Demolition of “Wash ‘n Lube” car wash has begun on the 4100 block of Chestnut Street to make room for a pre-fab 6-story 130-unit apartment building (see rendering below). The new construction is “by right”, which means it didn’t have to go through zoning or community approval. Nevertheless, the plan for the proposed building at 4125 Chestnut Street was presented at September’s Spruce Hill Community Association zoning meeting as a heads up for the community. Read more about it here.  Continue Reading

Demolition of the one-story building at the southeast corner of 46th and Spruce Streets, which began early last week, is nearly complete. The building, which served as a social services building, Transition To Independent Living Center, was gutted by a fire in 2011 and remained vacant since then.  Continue Reading

The one-story building on the southeast corner of 46th and Spruce, the former Transition to Independent Living Center, will be demolished soon, six years after it was gutted by a fire. A permit for the demolition of the building was issued on July 19, 2017.

The proposal for construction of a mixed-use apartment building in that location was approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in June 2016. The developers presented their plan to build a 21-unit, mostly two-bedroom apartment building at 4534-36 Spruce St. in a series of public meetings with the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee in early 2016. According to the proposal, which was approved by the ZBA, it will be a four-story building, with a roof deck and three ground-floor retail spaces. You can see the building rendering in this photo:

Two more historic homes are being demolished this week and at least one is to make way for student housing.

• Demolition continued this week on two Victorian semi-detached homes – at 620 and 622 S. 42nd. Located a stone’s throw from the University of the Sciences campus, the adjoined structures were built in the 1870s. The parcel’s zoning is RM-1, meaning a multi-unit structure will likely be built there with no zoning oversight.

• An Italianate mansion was demolished at 41st and Sansom to make way for student housing. The demolition recently drew citywide attention from Inga Saffron in The Philadelphia Inquirer. The building that will replace it will be built “by right,” meaning no zoning oversight is required.  Continue Reading

Demolition of the Alexander Wilson School at 46th and Woodland is well underway, and the University of the Sciences expects to have a new residence hall and courtyard complex there by the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year.

The Wilson school was one of more than two dozen public schools closed in recent years. The USciences bought the building and land in the fall of 2014 for a reported $2 million. The university unveiled plans in the spring of 2016 for a 4- to 5-story dormitory over ground-floor retail and an open courtyard along Woodland Avenue (see rendering).

Photos West Philly Local

When community members came last spring to hear the University of the Sciences’ proposal to tear down the Alexander Wilson School and build a 6-floor student dorm complex, they had lots of questions and one big request: Could USciences host an event that would provide Wilson alumni, parents and employees a last chance to share their memories of the school, which has stood at the corner of 46th and Woodland for 100 years.

A mural at the Alexander Wilson School.

A celebration of Wilson’s history is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 2 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the school’s courtyard (see the schedule below).

The event will include the opening of a Wilson school time capsule from 1958 and a recording booth for alumni and teachers to share their memories about the school.

Wilson was shuttered during a controversial round of school closings in 2013 and then sold. The school is scheduled to be demolished within a couple of months.

USciences paid a reported $2 million for the 1.03-acre parcel that borders its campus and includes the three story school building. The purchase, which was approved at a School Reform Commission meeting last fall, followed a long bid process that included interest from West Philly based developers Orens Brothers.

The proposed new dorm complex, which will house about 400 students and replace residence facilities elsewhere on the campus, will be U-shaped with the open end of the U along Woodland. The university hopes to break ground for the building early next year and open it to new students in the fall of 2018.

Here’s the schedule for Sunday’s event:

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Music by the Brook Street Band and DJ Lonnie Love BBQ Lunch

3:00 pm – 3:45 pm PROGRAM REMARKS
Paul Katz, MD, President, University of the Sciences
Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, City of Philadelphia, District 3
PA State Senator Anthony H. Williams, 8th District
Joan Myers Brown, Founder, Executive Artistic Director, PHILADANCO, Former Wilson student
Reverend Martin Wright, 46th Street Baptist Church
Jane Golden, Founder & Executive Director, City of Philadelphia, Mural Arts Program
Dianne Settles, Former Wilson student
Richard Liuzzi, Former Director, Wilson Community School
Dr. Kathleen Cosby-Tabb, Former Wilson student

3:45 PM – 4:00 PM UNVEILING OF SCHOOL TIME CAPSULE

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Music by the Brook Street Band and DJ Lonnie Love Water Ice

ALL DAY Story Collection Booth – Collect video and audio stories and scan in photos.