had to be reconsidered because the space is limited.

Wednesday’s zoning meeting will also consider an application for a commercial operation in a newly constructed residential building at 43rd and Sansom (123 S. 43rd St). The meeting will take place at the SHCA office at 257 S. 45th Street, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Free Shakespeare in Clark Park performances have just ended, and now it’s time for some free movies. Movies in Clark Park, an annual program by University City District (UCD), kicks off Friday, Aug. 4, with a free screening of the classic E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. Film screenings will be held every Friday (weather permitting), through Sept. 1., beginning at 8 p.m. Please bring your chairs or blankets!

In addition to movie screenings, there will be food and dessert offerings from a rotating list of vendors and some extra activities from local businesses and organizations. Here are more details on the scheduled screenings and extra activities (courtesy of UCD):  Continue Reading

The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, an award-winning program of University City District that connects unemployed West Philly residents with local employers, is recruiting for the next cohort of trainees.

The program will be accepting applications through Aug. 18 for Patrol Officer positions with Allied Universal. Allied Universal is the largest provider of security services in North America and is recognized as the premier service provider in every market it serves. This is the 10th cohort the Skills Initiative has built with Allied Universal, and is the continuation of a six-year partnership.  Continue Reading

The Shakespeare in Clark Park production of Coriolanus opened last night to a big crowd in The Bowl near 43rd and Chester. The play follows the demise and vengeful crusade of Roman military leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. The amazon all-female cast carries the work, and a pack of riotous citizens of Rome made up with Philadelphia residents keeps the play lively (see more photos below).

Coriolanus continues through the weekend, concluding Sunday. Shows run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The rain location is the Harold Prince Theater at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St.  Continue Reading

On Thursday, July 27, community members will gather for a remembrance event for West Philly community activist and green space advocate Winnie Harris. They will walk in her name and will pass out leaflets to “bring her killers to justice.” The event is organized by the Philadelphia Police 16th District and begins at 6 p.m. at 300 Holly St. See the flyer below for more details and if you want to participate in this event.

Almost six months have passed since Harris, 65, was found shot to death in her home on the 300 block of North Holly Street in West Powelton where she had lived for 40 years. In May, police released a flyer asking for the public’s assistance to identify two persons of interest in the investigation of the killing, which happened on February 3rd, 2017, but so far no arrests have been made.  Continue Reading

Photo by Kyle Cassidy

Shakespeare in Clark Park returns this week for its 12th season with five performances of Coriolanus, a timeless political tragedy of manipulation and revenge. This year, SCP will roll with an all-female cast led by Barrymore Award winner Charlotte Northeast as the title character. The professional cast of women warriors will appear alongside a Chorus of 50 Philadelphians who will become the riotous citizens of Rome. The production is directed by SCP Artistic Director Kittson O’Neill (Interact Theatre Company).

“It’s easy to see Coriolanus, a blunt war hero, as an indictment of “Macho” culture, but there is so much more to this story,” O’Neill, who is pulling double-duty as the director of the show, said in a statement. “By moving our production to a matriarchy I think audiences will more readily see themselves in our hero: we can all be inflexible, we all have deep prejudices and we don’t always get the glory we have rightly earned.”  Continue Reading