80866415
A health and nature devotee, Herb White has not minded using Kelly Drive as his main exercise regimen site, but he can now select a closer spot if he desires.
The resident of the 700 block of South Juniper Street joined with neighbors and dignitaries July 5 for the dedication of Hawthorne Park, 12th and Catharine streets, a $2.2-million location that includes more than 50 trees; 4,000 square feet of plant beds; and 19,000 square feet of lawn.
“It’s so aesthetically pleasing and perfect for activities and relaxation,” White, a six-year Hawthorne dweller, said. “I hope it promotes this area’s rebirth.”
The three-quarters-of-an-acre expanse, which became this year’s fourth addition to the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department, joining the Grays Ferry Crescent, Schuylkill Avenue and Wharton Street; Center City-based Sister Cities Park; and Northeast Philly-situated Lardner’s Point Park, sates the community’s nine-year longing for green space and furthers Mayor Michael A. Nutter’s Greenworks plan to transform Philadelphia into America’s greenest city by 2015.
“Today allows for the continued advance of Hawthorne as a place to enjoy the wonders of urban life,” Michael DiBerardinis, deputy mayor for environmental and community resources, said. “Because of our economic times, a project like this is not easy to land.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources served as the chief supporter, offering $1.1 million. The City’s capital funding allowance and a Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development grant each totaled $300,000, with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society pledging $500,000 through endowments from The Pew Charitable Trusts and The William Penn Foundation. The contributions signaled overwhelming support for the Philadelphia Housing Authority, which in ’08 bestowed the tract, a portion of its Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, to the City. The 245-home undertaking, completed last year, replaced a 576-unit stretch the City imploded in 1999. Four years later, the housing authority, along with, among others, the Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition, 1318 Catharine St., and Universal Companies, 800 S. 15th St., conceived Hawthorne Park.
“Residents yearned for a change, and we strove to provide it,” Michael Johns, the authority’s acting executive director of housing operations, said.
Though representatives from the Hawthorne Cultural Arts and Recreation Center, 12th and Carpenter streets, could have been referring to the authority when singing “Lean on Me,” the agency received ample backing to create what Nutter called “a milestone.”
“This took much too long,” he said. “We have to remember that every neighborhood should have beautiful, open green spaces. Hawthorne residents, use this site as a haven for a fun, safe Philly summer.”
He noted the local government and residents must share the responsibility of tending to the park, a former vacant lot, whose other aspects consist of bike racks, game tables, granite seatwalls, drought tolerant plantings, a high-efficiency irrigation system, 6,000 square feet of permeable paving and a stage area.
“Keep it clean. Keep it safe. Keep it beautiful,” Nutter said before deferring to Cindy Dunn, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s deputy secretary for conservation and technical resources.
Dunn touched on studies addressing the needed communion between children and nature and lauded the importance of the park’s proximity to 13th and Fitzwater streets, a stop on King’s ’65 Freedom Now tour.
“It’s a fitting tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King,” she said, “as he was a person who drew his inspiration from nature.”
Deputy Commissioner for Parks and Facilities Mark Focht extended acknowledgment of King, the civil rights leader whose ’68 assassination prompted then-state Rep. James Tayoun to petition to City to change Hawthorne Square to MLK Plaza, by discussing the park’s honorary artwork, Warren Holzman’s “Object for Expression.” Holzman, a Moore College of Art & Design professor, designed the stainless steel podium as a lectern for impromptu performances, such as speeches and musical endeavors.
“It will be a pulpit for progressive ideas,” Focht said.
Joining the Hawthorne Park team in 2004, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has headed attempts to ensure fruition, extending its relationship with Center City-based Lager Raabe Skafte Landscape Architects Inc. and Dr. Adrienne Wallace-Chew, principal at The Academy at Palumbo, 1100 Catharine St.
The neighboring school’s roof allowed photographers to observe the park’s construction in a documentation process that the society’s Executive Director Drew Becher lauded as a pre-completion helper that examines the intricacies of moving from a notion to a reality. Though his joy never waned, it could not match that of Patricia Bullard, the chairperson for Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition, which she helped to establish in ’99 to tackle matters such as crime prevention, educational opportunities for neighborhood youth, greening and beautification, zoning and open spaces. Assisting approximately 3,500 residents on 11th to Broad streets from Washington Avenue to South Street, her entity had long desired a realm.
“It’s been a long journey,” Bullard, also the beautification committee leader, said of the evolution. “We are going to do whatever the community wants, including forming a friends group, holding an opening celebration and putting on a movie night.”
“From the beginning, groups like the Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition ensured the project remained a priority,” DiBerardinis added. “I think it’s clear that others will invest in places that have such strong champions.”
The speakers united for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Bullard and Nutter applying the snip. They fraternized with the throng and glided over the lush lawn to peruse a pair of orange chaise lounges.
“I’ve been hoping for a quaint locale for decades,” Monroe Nerdu, of the 1300 block of South Street, said. “They could refrain from adding anything, and I would still be happy.”
White recalled that initial talks among neighbors made clear that the park would not end up with too many canine visitors.
“We did not want for it to become a dog park,” he said. “Dog owners have the right to be here, but we do not desire that kind of identity.”
He expressed faith in the community’s ability to find fitting uses for the much-coveted terrain.
“It is great to have open space,” he said. “It gives us all another option in sustaining our health and our world.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
80866195
80866215
80866185
80866205
