FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Leah Murphy, Friends of the Rail Park, (215) 820-0688, [email protected]
Continuous and Connective: A Bold Vision for Philadelphia’s Rail Park Friends of the Rail Park Spearheading Visioning and Advocacy Efforts
(PHILADELPHIA, July 1, 2013)—Friends of the Rail Park recently released conceptual designs for a half-mile stretch of a proposed three-mile linear park along the former Philadelphia and Reading rail line in Center City, Philadelphia.
Through a grant from Philadelphia’s Community Design Collaborative (CDC), Friends of the Rail Park engaged an accomplished design team to develop conceptual designs and cost estimates to transform a segment of the City Branch, a former rail right of way comprising 2.2 miles of the 3-mile proposed linear park and recreation path. The City Branch rail cut, running below street level but mostly open to the sky, links the elevated 9th Street Branch (often referred to as the “Reading Viaduct”) to several of Philadelphia’s premier arts and cultural destinations, the Community College of Philadelphia campus and, at its western-most point, to Fairmount Park.
Following a year and a half of community advocacy and meetings with city agencies, local decision-makers, regional foundations, neighborhood groups, and other organizations, Friends of the Rail Park recruited a 40-member Community Task Force to engage in developing a shared vision and conceptual design for a stretch of the City Branch from 13th to 18th Streets. The design team, led by OLIN and including Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, CVM Engineers, and VJ Associates, began work in summer 2012, with the process complete in April 2013.
A number of considerations were factored into defining this site along the three-mile route. In fall 2011, Center City District began a conceptual design process for creating a public park on the “SEPTA Spur” of the City Branch, now slated for implementation in 2014. In early 2012, PennDOT began meeting with stakeholders in preparation for replacing the Broad Street bridge over the City Branch. A low-cost scenario under consideration was to fill in the City Branch under Broad Street, essentially making it a road, and, simultaneously, a roadblock to the continuity of the proposed Rail Park. And just west of Broad Street, Tower Investments, Inc., a leading developer of retail, entertainment and commercial properties in Philadelphia, proposes to repurpose the iconic Philadelphia Inquirer Building as part of a $700 million casino and entertainment complex. With a planned comprehensive streetscape overhaul for North Broad (designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, with CVM Engineers) and the Community College of Philadelphia’s upcoming campus master planning process rounding out the list of pipeline projects, Friends of the Rail Park’s intent was to develop plans that could be coordinated with the many changes in the works for these five blocks of the route.
“For a number of reasons, we feel the intersection of the City Branch with Broad Street is a timely site to bring attention to from a design advocacy standpoint,” says Leah Murphy, Friends of the Rail Park board member and Senior Associate of Philadelphia-based urban design and planning firm Interface Studio. “We have the opportunity not only to preserve the integrity of the right of way, but also to create a strong connection to Broad Street—one that resonates with its civic identity and creates an inspiring presence at street level. And that’s exactly what the design team achieved.”
A windowless 1990s addition to the iconic 1948 School District Administration building, designed by Albert Kahn and originally a part of the Inquirer complex, is the only structure that encroaches upon any part of the entire three-mile right-of-way and is used largely for storage. The conceptual design proposes removing the addition, re-establishing the continuity of the route and creating the opportunity for adjacent uses to activate the park, as well as enjoy the benefits of its presence.
Flanking Broad Street and the School District Administration Building, a proposed sloping gateway ramps gently down to the Rail Park from street level, a striking welcome mat replacing the School District’s unsightly surface parking lot along Broad Street. Circulation to the building from Broad Street is maintained by a bridge connection over the ramp entrance to the Rail Park.
Representatives from the Community College of Philadelphia embraced the idea of repurposing the City Branch as a linear park. The design team envisions a terraced green both connecting the college to the City Branch and providing students and faculty with currently scarce green space on campus. The City Branch’s retaining wall masonry blocks are successively stepped back and preserved as facing for each terraced lawn, a clever approach to preserving the existing character and historic materiality while also opening up the route to the campus.
The conceptual design takes advantage of the City Branch’s great potential as green infrastructure, providing an excellent opportunity for stormwater infiltration. This five-block stretch could manage stormwater runoff from a catchment area of approximately 37 acres.
Over the course of the conceptual design process, PennDOT gave assurances that the Broad Street bridge replacement would preserve circulation along the City Branch. As the conceptual design process was nearing completion, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission released a draft of the Philadelphia 2035 Central District Plan, which proposed bus rapid transit as the only future use of the City Branch right of way. In response to a call to action outreach campaign issued by Friends of the Rail Park, supporters reached out to the Planning Commission to advocate for the plan’s inclusion of the linear park and recreation path as an alternative vision for the City Branch. Two days later, on May 17th, the Planning Commission agreed to revise the Central District Plan to include the vision for the 3-mile Rail Park.
Tower Investment’s preliminary designs for the Provence casino and entertainment complex remain a concern as the proposal includes decking over portions of the City Branch. With the conceptual designs now complete, Friends of the Rail Park will now make use of them to promote the vision amidst the many changes underway, advocating for preservation of the route for reuse as a linear park.
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ABOUT FRIENDS OF THE RAIL PARK’S CDC ADVISORY PANEL Friends of the Rail Park established an advisory panel to help guide the Community Design Collaborative process by voicing the interests and concerns of their constituencies and providing feedback on the preliminary conceptual designs. The panel included representatives from the following: Philadelphia Water Department Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia Penn Praxis Logan Square Civic Association Callowhill Neighbors Association Reading Viaduct Project Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Chinatown Development Corporation Fairmount Park Conservancy Community College of Philadelphia Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Philadelphia Center City District Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities Mayor’s Office of Sustainability SEPTA Philadelphia City Planning Commission City Parks Association Office of Councilman Green Office of Councilman Kenney Local business owners and adjacent property owners
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ABOUT THE COMMUNITY DESIGN COLLABORATIVE Founded in 1991, the Community Design Collaborative (CDC), a community design center that provides pro bono preliminary design services to nonprofit organizations in greater Philadelphia, offers unique volunteer opportunities for design professionals, and raises awareness about the importance of design in community revitalization.
Early design assistance is critical to nonprofits and the communities they serve. Preliminary design services help nonprofits see new opportunities, make the most of scarce resources, engage stakeholders, get projects funded and built, and strengthen neighborhoods. The CDC gives nonprofits access to pro bono preliminary design services by matching them with volunteer architects, landscape architects, interior designers, urban planners, preservationists, engineers, and cost estimators. Since 1991, one in four of the CDC’s nonprofit clients has taken significant steps towards realizing their mission, including securing funding, hiring design consultants, and building projects.
ABOUT FRIENDS OF THE RAIL PARK Friends of the Rail Park is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to cultivate visions and advocate for a continuous three-mile linear park and recreation path in Philadelphia, connecting many neighborhoods and cultural institutions to Fairmount Park along the historic elevated Reading Viaduct and City Branch rail cut of the former Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. Founded in 2010 as VIADUCTgreene, the nonprofit rebranded as Friends of the Rail Park in April 2013. The organization is committed to continuing dialogues initiated with communities along the route, stakeholders, city decision-makers, and potential partners to build support for Philadelphia's Rail Park.
Learn more // www.therailpark.org Join us on Facebook // facebook.com/friendsoftherailpark Follow us on Twitter // @TheRailPark Support the Rail Park // www.therailpark.org/donate Email us // [email protected]