Frankford Community Blog | Local News, Events, Community Resources
The alleged house of Benjamin Rush has been boarded up since the last time I visited Greenwood Cemetery. I haven’t heard anything about anything so maybe this is the alleged beginnings of the cleanup of the cemetery and restoration/stabilization of the property that the Cancer Center promised.
Leave your replay as a comment.
Press Release
COMMUNITY AND ADJOINING CANCER CENTER TO BENEFIT FROM
REVITALIZATION OF IIISTORIC GREENWOOD PROPERTY, INCLUDING
BENJAMIN RUSH HOUSE, IN NORTHWOOD SECTION OF PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA, PA (TBD) – The historic, 44-acre Greenwood property along Adams
Avenue near Castor Avenue in Northwood is under new management by a group
committed to revítalizing the site, including the historically significant but long neglected
country house of Dr. Benjamin Rush, a Founding Father, and the surrounding cemetery
grounds, it was announced today.
The new manager, Greenwood Holdings LLC, of Philadelphia, has been notifying local
stakeholders, including civic associations, elected officials, and historic preservationists,
that it has acquired Willow Ridge, Inc., the majority shareholder of the property.
Greenwood Holdings is an affiliate of the owner of the adjacent, six-acre site occupied
since 2004 by Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Eastern Regional
Medical Center. CTCA has invested more than $50 million in rebuilding the former
Parkview Hospital property, transforming a shuttered hospital site into a thriving, stateof-
the art medical campus with more than 550 employees.
Michael Allietta, an official with Greenwood Holdings, said Ewing Cole, an architectural
firm specializinginhistoric restoration, has been retained to oversee the multi-phase
project that reflects CTCA’s continuing commitment to community revitalization. “The
initial scope includes reconstruction of the iconic wrought-iron entrance to the 18th
century property, repairing surrounding stone walls, installation of new lighting and
security systems, major upgrades to the landscaping, and, most notably, renovation of the
Rush residence,” he explained. “‘We will make sure that the long declining Greenwood
grounds and historic structures are afforded the same meticulous attention that we’ve
given to the CTCA campus.”
Dr. Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Founder of Dickinson College,
lived on the property for 10 years in the late 1700s. Greenwood Cemetery was chartered
in 1869. The rear, heavily-wooded section of the Greenwood property is adjacent to the
parking lot of CTCA, which faces Wyoming Avenue across from Juniata Park Golf
Course in Fairmount Park. John McNeil, CEO of CTCA in Philadelphia, said the new
Greenwood management, which includes the non-profit Friends of Greenwood Cemetery,
promises to be of great benefit for all involved in the neighborhood, from those
associated with the cemetery and the Rush House, to the present and future patients and
families of CTCA.
