Frankford Community Blog | Local News, Events, Community Resources
Another good piece of news for Frankford, the skate park at Carmella Playground has been rebuilt. It has needed some attention and tomorrow is the official grand opening. Stop by and have a look at what is available and meet some of the local stars of the sport.
Saturday, from Noon to 4 PM, Carmella Playground, Torresdale Avenue and Wakeling Street. See details below.
On Tuesday, April 16th City Councilwoman Maria D. Quinones Sanchez led a group of the Carmella Recreation Center’s children symbolically breaking ground to start off the remodeling of the Rec Center’s Playground.
The Block Gives Back has been giving back to Frankford for several years now. You are invited to hear more about their program at a Town Hall meeting at Carmella Playground on March 19th from 6 to 9 PM.
Come kick off 2019 with The Block Gives Back! This event will give you a direct view of their plans for the future as well as a look at the past. Get involved in the process as they kick off the new year. This event will focus on those who make it all possible, focusing on gratitude for volunteers and donors. They want to let all the volunteers meet each other, hang out, and eat pizza and drink soda.
See the details below.
Kristin Wisniewski, Recreation Leader, welcomed the group to Carmella Playground on December 4th. It was an informative and productive meeting for the 20 residents who attended to hear about plans for the facility. The $500,000 project is being funded by a combination of City and State funds thanks to Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sanchez and State Representative Jason Dawkins.
There will be new equipment in the children’s play area, some adult fitness features too, new landscaping and a water feature for the warm weather. It is an ambitious and much-needed upgrade that is planned to be finished by the start of the Summer, IF THE WEATHER COOPERATES. If that schedule cannot be maintained, the project will be moved back to start up in the Fall.
Residents questioned how the project would be managed. At present, areas of the Playground look like a construction zone. One area of contention came from the users of the Whitehall Skate Park on the Torresdale Avenue side which is not included in this project. The users feel that they should get some attention since it does get heavy use. Some of the athletes involved are likely to be in contention for Olympic participation when Skateboarding becomes an Olympic sport in 2020.
Councilwoman Sanchez discusses the project
Councilwoman Sanchez responded that the park has only recently fallen into her Councilmatic District and she was not involved in the planning for this project. However, as she has stated at other meetings involving recreation facilities, users have to become active participants in the advisory councils or Friends groups of these facilities in order to have a say in the future improvements.
The members of the skateboard group said they would become involved. Also at the meeting were representatives of The Block Gives Back who are actively involved at the Playground and they will also look to become active on the Advisory Council.
The participants at the meeting approved the plan presented at the meeting with some suggestions and future communication with the participants will come via email. Pictures below are some renderings of what the equipment will look like when the project is complete,
Tuesday, December 4, 2018, at 6 PM at Carmella Playground, 2100 Wakeling Street, you are invited to hear Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sanchez and her staff talk about the plans for improvements to the playground. They want to hear your feedback.
