The scars left by an urban renewal process gone sour made
themselves visible at the first public planning meeting for a new initiative in
Eastwick on Monday night at St. Paul's AME Church in Southwest Philadelphia.
About 150 neighbors attended the meeting, the first of three
to be held for a process led by Interface Studio LLC, that will plan the future
of 189 acres of publicly owned land in Lower Eastwick. The property was bought
back from Korman Corporation by the Redevelopment Authority in 2015, after
Eastwick Friends and Neighborhood Coalition’s three-year campaign against the
developer’s plans to construct a 722-apartment complex and a parking lot for
more than 1,000 cars, and an expansion of the Philadelphia International
Airport.
Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority’s Gregory Heller told the crowd he was committed to
not building on those lands “until the community has been involved and until we
have figured out what the community wants.” And after Interface Studio’s
presentation about urban and environmental conditions of the land, pastor Darien Thomas took the floor to say that not all
the community was being heard.
“The people who have been hurt [by the urban renewal
process] are not trying to hear the process, they want to make sure that
they’re part of the process,” said Thomas, pastor of Walk in the Light
Ministries. As he spoke, part of the audience stood up holding colorful signs
with what they wanted for Eastwick: jobs, schools, affordable housing,
employment. “The pain and the anger that these people are feeling… If they’re
not heard tonight, they’re going to leave here with the same pain, it’s like
taking their wounds and digging in with a knife,” Thomas said.
Thomas was followed by other community members asking for
schools, recreation for kids and seniors, and employment opportunities.
For more details on Interface Studio's initial research,
go to PlanPhilly.com.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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