Clarkville restaurant and bar is expected to open at former Best House Pizza space at 43rd and Baltimore in Fall 2015.

Here’s an update on Clarkville, the bar and restaurant planned for Baltimore Avenue across from Clark Park, from co-owner Leigh Maida. The lease for the former Best House Pizzeria space at 43rd and Baltimore was signed in November, and the building owner is still working on renovation and repairs, according to Maida. The renovation work is now expected to be completed early next month, after which Maida and her partners will take possession of the space and start setting up their restaurant.

If everything goes according to plans the restaurant should be open in very early fall, says Maida.

In the meantime, Maida and her partners, Brendan Kelly and Brendan Hartranft, who also own Local 44, are busy working on the menu and getting as much of the details “buttoned up” in advance of taking over the space as possible. By the way, the name of the new restaurant is just Clarkville without “Beer” after it as was reported earlier. “We’ll have a pretty nice draft wine list at Clarkville, as well as a very steady flag-ship centric craft beer list,” Maida says.

The restaurant also inherits a giant pizza oven and dough mixer that came with the space. “Those items will be put to use immediately in the preparation of a pizza-like offerings,” Maida said in an earlier statement.

Finally, check out Clarkville’s storefront rendering below.

Here’s a roundup of some of the latest news and events in the area.

First Lay Principal for West Catholic Preparatory High School

James P. Gallagher

The Office of Catholic Education of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (OCE) has recently announced the appointment of Mr. James P. Gallagher as Principal of West Catholic Preparatory High School in West Philadelphia effective July 1st. He is the first lay principal in the 98-year-old history of the school. Mr. Gallagher’s appointment follows the January 2015 announcement that Sister Mary Bur, IHM, will retire at the end of the 2014-2015 academic year after 21 years as principal and 27 total years of service to the school.

Mr. Gallagher holds his Masters of Education Degree in Curriculum, Instruction, Technology, and Education from Temple University. He has taught for several years at Lingelbach Elementary School for the School District of Philadelphia and most recently has worked as an Instructor of Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary Classroom at Saint Joseph’s University.  Continue Reading

Café Renata owners Kate Steenstra and Yasser Aiq (archived photo).

Great news for Café Renata regulars and everyone who appreciates good coffee, enjoys food with Mediterranean flavors and supports local businesses: Nearly two months after the devastating fire that shut down the popular café’s storefront at 43rd and Locust, owners Kate Steenstra and Yasser Aiq are sharing the news that they are reopening their business at a new location – the former Subway restaurant space at 4533 Baltimore Avenue. Last month we reported that the space that had been vacant since December was available for rent.

The new lease was already signed, and Katie and Yasser’s plans are under way at full speed to get up and running again. They have started moving their equipment to the new location and upgrading the space.

Morning after fire at Café Renata at 43rd and Locust.

It wasn’t an easy decision for Renata owners to give up Locust St that worked great for them. However, after considering the pre-existing structural issues with the building that were exposed by the fire, the amount of time they had left on their lease and the timeline projections on rebuilding that space that their previous landlord gave to them, they decided that the best option for them and their customers was to give Renata a new long term home.

After the fire a lot of support poured in for Renata owners from the community members and local businesses. A fundraiser for Renata took place in March at The Bar(n) on Baltimore.

“The easy part for us was deciding that there was no way we were going to quit all together. And that 100% came from all the support and encouragement that our customers and neighbors showed us after the fire. We couldn’t have asked to be in a better neighborhood. We’d like to thank everyone for all their continued support, it means so much to us to be a part of this great community!” Katie wrote in an e-mail.

We’ll keep you posted on an opening date, which is expected this summer.

Café Renata is relocating to the former Subway restaurant space at 4533 Baltimore Avenue.

Updated intersection at Baltimore and Springfield.

The corner of Baltimore and Springfield avenues has long been a notorious corner, with pedestrians heading to and from Clark Park, cyclists, motorists and trolleys all converging at one oddly configured intersection. Hopefully some work recently completed by the City of Philadelphia’s Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities and the Streets Department that includes a buffered bike lane and some redirection of vehicle traffic will make the intersection safer.

Several accidents have occurred at the intersection in recent years and residents have long asked for steps to be taken. The changes include flexible plastic poles that provide a wide protected area for pedestrians, allowing them to cross the intersection much more quickly.

Intersection at Baltimore and Springfield (archived photo).

A reader sent this photo of an overturned car at 48th and Chester this morning. The incident happened at around 8 a.m.

UPDATE: Here’s a witness report:

“It seemed like there were no serious injuries, although the driver of the SUV was taken away by Ambulance. Residents rushed to the SUV to help the driver out of his car. The other vehicle had substantial damage to the front end, but miraculously was drivable. A firefighter started it up and moved it away from the Trolley tracks.”

The Indego bike station at 44th and Walnut.

The planned bike share station at 44th and Walnut is now in place, marking (for now, at least) the furthest west the new Ride Indego program will go (map). The last time we checked the station only had a couple of bikes, which has been an early complaint about the stations in West Philly, including the one near 40th and Spruce.

The bike share program plans to add another station near Clark Park. They are still working with the community to determine the best placement for it. We’ll let you know when we have an installation date.