Tag: Frankford Friends School

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Notification of Receipt of a Plan or Report (for site-specific standard) (Section 304(n)(2)(i))

Notification of Receipt

of a Plan or Report (for site-specific standard)

(Section 304(n)(2)(i))

Pursuant to the Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act, the Act of May 19, 1995, P.L. #4, No. 2 (Act 2), notice is hereby given that the Frankford Friends School has submitted a Remedial Investigation Report/Risk Assessment Report (RIR/RAR) for Soil to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Southeast Regional Office, for a site located at 1515 Orthodox Street in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (“the Site”). The Site is currently vacant land that was previously occupied by a church for nearly 116 years. Site assessments have indicated that certain polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are present in surface soils. The intended future use of the property is an outdoor classroom. The RIR/RAR report provides characterization of soil conditions along with estimates of potential cancer risks and non-cancer hazards for human receptors exposed to regulated substances in soil. These estimates were developed to support the remediation decision-making process for the construction and development of an outdoor classroom. The results of the assessment indicate that no further controls, such as remediation or mitigation measures, are required. Accordingly, the RIR/RAR demonstrates attainment of the Site Specific Standards under Act 2.

Act 2 provides for a 30-day public comment period for site-specific standard remediations. The 30-day comment period is initiated with the publication of this notice. Until 30 days after the newspaper publication date, the City of Philadelphia may submit a request to the Frankford Friends School to be involved in the development of the remediation and reuse plans for the site. The City of Philadelphia may also submit a request to the Frankford Friends School during this 30-day comment period to develop and implement a public involvement plan. Copies of these requests and of any comments should also be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection Southeast Regional Office, 2 East Main Street, Norristown, Pennsylvania 19401.

 

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Notice of an Intent to Remediate to an Environmental Standard

Notice of an Intent

to Remediate to an Environmental Standard.

(Sections 302(e)(1)(ii), 303(h)(1)(ii),

304(n)(1)(i), and 305(c)(1))

Pursuant to the Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act, the act of May 19, 1995, P.L. 4, No. 1995-2, notice is hereby given that Frankford Friends School has submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection a Notice of Intent to Remediate a site located at 1515 Orthodox Street. This Notice of Intent to Remediate states that the site was used as a church for nearly 116 years until demolished due to deteriorating condition. The owner of the property, Frankford Friends School, intends to use the site as an outdoor classroom that will include an urban garden using above-ground planting beds, along with a meadow, ornamental plants, shrubs, and trees. Site assessment have indicated that the surface soils contained benzo(a)pyrene and dibenz(a,h)anthracene at concentrations in excess of the Residential Statewide Health Standards. A Remedial Investigation Report/Risk Assessment Report has been submitted to PADEP that demonstrates attainment of the site-specific standard. The results of the assessment also indicate that no further controls, such as remediation or mitigation measures, are required.

The Act provides for a 30-day public comment period for site-specific standard remediations. The 30-day comment period is initiated with the publication of this notice. During this period, the City of Philadelphia may submit a request to Philadelphia Parks and Recreation to be involved in the development of the remediation and reuse plans for the site. The City of Philadelphia may also submit a request to Frankford Friends School during this 30-day comment period to develop and implement a public involvement plan. Copies of these requests and of any comments should also be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection at 2 East Main Street, Norristown, PA 19404.

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Natural Playscape to be built by Frankford Friends at Griscom and Orthodox

Frankford Friends is planning the construction of a “natural playscape” outdoor classroom on the vacant lot across the street from the school. The outdoor classroom will be a natural green space where children can play, explore, and be surrounded by growing things: native plants and trees, fruit and vegetable gardens, and urban wildlife like birds, salamanders, and butterflies.

“Those of us who love working with children in nature have a favorite saying,” explained the school’s Principal, Penny Colgan-Davis. “‘If we want our children to grow up protecting the natural environment, they must learn to love it, and in order to learn to love it, they must spend plenty of time in it.’ This space will afford FFS students and, hopefully, neighborhood children lots and lots of time falling in love with nature.”

The outdoor classroom will have raised bed gardens where students and their families can grow food. Funds permitting, the outdoor classroom will be open to neighborhood families for gardening and play on weekends and in the summer.

Frankford Friends Outdoor Classroom concept plan

The school will receive a storm water management design for the outdoor classroom and the entire campus through a “Growing Greener” grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, helping to reduce the load on the city’s combined sewer system and protecting the watershed. Green storm water infrastructure will serve as a field and laboratory tool for classes and a demonstration opportunity for the neighborhood.

The old stone Central United Methodist Church once stood at the corner of Penn and Orthodox Streets where the vacant lot is located. It was undermined by a leaking window and one wall of the church began to crumble. The deteriorating wall was a safety hazard, and the nonprofit that owned the church did not have the resources to repair it so in September, 2011, the building was demolished by the City of Philadelphia.

The vacant lot that remains which is nearly half an acre in size, will be transformed into the outdoor classroom. With the support of Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and her staff, who worked to facilitate the forgiveness of several liens, the property was donated to Frankford Friends Meeting for the use of the school. “I cannot think of a more appropriate re-purposing of this space,” commented Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez. “It will be become an inter-generational learning green space in Frankford.”

Students at the school helped imagine the design, drawing maps and writing about their ideas. In addition to gardens and space for exploration, learning, and play, the design includes places for digging in the dirt, water play, music, and art. Volunteers will plant trees and native perennials, build simple wooden structures, and seed a pollinator meadow. Interpretive signage will explain the storm water management features to students and visitors.

In addition to the PADEP’s Growing Greener program, the project has received generous support from the Tyson Memorial Fund, the Connelly Foundation, the William B. Dietrich Foundation, and a number of private donors. More than $100,000 has been raised. The school continues to seek donations to close a final $20,000 budget gap.

Groundbreaking is projected to be sometime in the Spring.

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Frankford Friends School’s New Trickey Building Wins Design Award

On October 14, the architecture firm DIGSAU of Philadelphia was presented with a 2013 Award for Design Excellence for Frankford Friends School’s new Margaret Passmore Trickey Building.trickey2

The award, conferred by the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, was one of three received by DIGSAU in this year’s competition.

In his remarks at the awards ceremony, Awards Jury Chair Peter Pfau, a San Francisco architect, said that the building felt “very Quaker, quiet and modest…but welcoming to the energy of children.”

The jurors, who visited the building in person, admired the building’s elegance and simple use of materials, and said that the “overall strategy shows great restraint.”

The jury appreciated the simple use of materials and loved the weathering cedar cladding. Looking from the porch of the historic Frankford Friends Meetinghouse to the entry of the new building, Pfau said one could understand the timeless quality of archetypal spaces like porches, and called it “an example of lovely place making; fostering a sense of community.”

In closing, Pfatrickey1u said that the jury was impressed by the quality of light in all the spaces, important to Quakers as a symbol of each person’s direct connection to God.

The Margaret Passmore Trickey building, constructed in 2012 on the school’s historic Orthodox Street campus, has allowed the school to offer its high-quality Friends education program to more families through additional middle school classrooms. In addition to the classrooms, the building provides a multipurpose space and a music room, and reduces energy use through a variety of innovative strategies.

Frankford Friends School, serving grades PreK-8, enrolled 156 students this year, the highest in its 180-year history. For more information, visit www.frankfordfriendsschool.org or call 215-533-5368.