West Philly resident Michael Froehlich and his 2-year-old daughter Zora love playgrounds. No wait, they really love playgrounds.

What began as the occasional bicycle excursion from their home on 48th Street to nearby playgrounds like Malcolm X. Park has turned into a full-on quest to document a bunch of playgrounds in this part of the city – 31 playgrounds in all.

“We went a little overboard,” said Froehlich, a legal aid attorney.

The result, the website zoraplays, is an invaluable guide to playgrounds that includes photos of equipment, sketches of the playground’s layout and a map showing the location. Each playground was within a mile of their home.

Froehlich said he and Zora’s goal is to help convince people that there is fun beyond the usual spots like Clark Park and Cedar Park.

“I hope that this project will show people that there are a lot of great playgrounds in our community so they should get on their bicycles and ride out and explore them,” he said.

The big question, of course, is which is Zora’s fav?

“I’d like to say that Zora has developed a discerning eye for quality playgrounds,” said Froehlich. “But the truth is that she loves all playgrounds. Tall slides, wide slides, single slides, double slides: she digs them all with the same gusto.”

As for Froehlich himself? “Malcolm X. Park,” he said. “There’s so much there.”

 
– Emma Eisenberg contributed to this story

Tipped by one of our readers we learned that our beautiful Cedar Park has been vandalized. It happened earlier this week. As the Cedar Park Neighbors website reports, “someone callously and deliberately tore out more than a dozen plants and native grasses that surrounded the memorial and traffic triangle garden on the eastern side of Cedar Park.”

As a result, the park lost its collection of coneflowers, autumn joy sedum, black-eyed susans, and day lillies. Sadly, the work of so many neighbors was destroyed. The Cedar Park Neighbors Association is determined to fix the damaged portions of the park and to replace the stolen or destroyed plants as quickly as possible. But for that, they need to raise several hundred dollars and are asking for help.

To see more pictures of the damage and to donate please go to this page.

This Saturday, August 6, Cedar Park (50th and Baltimore) is turning 100 years old and neighbors are invited to celebrate at the Centennial Fair.

There will be live music, vendors, children’s activities and even a parade. Here’s the full schedule of events and activities.

Activities
1 p.m. – Cedar Park Scholarship Presentation
1:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. – Children’s Activities including ring toss, potato sack race, moonbounce, face painting and games – 1:15-4:00 p.m.
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. – Terrarium Make and Take Activity – 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Entertainment
Noon – DJ Jamar starts
1:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. – Rosemary Fiki Band
1:50 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Gretchen Elise
2:40 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. – Independent Rock School

The parade will take place at 4:30-5 p.m. Neighbors (and pets) of all ages are welcome to strut their stuff. Drums, fancy hats and parade attire are highly recommended.

Lastly, the final Cedar Park jazz concert of the season will run from 6-8 p.m.

While at the fair don’t forget to pick up a copy of the Cedar Park Neighbors Anniversary Brochure which includes historical pictures and stories of the neighborhood through the years.

Speaking of Clark Park … it is bound to see a lot of use this holiday weekend. Some rumbling has started about people and pets being on the grass, which is starting to turn a little beige. The Friends of Clark Park posted signs near each entrance to the park asking folks to “give the grass a chance” for “several weeks.” But just today we saw a couple of parties there and lots of loungers, kids, etc. having a good time on the new sod.

We were hoping to start a conversation about this here. What should the rules be about the new grass at Clark Park? Would you be offended if you were asked in person to stay off the grass?

If that topic doesn’t float your boat, maybe you could share your thoughts about the changes at the park. We heard someone this morning say that the tables and chairs give it a “Europeany plaza” feel. Is that good or bad?

Leave a comment below.

We came across this brilliant short music video (a little over three minutes) starring our beloved Clark Park and you all and we had to get it on the site. Thanks to filmmaker Joshua Wann (aka Esso) for letting us post it. Check out more of his stuff at shotbyesso.tumblr.com. Enjoy.

A Day at Clark Park from shot by esso™ on Vimeo.

For years people in West Philly have walked past Squirrel Hill Falls Park on the northwest corner of 48th and Chester and wondered what had happened.

The former vacant lot, which was transformed into a neighborhood gem complete with a mural, solar-powered waterfall, seating, lighting and sound system 15 years ago, is now just a dressed-up, locked-down vacant lot again. But the park’s controversial history will take a turn for the better this week when a group of volunteers will meet there on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. to clean the lot up and try to make it a park again.

The park was the brainchild of West Philly artist Danielle Rousseau Hunter, whose name is still emblazoned in large letters on the park’s grand metal entrance gate. Hunter raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from a fairly astonishing list of donors (see the full story here and here) to design and build the park, which includes a three-story waterfall mural on the side of an apartment building.

The park opened with a black tie ceremony in September 1996. Since then many residents say Hunter has treated it like her fiefdom, locking it and only allowing visitors to enter under her supervision. But for many years the park has not been used and is now littered with trash and debris and overgrown with weeds. A bicycle cable lock still keeps the front gate closed.

But contrary to popular belief, Hunter does not own the land, the Friends Rehabilitation Program Inc., an affordable housing provider located at 247 S. 48th St., does. One or two people there have taken a renewed interest in the park and have been able to get insurance to again allow limited access. There are no plans for an official “opening” of the park, although if there is community interest more access could be possible in the future.

The first step is Sunday’s clean-up. Volunteers and some equipment, particularly garbage bags and garden disposal bag (the big paper ones) are still needed. There is no need to RSVP or anything. Just show up. They could use the help.