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Vinnie DeFino fondly remembered his father Tuesday, noting the former teacher’s aptitude for educating others, including his own family at the dinner table, his dedication to his job on the bench by spending Sundays reviewing case files and his love of walking through his Girard Estate neighborhood.
“He was an amazing man,” DeFino, a resident of 20th and Hartranft streets, concluded.
His father — Anthony DeFino, the former Court of Common Pleas judge who died in a November 2013 fire at his home — will be honored 6:30 p.m. Wednesday with a garden dedication. That gathering also will serve as the official announcement of more than $250,000 in city funds slated for infrastructure improvements at Girard Park, 2101 Shunk St.
Michael DiBerardinis, the City’s Parks and Recreation commissioner, estimated the project at $280,000, half of which his department has pledged from its capital budget while 2nd District Councilman Kenyatta Johnson will contribute the other half from his capital fund.
“When they work together in unison,” DiBerardinis said of the capital funding, “we can get a pretty good product.”
That product will include renovations to what DiBerardinis described as the “bones of the park.” The city will repave about 18,000 square feet of walkways, estimated at $180,000, and replace 20 benches with new high-quality versions with a price tag of $1,500 each. The last component will consist of updated lighting, which will include running new service into the park since the current system is about 40 years old. That will cost approximately $170,000.
“These are sort of basic safety and functionality or utility features,” he said. “These are not frilly in any way, but they’re important and meaningful to the life of the park.”
During the renovations that he expects to be completed by the spring, DiBerardinis does not believe the park will close to the public — aside from portions of walkways when new cement is being poured. The start date has not been determined, as the department is still waiting on paperwork and design work to be completed.
“I don’t think this is very complicated design work,” DiBerardinis said. “The electric work may take a little bit to design. It won’t be started immediately, but we’ll move it as fast as we can and as fast as the design process allows.”
The park has needed some attention for quite some time. About a decade ago, Gaetano Piccirilli, who had lived in the neighborhood as a child and returned in 2007 to his current home at 20th and Ritner streets, noticed the park seemed to have been ignored.
“It was becoming a place for vagrancy and homeless people sleeping there at night,” the 2013 South Philly Review Difference Maker said. “The infrastructure had deteriorated significantly.”
Jody Della Barba, president of Girard Estate Area Residents, one of two neighborhood associations that are collaboratively trying to launch an independent Friends of Girard Park, indicated former Council President Anna Verna provided funding to fix the roof of Stephen Girard’s farmhouse about a decade ago and the late state Rep. Robert Donatucci provided grants to make repairs a few years later. Since then, the group has held cleanups with the help of students from Girard Academic Music Program, 2136 Ritner St.
To levy more support, Girard Estate Neighbors Association offered support via park events, like its holiday in the park and Easter egg hunt, Piccirilli, its president, said.
“We figured the more that we brought people to the park, the more they would see the condition of the park — including the politicians,” he said.
Johnson organized an October clean up at the green space that Piccirilli believes helped it to receive the funding.
“It was there and the Easter egg hunt that he probably got a good sense of the level of neglect that had happened at Girard Park,” he said.
In the spring, Johnson and current state Rep. Maria Donatucci, who won her husband’s seat in a special election in 2011, met with residents. Donatucci, who grew up across the street from the park, has teamed up with Johnson for other projects, such as senior and education endeavors. While she was unable to get grant money for this project, she said, she is working with corporations to obtain sponsors for park projects, but could not divulge any businesses until their participation was finalized.
“I know how much I enjoyed it, so I want future generations to enjoy it,” she said.
At one of the neighborhood meetings, Johnson, who held a park cleanup in the fall, vowed to provide at least $50,000 in repairs, Della Barba said. However, he was able to commit more than twice what he promised.
“Since taking office [as a city councilman] in ’12, I have talked with residents who have expressed concern about the poor condition of Stephen Girard Park,” Johnson said in a statement. “Girard Park is the central landmark of this historic neighborhood, and as such, should be a first-class amenity for residents and visitors.”
As for the garden named for Anthony DeFino, Della Barba, who works for the late judge’s daughter, Court of Common Pleas Judge Rose Marie Natasi-DeFino, wanted to make a permanent memorial to her long-time friend and neighbor.
“He was part of this neighborhood and probably one of our most famous residents, and something in his honor is something the whole community is in favor of,” the fifth-generation Girard Estate resident who resides at 18th and Porter streets said.
And the garden — located on the south side of the farmhouse — will serve as yet another way future generations will learn of Anthony DeFino, with a portrait unveiled at City Hall in May and educational books about neighborhood heroes that feature the judge, which 1st District Police Captain Lou Campione has distributed to area schools, being the other two.
“Our family as a whole is touched by everything that has been done in my father’s name,” Vinnie DeFino, a lawyer with DeFino Law Associates, 2541 S. Broad St., said. “Jody and GEAR have been instrumental in this, and it’s a nice way for him to be remembered. One of the most touching things is they’re planting roses in the garden, and my mother’s name is Rose.”
A humble man, Anthony DeFino never cared about accolades, his son said. He only worried about doing the right thing. And he had a great sense of humor and enthusiasm for strolling through his neighborhood. “He used to love to take walks through the neighborhood, through the park. That was one of his big things in life – he loved to walk,” Vinnie DeFino said. “He would walk from City Hall to his home in Girard Estate. … He was a very modest person, but I’m sure he’s looking down and thanking everyone. … You’ve got a lot of people out there who are trying to make his legacy live on.”
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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