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Northwood Civic Association Reorganizes

The Northwood Civic meeting on Tuesday, January 17th had about 20 people attending.  The board is continuing to organize itself with the new officers coming in.  President Joe Krause led the meeting.

The board has decided that the issue of 950 Filmore Street is now closed.

Frank Bennett

Frank Bennett, Vice President said the board is looking toward organizing committees within the civic to deal with specific issues.  The committees will be initiated by member interest and willingness to organize one.  Examples might be neighborhood cleanup, town watch, vacant property, welcome to the neighborhood etc.  If you are interested in organizing a committee, come to the next civic meeting and talk to a board member.

Tom McAvoy had previously volunteered to serve as Treasurer and his offer was accepted.  Walt Melbourne has volunteered to serve as Secretary.

Joe Menkevich

Joe Menkevich, raised the issue of transparency and the board responded that although they are in the beginning of the process, they fully intend to be completely transparent in their activities.  Future meetings will include a treasurer’s report and minutes of the last meeting.  They also indicated that proper procedure will be followed for speakers to be recognized by whoever is conducting the meeting for asking questions or making comments.

Jason Dawkins

Jason Dawkins, representing Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez spoke about the recent redistricting exercise which resulted in the change of representation in City Council of Northwood from Darrell Clarke to Ms. Sanchez.

Jason also noted that the former Central United Methodist Church building will in all likelihood be demolished, possibly as early as this week.

Edgardo Gonzalez, Legislative Assistant to State Representative Tony Payton spoke about the fate of the shuttered former Frankford Community Y.  He said there is interest in the property by The Center for Urban Theological Studies which is presently located in Hunting Park.  They are still in the process of making a decision but there is hope that the deal might go through.

The meeting was adjourned at 8PM.

 

 

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Preservation Alliance Lists Frankford Y

Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia Announces 9th Annual Endangered Properties List includes for former Frankford Y building at Leiper and Orthodox Streets.  You can see what they have to say about this historic building as well as see all the other buildings on the list here.

Did you know that Frankford has over 400 buildings that predate the Civil War?

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Buyer Shows Interest in Frankford Y Building

As reported by John Loftus in this weeks Northeast Times, a potential buyer is taking a second look at the building.  The buyer is described as a Philadelphia Theological institution.

“It’s about getting this taken over by someone who will make it a benefit to the community.” — Real-estate broker Sal Palantino discusses the potential sale of the New Frankford Community Y.

Read the rest of the story here.

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Northwood Civic Association Meeting 10/18/2011

Chris Wink for NEastPhilly did a great report on the Northwood Civic Meeting today so I’ll point you in that direction and hope you enjoy reading it.

The subject of the Frankford Y building at 4704 Leiper Street took up the better part of the meeting.   A suggestion was made that the Civic should petition in Orphans Court to have a receiver appointed who would then be able to take control of the property.  That action might give the community some leverage in the disposal or reuse of the building.

Nominations were opened for board members and only one person volunteered.  That does seem unfortunate and not a good sign for the future of Northwood.

 

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John Buffington says Frankford Y sheriff sale delayed till December

In the ongoing saga of the New Frankford Community Y, I received this via email from John Buffington:

As of this afternoon, the Sheriff’s office reports that the sale is postponed until December.  This is GOOD news, as it gives those of us who care about the place, who, I believe, are legion, time to talk to each other about what needs to happen.  Please notify your readers about the delay, so that nobody wastes time going down there tomorrow, and please ask anybody who is interested to talk to me, at jvb9@comcast.net.