Brooklyn Qawwali Party.

40th Street Summer Series, the free family-friendly outdoor concerts on the green space behind the Walnut West Library at 40th and Walnut are coming back again this year, thanks to University City District, Penn, and The Rotunda. This year, the series has expanded to five concerts with the following dates: on May 25, June 29, July 27, Aug 31, and Sept 28. The performers list is great, as always, including Philadelphia Ukulele Orchestra, Spaceship Aloha, Millennial Territory Orchestra and more.

This Saturday prepare to dance, shake, sweat and even whirl when Brooklyn Qawwali Party kicks off the series. This 11-piece brass band from NYC performs 700-year-old Pakistani Sufi music in a “thunderous” manner (see video below). “Funky, smart, and loving, BQP captures the joyful spirit of this Pakistani folk music in a unique instrumental blend of jazz and Qawwali. It’s a good time, it’s from the heart, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard,” according to the event’s website.

All Summer Series concerts begin at 6 p.m. and also feature Give and Take jugglers, fire artists, face painting, and balloon art that your kids will love.

For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/155368037956719/

Photo courtesy of Partnership for the Delaware Estuary/Flickr

She’s a furry bouncing ball of shih tzu energy that tears up your favorite jacket for fun. He’s a cranky little bulldog sweetheart who plops on the couch while watching TV.

Don’t lie: your pooch is the apple of your eye, warts and all. But does your zany best friend have the chomps to take a bite out of pollution and serve as the Philadelphia Water Department’s 2013 Philly Water’s Best Friend Spokesdog? The Water Department is currently looking for two dogs from University City and Filter Square, respectively, to represent the city as ambassadors for “living the eco-friendly dog life.” West Philly dog owners who think their canine has what it takes have until May 31 to enter their sweet ol’ pup into this year’s competition, which will focus on Schuylkill River cleanup efforts.

The winning dogs will be chosen at a judged pageant-style community competition, and receive a $200 gift to a local business, toy and cookie prize pack, and have their adorable face gracing promotional materials. As a Philly Water’s Best Friend spokesanimal, the winning dogs and their caretakers will be required to attend at least three community affairs in 2013-2014, and distribute information on the importance of picking up pet waste.

The Water Department has crowned four spokesdogs in East Falls, Northern Liberties, Queen Village, Manayunk and Roxborough since 2011. Last year’s competition drew over 7,000 voters for more than 50 doggie candidates.

For rules and registration, visit http://phillywatersheds.org/spokesdog/. Program sponsors include the Friends of Schuylkill River Park, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Philadelphia Water Department, Powelton Village Civic Association, and Schuylkill Banks.

– Annamarya Scaccia

The “design” table offers some suggestions during a community meeting on the proposed property at 4224 Baltimore Ave. on Monday.

The roughly 40 residents who sat down Monday evening at the International House (3701 Chestnut St.) to offer their input on the proposed 92-unit residential development project at 43rd and Baltimore made a few things clear: More parking, no pharmacies, absolutely no undergraduates and a design that respects what Clark Park means to West Philly.

Their input was part of the first of three community meetings designed to weave community input into design, retail space and transit choices to be made by the developers of the property at 4224 Baltimore Ave., the long-vacant plot across 43rd Street from Clark Park.

“Working with the community we can aspire for a project that works for the community, for the neighbors, for the business owners,” said Omar Blaik, a 15-year resident and former senior vice president at Penn, whose firm, U3 Ventures, is serving as a development liaison between the community and the property owners. U3’s job is to gather community input over the next couple of months and integrate them into the project’s design.

So far, there is no design. A conditional use permit from the city allows the development of a 92-unit structure, but places few restrictions on the amenities offered or the businesses that could occupy the first floor of the project. No building drawings were offered at the meeting. Those will be available at the next meeting in mid June, when the comments from Monday’s meeting are passed along to architects.

Residents were broken into groups and asked to address the building design, ideas about retail spaces, the type of units that should be offered and parking/transit. Here’s what they had to say:

• Design – This group of residents recommended that there be at least 50-60 parking spaces incorporated into the design. The original proposal calls for six. They also advised that the service access for the project in no way interferes with trolley traffic on Baltimore Avenue. So no double parking etc. The height of the building should fit in with other buildings in the vicinity.

• Retail – They recommended businesses that fit the current flavor of the neighborhood. The options range from a single 5,000-square-foot business (the space at Mariposa is about 5,500 feet for comparison), or whether it should house several smaller spaces. The Green Line Café at 43rd and Baltimore, for example, is about 1,000 square feet. Milk and Honey Market is about 2,000 square feet. Resident Mel Clampet-Lundquist suggested a design that incorporates a pub/restaurant that looks out over a recreational space that could be used for wiffleball, similar to Rookie’s, a Wisconsin pub/field. “Absolutely no pharmacies,” the group concluded. Another suggestion was a “restaurant that served good booze rather than a pub that served bad food.”

• Unit type – This group was asked to consider the preferred market for the complex. There was a clear consensus that it should not include undergraduates. Other possibilities included single families or condos that could be purchased by current neighborhood residents looking to downsize. One issue the group raised was the added pressure that would  be placed on the Penn Alexander School if the project marketed to young families.

• Parking/Transit – They recommended a resident-to-parking-space ratio of 2:1 or 3:1. They also recommended that the project should encourage walking, biking, car share and public transit to residents through added car share spaces and maybe a SEPTA kiosk.

Blaik said that these suggestions will be be taken into consideration in the designs that are set to be released at a June meeting. A final meeting will be held in early July.

What can you do?

This process isn’t over. The developers are collecting ideas from residents at a website, 4224baltimore.com. They encourage everyone to submit design ideas on the “community” portion of the site, including photos of building designs you like and restaurants you would like to see housed there.

– Mike Lyons

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The developers of the proposed residential building at 4224 Baltimore Avenue are seeking residents’ input on the project through a series of community engagement meetings, with the first one scheduled on Monday, May 20, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at International House of Philadelphia (South America Room, 3701 Chestnut St). The goal of the meetings is to come up with alternative design plans for the proposed apartment complex to be built on the large vacant lot at the corner of 43rd and Baltimore.

Vacant lot at 43rd and Baltimore where the new apartment complex is proposed.

Clarkmore Group LLC, the property owner, has obtained a conditional zoning permit for the 92 residential unit building, six parking spaces and 36 bicycle parking spaces. The proposed plan had received mixed reviews from the community, including comments by West Philly Local readers after our first article on this subject.

Clarkmore Group LLC is working with the Spruce Hill Community Association, which will coordinate the community engagement process that will include three meetings in total (we’ll post more details about the other two meetings when this information is available). At the meetings, community members can learn more about the project, meet the project team and work with it on a number of focus areas, including the building design, transportation and retail mix.

More details on this project and its stakeholders are available here.

Here’s a great opportunity for gardeners to get free compost and check out West Philly’s Dirt Factory. The Dirt Factory, which opened almost a year ago at 4308 Market Street, is inviting neighbors to Dirt Day on Saturday, May 18 where you can receive free compost created at the facility from waste contributed by local residents, attend free workshops and tour the facility. In addition, there will be free food from West Philly businesses, plantables, and even free buckets for collecting your compostable waste. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and here’s the workshop schedule:

• 11 a.m. – noon:  Making Your Own Compost featuring Christine Tilles, Penn State Extension Educator
• 1-2 p.m.:  Vegetable Gardening with Compost featuring Jessica Herwick, Penn State Extension Master Gardener

Everyone can take home up to 10 gallons of compost for free at tomorrow’s event, and while there, take a tour of The Dirt Factory to learn how the compost was made. Attendees are requested to RSVP at compost@universitycity.org

Reminder: The Dirt Factory is open for compostable waste drop-off from 5-6 p.m. on Wednesdays. For more information go to: universitycity.org/dirt-factory

While West Philly’s Hip Hop Fundamentals has already reached—and exceeded—their $10,000 Kickstarter fundraising goal, there are still 22 hours left to donate to the campaign supporting the dance crew’s upcoming educational assembly, “Civil Rights Movements: The Power of Youth Engagement as Seen Through the Eyes of Dr. King.”

Founded in 2011 by Repstyles Crew members Steve “Believe” Lunger and Mark “Metal” Wong, Hip Hop Fundamentals work to “empower and educate” local youth by teaching academics and social issues through hip hop assemblies. Their new hour-long “Civil Rights Movement” show (view video below), which will be performed at 10 Philadelphia public schools, will use dance, history lectures, music, interactive workshops, and audience participation to showcase the critical role students played in advancing civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. A free May 5 public performance of the show at Clark Park kicked off the crew’s fundraising efforts.

During the show, students will have the opportunity to unite to “overcome prejudice, breaking unjust laws, writing letters to elected officials, marching and protesting, and boycotting,” Hip Hop Fundamentals’ Education Director, Aaron “Professor Peabody” Troisi. Hip Hop Fundamentals five-performer cast will read samples from different Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. letters and speeches, including “I Have a Dream” and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” as well as highlight examples of student leadership and involvement  in the Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-Ins, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Freedom Rides.

“Civil Rights Movement” will also illuminate hip hop’s connection to the historic movement, with particular focus on Afrika Bambaataa and other founders of the politically and socially-conscious genres. According to Troisi, in drawing this connection, Hip Hop Fundamentals will show how hip hop “is one of the many legacies of the Civil Rights Movement; an empowering modern culture in which young people play a critical role.”

The tour will kick off before the end of this month and last through the end of the school year. While Hip Hop Fundamentals is still hammering out schedule and location details, the crew hopes to perform in West Philly’s Samuel Gompers and Overbrook Elementary schools, as well as Dimner Beeber Middle School.

According to Troisi, all funds raised through Kickstarter will go towards tour overhead, which costs roughly $1,000 per show for performers, transportation, production, and other expenses, with no costs passed on to the schools. He said some of the money will also fund arts programming provided free to local high-need schools, and hiring local young dancers for HHP’s youth-teaching-youth mentorship framework.

“We are hoping to bring empowering arts programming back to Philly’s public schools. We are hoping to work with and educate the youth in our communities who need it most,” he said. “This campaign has been so successful, it is obvious that our city is starved for good, educational arts programming. We’re honored to be a part of providing that to youth in our city.”

– Annamarya Scaccia