Barry makes the case for supporting the Bridge

Northwood Civic met last night with a crowd of about 40 people.

Discussion about the Volunteers of America Property at 4871 Roosevelt Boulevard which violates the deed restriction focused on strategies for dealing with the organization.  The VOA is a huge, well funded organization that has the resources to overwhelm a much smaller civic like Northwood.  However, the fight will continue.  The civic does not oppose the individuals who currently reside in the property.  The issue is that the property is not a single family dwelling and therefore violates a deed restriction previously upheld by the courts.  The VOA could resolve this situation but chooses to ignore it.

The big issue at the meeting was the proposal to support the Bridge in their desire to move into the property on Adams Avenue.  The Bridge is a residential and out patient drug treatment facility for adolescent boys.  Barry Howell, President of the Civic announced that the Juniata Civic Association at their last meeting had unanimously voted to support the Bridge.

In a vote by the Board of Directors of the Northwood Civic taken prior to the meeting, they had unanimously approved the issue.  A detailed explanation of the reasons for support was given to the members in attendance and a vote was held.  The members gave their approval with one or two dissenting votes.

The overriding reason for supporting the Bridge at this point seems to be the threat that if its not the Bridge, it could be something else much worse.  My point is that it might be something better.  Threats to turn the old Parkview Hospital on Wyoming Avenue into a huge drug rehab were opposed and eventually the Cancer Treatment Centers came in and took over the property. 

Have a look at NEastPhilly for their coverage of the meeting here.

The Northwood Civic meeting last night was attended by about 30 people who had heard about the Volunteers of America house becoming occupied on Christmas Eve.  NEastPhilly.com did a great job of covering that angle and you can read their report and see the video here.

The former location of the Thrifty Scott beer distributor on Castor Avenue near Wingohocking is under construction.  Possible tenants for the building are a dialysis center that would move over from the Cancer Treatment Center.  Another potential tenant is looking at the facility.  Both will make a presentation to the Civic with details of their plans.

Well the crowd was smaller than it usually is on Tuesday night.  But rain + election day + Phillies + Flyers might have had something to do with it.

The War Memorial at Frankford Stadium was a topic of discussion. One of the bronze plaques had fallen from the memorial back in February.  Since that time the School District and the city have replaced it and then decided to clean all the metal.  Here are the before and after pictures.  You can click on the image to get a better view.

Barry Howell attended a meeting of the Concerned Citizens of Northwood at Simpson Playground last Tuesday.  Barry related that people attending that meeting spoke of being besieged by gang activity, bad section 8 tenants, parking issues and drugs in their back driveways.  Barry reiterated that the Northwood Civic is going to address these quality of life issues beyond the deed restricted areas of Northwood.  He will be discussing the issue with Councilman Darrel Clarke.

A meeting was to be held with the new operators of the Frankford Y to work out a community relations agreement.  The civic supports their effort to turn this now empty building into an asset for the community.  As long as they are going in that direction the community should support them.

In June the Civic will begin negotiations with Cancer Treatment Centers of America on the renewal of the community relations agreement.  The focus of this new agreement will be on jobs and investment in the Northwood community.

Some people at the meeting complained about people in pickup trucks trolling the rear driveways of blocks looking for trash and anything else that may be handy.  When they are around things seem to turn up missing.  There is talk of needing a town watch to keep an eye on the streets.  Barry encouraged anyone who would like to start a community town watch to contact him and he will put them in touch with the right people.

Final discussion related to the problem of L&I not enforcing zoning board decisions.  If the Civic wins a decision in zoning and the property owners ignore that decision, what does it take to get the city to enforce that decision.  The process is long and tedious and meanwhile the property owners goes on without penalty.

The next Northwood Civic Association meeting is scheduled for June 15th.  Seth Williams the District Attorney, has agreed to attend the Civic meeting.  Bring your complaints and take this opportunity to sound off on what is happening to your community.

If you have time on Friday, don’t forget the groundbreaking for the restoration of this old house.  As a result of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America involvement, the Knights of Pythias/Greenwood Cemetery is seeing some long overdue, monumental changes.  The ceremony will be on Friday April 30th at 10:00 AM.

A study commissioned by the owners of Greenwood Cemetery and the Philadelphia Historical Commission into the purported residence of Benjamin Rush has found the house was built between 1830 and 1850, precluding the possibility that the Signer of the Declaration of Independence could have spent any time inside it since he died in 1813.   It would have been a nice feather in the area’s cap if it had been Rush’s house since he was a player in the country’s founding and it would have led to more speculation as to what other founding fathers may have visited or even stayed in the house.

It’s still an old house though and the press release indicates that these findings clear the way for the structure’s restoration back into it’s correct historical context, i.e. a house from the middle 1800s.  It also coincides with the re internment of some 3000 graves currently being moved from the back of the cemetery to the front so that Cancer Centers Of America may build a parking lot and possibly buildings on land adjacent to their center.