Grid Magazine July 2023 [#170]

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The toxic plan for a liquid natural gas plant in Chester

After arson, Hunting Park garden makes a comeback

Make your yard a mini national park

p. 17

p. 26

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Devil’s Bargain The delights and dangers of the city’s most controversial swimming hole

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EDI TO R ’S NOTES

by bernard brown

The Billionaires’ Agenda publisher Alex Mulcahy managing editor Bernard Brown associate editor & distribution Timothy Mulcahy tim@gridphilly.com copy editor Sophia D. Merow art director Michael Wohlberg writers Kiersten Adams Kyle Bagenstose Bernard Brown Constance Garcia-Barrio Bryan Satalino Ben Seal Ashley Lauren Walker photographers Chris Baker Evens Troy Bynum published by Red Flag Media 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 215.625.9850 G R I D P H I L LY. C O M

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n light posts around the city flyers proclaim “No Arena in the Heart of Our City,” protesting the proposal to build a new stadium for the 76ers in Chinatown. The billionaires pushing the scheme make vague promises about jobs and economic activity.

The economic benefits of sports stadiums have long been debunked, but, more im�portantly, aside from those billionaires, has anyone you know ranked a Chinatown arena for the 76ers high on their priorities for Philadelphia?

The city racks up more than 500 homicides per year along with more than 1,000 drug overdose deaths. Forty-six percent of school district students are chronically absent. The city faces a literal rising tide of climate change impacts (increased flooding, rising heat) that threaten to make the city unlivable. Is anyone you know saying, “Hey, what we need is a sports stadium to line the pockets of billionaires like developer David Adelman, who lives in a Main Line mansion so opulent that he spent six-figures building a tequila drinking room. That’s what Philadelphia needs!”

Right, I haven’t heard anyone say that either, and certainly not anyone near Grid’s Chinatown office.

Similarly, it doesn’t seem that there is much grassroots demand in Chester for a liquefied natural gas terminal to help energy companies ship fracked fossil gas overseas, particularly in a poor, mostly Black city that has shouldered so much of the region’s dirty business for decades, such as the Covanta trash burning power plant that incinerates 400,000 tons of Philadelphia’s waste per year. As State Representative Carol Kazeem puts it: “What did we get? A 27% asthma rate, an increase in health risks and illness amongst our seniors, decreasing jobs and companies.”

Wealthy captains of industry and the politicians they pay for have long made plans

without consulting the people — often people of color and of fewer resources — who have to live with the consequences. The plans that the Cobbs Creek Foundation, backed by more Main Line billionaires, made for 350 acres of public land offers another example. Given the demands otherwise voiced by the mostly working-class Black neighborhoods nearby for amenities like playing fields for youth sports, it’s hard to imagine that golf would have been anywhere on the list if anyone had bothered to ask in good faith.

The Fairmount Park Conservancy and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation deserve some credit for an extensive community engagement process while planning FDR Park. However, it is clear that something was lost in the execution. The result includes amenities aimed at people who are able to pay to use them — perhaps not a surprising outcome considering the history of mayors and City Councils who have refused to properly fund parks for decades.

There is some hope in Tacony Creek Park, where the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership has spearheaded a master planning process that has genuinely sought to learn what community members want in their park. It is unlikely that any money will be coming from the City budget to meet the stated community demands (for extravagances such as trash cans, benches and trails safe from speeding dirt bike riders), but whatever they raise could genuinely be spent on what people need — not golf courses for people from the suburbs to enjoy, not a basketball stadium, and not a way to make money selling climate-wrecking fossil fuels — just safe green space and fresh air.

b e r na r d b r ow n , Managing Editor

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sponsored content The Weavers Way Vendor Diversity Initiative provides assistance, support and shelf space for makers and artisans who are people of color.

Candy Bermea-Hasan works to bring more BIPOC vendors to Weavers Way’s shelves.

Equity through Opportunity

Weavers Way Co-op’s vendor diversity initiative is building business and community, one BIPOC entrepreneur at a time

A

fter the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the racial reckoning that followed, enterprises from major corporations to independent businesses around the globe released statements of support for the protests and commitments to do better.

But Weavers Way, a cooperative grocery store founded in the historically diverse neighborhood of Mount Airy that always prided itself on equity and inclusion, knew even before the spring of 2020 that it needed to do better. This is why Weavers Way started the vendor diversity initiative in 2019.

“We took a hard look at how we can help with the racial disparity problem, and the best way we could think of was to add more products from a BIPOC point of view,” explains Weavers Way vendor diversity coordinator Candy Bermea-Hasan. “That meant bringing in more products for people of color and more BIPOC vendors as well.”

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A food cooperative, by nature and by design, is built to be an accessible place for the community — an ethos that the vendor diversity initiative leaned on to find success.

As covered in Grid’s May 2023 issue (#168), after hearing about the initiative from other makers, Vicki Moody of Candles By Vicki employed the old-school sales technique of sending a product basket to Bermea-Hasan.

The aroma was enough to persuade Weavers Way to start carrying Moody’s brand.

But Weavers Way didn’t just wait for vendors to come to them. The vendor diversity initiative team took an active role in looking for more vendors. And as they looked, they noticed that there were many vendors and products out there that were not retail ready. One of those vendors, featured in Grid’s March 2023 issue (#166), was Hank’s Cinnamon Buns. After a successful music career, owner Hank McCoy pivoted to baking in 2020 just as the pandemic be-

gan. But mixing beats was not like mixing dough, and McCoy was a bit unprepared for the red tape that can entangle a bakery.

McCoy says Weavers Way helped with the licensing and other regulatory steps new bakeries have to go through. “They helped me a lot just in terms of brand recognition and being in the three stores from the beginning of my business,” McCoy says. “It gives me a bit of credibility in the consumers’ eyes.”

It’s this credibility building that BermeaHasan values the most. One of her favorite aspects of the program is the “vendor fairs” that Weavers Way organizes for initiative participants. At these fairs, Weavers Way gives each vendor time, space and the opportunity to tell their story as well as allow for the sampling of their products. Throughout Grid’s coverage of the vendors in this program, the positive opportunity to network with other business owners is a constant refrain of acclaim from participants.

When asked about the future of the initiative, Bermea-Hasan invokes the approachability that Vicki Moody’s found so welcoming. This approachability leads to an accessibility that will allow Weavers Way to expand this program. And just like the guided growth witnessed with Hank’s Buns, Bermea-Hasan revels in the opportunity to have good products on the shelves and to get closer to their community at a time when other grocery stores are finding more ways to detach from the community.

But for Bermea-Hasan, it’s truly those little moments that keep her going.

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healing city

At work in Spiral Q’s West Philly workshop

Powerful Puppets

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t spiral q ’ s West Philadelphia headquarters, puppet artists cut out cardboard, shape it into bulldozers and paint it to prepare for a protest march against the 76ers’ plans for a Chinatown arena.

“There’s something childlike about them,” says Jacque (who did not provide a last name), while taking a break from painting cardboard miniatures of the Chinatown Friendship Gate on 10th Street. The miniatures will be attached to cardboard caps for demonstrators to wear. “There’s an absurd quality to puppets that draws people in.”

While many people might duck past soapbox speakers, puppets command attention.

“The puppet is mighty,” says Spiral Q codirector Jennifer Turnbull. “They can say and do things that people can’t. They can throw a leg impossibly high and flip upside down.”

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Puppets also seem to slip past one’s defenses to convey a message.

Scott, across the table from Jacque at the arts build led by Spiral Q, spoke of the force of huge likenesses as he painted four-foot-high cardboard images of glasses of bubble tea.

“Seeing these images may make people ask themselves what will happen if Chinatown disappears,” says Scott, a chef by trade and a member of the Restaurant Industry for Chinatown’s Existence (RICE).

If Philly’s streets, like all the world, are a stage as Shakespeare claimed, Spiral Q helps activists play them to the hilt. For decades, Spiral Q has assisted social justice, arts and culture, and education groups in designing and building puppets — some of them gigantic — to dramatize urgent issues.

“We work creatively with around 3,500 individuals each year and bring our public

by constance garcia-barrio

work to an estimated audience of 30,000,” says Liza Goodell, an artist and co-director of Spiral Q. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History includes one of Goodell’s dancing-mailbox puppets in its collection. Turnbull, a dancer and dance educator, has given a TEDx talk about how Spiral Q’s art communicates across boundaries and advances justice.

Matthew “Mattyboy” Hart, who launched Spiral Q in 1996, chose the group’s name because spirals symbolize magic, growth and power, while the Q refers to queerness. At first, Spiral Q puppeteers took to Philly’s thoroughfares — and sometimes landed in jail — to boost awareness of HIV/AIDS. That focus grew to a puppet festival and annual Day of the Dead parade. By the early 2000s, Spiral Q brought other issues to the streets and founded the Peoplehood Parade P HOTO G RAP H BY CHRIS BAKER EVENS

I N S E T: C O U R T E S Y O F S P I R A L Q

Spiral Q advances change through creativity and cooperation

Art-making skills go hand in hand with listening skills, yet it’s the first thing cut from school budgets.”

—jennifer turnbull , Spiral Q co-director

Students learning the power of puppets

and Pageant, now in its 22nd year.

Spiral Q continues a long tradition, according to Sarah Plummer, a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech, whose dissertation centers on puppets and protest.

“I specialize in rod-puppets,” Plummer says. “There are many kinds of rod-puppets originating in ancient cultures across the world. Puppets have a rich history of being used in protest, from Punch and Judy shows mocking royalty in the 1600s to giant rod puppets [that Bread and Puppet Theater] used to challenge police and landlords in the 1960s.”

A strong visual can ignite change, says Turnbull.

“It can create a turning point,” Turnbull says. “That’s what happened when Emmett Till’s mother had an open-casket funeral for her son, showing how a white mob had tortured him. Puppets can have a similar effect.”

“The point of making a puppet is to amplify what you have to say,” Goodell adds.

“You make sure your image is going to be captivating for the media because that’s how you’ll get your message out.”

Spiral Q relies on a motley band of admirers for supplies.

“We get paint from the [Philadelphia International] Airport,” Goodell says. “A printing company donates cardboard. We have relationships with stores and neighbors for materials. There’s a whole ecosystem supporting us.”

While puppets punch up issues on the street, they also work quiet wonders at some schools. Spiral Q has worked with

Philly schools on parade projects and after-school programs since 2003. Fourth and fifth graders at nearby Blankenburg Elementary School, 4600 West Girard Avenue, gain skills beyond sharper artistic expression when they make puppets.

They begin by sitting in small groups or a story circle to learn about one another, says Spiral Q’s education coordinator Rob Seitz, an arts education professional with 17 years of experience in teaching and curriculum development. The children decide together on the kinds of features the puppet will have and what emotion it will express.

“As a teacher, your goal is to build up the children,” Seitz says. “We engineered these workshops specifically to include consensus and making decisions. Kids vote. They feel part of the outcome. They gain skills they can use as leaders, such as how you resolve conflict, how your voice can be heard, how to describe and recognize a puppet’s emotions in a closed mouth or furrowed brow.”

Turnbull points out that making puppets hones children’s ability to listen.

“Art-making skills go hand in hand with listening skills, yet it’s the first thing cut from school budgets,” Turnbull says.

Spiral Q depends on neighbors for most supplies, including house paint, egg cartons, cereal boxes and yogurt cups for paint, Goodell says.

“Using household items means that kids can make puppets at home,” she says.

Creating puppets’ vivid faces seems to be healing.

“It lets out some of my feelings to make puppets,” says Ariel, 10, a fourth grader. “[Today] I helped make one with hair with nice bangs. It had red lips and brown eyes. Nice contours. It looked happy, but fake-happy.”

Christian, 9, also zeroes in on puppets’ emotions.

“We wanted the puppet to be both happy and sad, happy on the outside but sad on the inside,” he says. “We actually get to

show off our puppets in a parade.”

Asr, 9, focuses on cooperation.

“I like how we make a community agreement,” he says. “I like making [puppets’] noses.”

At the end of each two-hour weekly puppetmaking session, after the room has been cleaned, everyone gets to express feelings, positive or negative, Seitz says.

“I want to recognize everyone in this class for making so much progress,” he says. “I saw that everyone was working hard today.”

Antonia Betancourt, a Blankenburg art teacher, finds that puppet making allows each student to feel valued.

“The experience of collaboration is not typical of art classrooms,” Betancourt says.

“It gives each student a voice.” The whole school gets to participate in a year-end puppet parade where some carry banners and others play music and chant.

Sheena Wilson, Blankenburg’s principal, takes pride in the parade.

“It’s a real parade,” Wilson says. “You get a police escort. Neighbors sit out on their stoops to watch. Cars honk horns.

It’s a joy! It can spark fires inside the kids.

They should have access to experiences that broaden their horizons.”

The last few years have brought challenges for Spiral Q. In 2021, Hurricane Ida flooded their storage space and 70% of their 26-year collection was lost.

“In addition, we don’t have enough space,” Goodell says of Spiral Q’s temporary West Philly location. “We’re looking for an affordable space.”

Despite the difficulties, Spiral Q will hold its trademark Peoplehood Parade on Saturday, October 22.

“The parade starts at the Paul Robeson House, 4951 Walnut Street, and goes to Clark Park at 45th and Chester Avenue,” Turnbull says. “Giant puppets, community groups and families with young children take part in Peoplehood. It’s an incredible honor to do this work.” ◆ J ULY 20 23 G R I DP HILLY.COM 7

A global climate debate heats up as a liquefied natural gas terminal looks for a home in Chester story by kyle bagenstose

T

he table was set, powerful people already gathered round and talking about the future, when Carol Kazeem walked in about 15 minutes late and popped the balloon.

Kazeem, a first-term Pennsylvania state representative from Chester’s 159th district, has had a whirlwind of a year. When the former trauma outreach specialist and 31-year-old mother of three upset incumbent Brian Kirkland for the position last year, despite the Delaware County Democratic Committee and other established political machinery backing him, it signaled political winds shifting in Chester toward 8 GRID P H I L LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

more grassroots-oriented leaders.

“It was never going to be easy because this is a machine almost 40 years in, longer than I’ve even been alive,” Kazeem told the Delco Times.

Her fortitude was quickly tested again.

Just a month after her upset in the primary, StateImpact Pennsylvania published a blockbuster story reporting that an energy company called Penn America Energy Holdings LLC had “quietly been shopping plans for a massive liquefied natural gas facility and export terminal in Chester along the Delaware River” to a slew of politicians, including Gov. Tom Wolf, Chester Mayor

M AT T T H E W S M I T H / F L I C K R

STEP ON THE GAS?

Thaddeus Kirkland (uncle of Kazeem’s ousted opponent) and other local powerbrokers.

At the same time, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was raging, sending European nations into a panic over the security of both their physical borders and energy supplies.

With the majority of the continent’s natural gas previously emanating from Russia, many Europeans were suddenly left to wonder where their next kilowatt-hour was going to come from.

Some industry and political voices posited that the United States, the world’s largest natural gas producer, could act as an energy savior. But only if it exported higher volumes of its copious supplies of natural gas. To do so, the nation would need to build more facilities capable of super-cooling gas to negative 260 degrees Fahrenheit, thus liquifying it for easier transport by ship across the Atlantic.

State Rep. Martina White, Philadelphia’s lone Republican representative to Harrisburg hailing from the far Northeast, was on board.

Legislation she introduced — passed by the General Assembly in April 2022 and signed

Opposite: A liquefied natural gas terminal in Qatar; left: State Rep. Carol Kazeem thinks an LNG terminal has nothing to offer her Chester district but pollution and illness.

What did we get? A 27% childhood asthma rate, an increase in health risks and illness amongst our seniors, decreasing jobs and companies.”

C O U R T E S Y R E P. C A R O L K A Z E E M

— carol ka zeem, Pennsylvania State Representative, 159th District

into law by Wolf — created a Philadelphia Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Export Task Force to study the “economic feasibility, financial impact and the security necessities” of siting an LNG export facility in the Delaware Valley.

Now it wasn’t just the U.S. who could help save the day, White argued in a press release, but Pennsylvania “that can make a tremendous difference” with its vast natural gas fields.

In the LNG task force’s first meeting this spring at the Navy Yard, much of the focus wound up outside the meeting room, after longtime Chester-based activist Zulene Mayfield and other opponents were blocked from entering and attracted press attention.

But Kazeem was invited to speak at a second meeting in May at the Steamfitters Local 420 headquarters in the Northeast, White’s home turf. Kazeem was undeterred from offering opposition, citing a long leg-

acy of environmental justice concerns in communities adjoining Chester’s industrial waterfront.

“What we are witnessing right now is history trying to repeat itself. My community, where I reside with my children, has been promised economic salvation each time an industrial plant is proposed,” Kazeem said, citing local paper milling and trash incineration. “And what did we get?

A 27% childhood asthma rate, an increase in health risks and illness amongst our seniors, decreasing jobs and companies.”

Watching Kazeem speak from across the table was task force member Toby Z. Rice.

The millennial CEO of EQT Corporation, a Pittsburgh-based energy company, Rice has also had a pretty good run in recent years.

A former college baseball player turned natural gas tycoon, Rice and his brothers sold a family-built energy company to EQT for $6.7 billion in 2017, then went ahead and

executed a hostile takeover of the company two years later.

The company has since turned record profits and joined the S&P 500 as the country’s largest natural gas producer. Rice has also become a gas evangelist of sorts, spreading the gospel of what Americanproduced natural gas supplies could do for the world. This led to profiles in the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal; the former features a picture of Rice sitting at a desk in EQT’s hipster-esque Pittsburgh offices, his white collared shirt unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up, and a neon sign in the backdrop reminding him to “stay shaley.”

But could Rice win over Kazeem?

“First off, love the passion,” Rice told her, smiling. “I think we share something in common. We both want to bring opportunities to this side of the state.”

Rice laid out his best arguments. The burning of coal for energy across the globe is choking the residents of developing nations with particulate matter, he said. Indoors, using wood and other biofuels for cooking is also polluting their lungs. And coal’s carbon emissions are among the worst culprits of climate change. In sum, people all over the globe are gasping for cleaner-burning natural gas.

“Does your community understand we’re not just making LNG, we’re making a product that’s going to help the world?” Rice said.

Kazeem remained unmoved. She had done her homework, she said, and was concerned with the economic uncertainties around future demand for natural gas. She’d prefer for Chester to get some of the white collar industries popping up in wealthier communities, centered around health care. If LNG is so great, why weren’t the Haverfords and Ardmores of the world lining up for a piece of the action? Kazeem wondered.

“I would rather stand for projects that are going to be instrumental moving forward,” Kazeem said. “A project that you can say, ‘I built that, your father built that’ and you can tell your grandchildren that. A legacy that I feel like people want to take on, rather than feeling like you brought something to the community that you will no longer be respected for.” ◆ J ULY 20 23 G R I DP H ILLY.COM 9

Up in the air The unfortunate thing about this debate over the value of LNG exports is that it’s not so simple to score.

In the “opposed” column, a very easy place to start is the essentially consensus understanding among climate experts that if humanity is going to avert the worst outcomes of climate change, we can afford no new coal or gas development. In fact, the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calculates we’re already using enough of these fossil fuels to blow past a critical 1.5 degree Celsius warming target.

Layer on top of that legitimate pollution concerns. Penn America officials have previously issued general promises that “environmental stewardship” would be a top priority for an LNG plant in Chester and told StateImpact that the facility would use electricity instead of on-site gas combustion to power the plant. But the news outlet predicted the facility would still likely emit significant quantities of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matter by comparing it to another proposed liquefaction plant in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Chester, identified by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as an environmental justice community due to its high proportion of minority (85% in the census tract of the proposed LNG facility) and impoverished (36%) residents, is already struggling with air pollution from the Covanta waste incinerator, I-95 traffic and other emitting sources.

And at the end of the day, there’s little to suggest an LNG export facility would even live up to its billing as a European energy savior. Experts told Grid that the capacity of an LNG facility along the Delaware River would likely represent a modest fraction of total U.S. exports (the bulk of which emanate from the Gulf Coast) and an even smaller amount of total European energy demand. Further still, the fungibility of international gas markets means LNG loaded onto a tanker on the Delaware River could just as well wind up in Asia, South America and other ports near and far.

“That LNG is free on board which means it can go wherever it wants to,” said Anna Mikulska, a fellow in energy studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute. “Just take it wherever the price indicates highest profits.”

But even with all of these issues poking 10 GR ID P H I L LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

holes in the argument for siting an LNG export facility in the region, it’s difficult to completely write off what the Toby Rices of the world are selling.

The operative word is “volatility,” Mikulska says. Geopolitical events have thrown global energy markets into chaos, and the future is uncertain. While European markets are currently stabilized, that’s significantly due to the continent’s wealth, which enabled it to snatch up global gas supplies.

But that kicked severe gas pinches and energy crises further down the economic ladder in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh, where officials are now freshly thinking about how to ensure energy reliability in the near future. And if gas is seen as too volatile and renewable energy technologies currently too expensive and unreliable, burning coal often becomes the answer.

“We really have seen the return of coal,” Mikulska said, pointing out that even Germany recently dismantled a wind farm to open a new coal mine. “That’s something to consider, particularly in the developing world.”

In this sense, gas becomes a known quantity, with fewer greenhouse gas emissions than coal but with more affordability and plugand-play reliability than renewables currently provide, especially for cash-strapped nations trying to scratch climate reparations away from their wealthier counterparts.

Ned Rauch-Mannino, president of consulting firm Portsmouth Limited Company and non-resident senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, sees value in both increasing U.S. LNG export and the use of renewable energy sources globally.

But at the moment, Rauch-Mannino says, renewables still have trouble with intermittency and meeting peak demand, energy grids are not equipped for rapid adoption of electrification goals and countries of various economic standings are building more LNG import terminals. He wants American-produced gas to meet this demand for both environmental and geopolitical reasons.

“With renewable energy technology like solar panels, we can’t beat competitors’ production costs right now due to standards and labor,” Rauch-Mannino said. “But we do have that energy and high standards advantage to leverage in gas.”

While he also says an LNG export terminal in Southeastern Pennsylvania wouldn’t secure Europe’s energy markets on its own,

It’s nothing new, but if you just push long enough and hard enough, get the right politicians in place and in play, and suddenly something starts moving.

And that’s the worry here.”

— maya van rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper

he still believes it would help someone, somewhere.

“Greater Philadelphia has an opportunity to have a small but meaningful role in advancing broader security,” he said.

And the proposed project is not without

Hazy air thanks to Canadian wildfires and global warming.

local supporters in Chester. Economics are a major part of Penn America’s pitch, with an estimated “4,000-plus jobs during construction,” along with a boost to city tax revenues in perennially cash-strapped Chester.

Opponents argue that the majority of jobs would be temporary and permanent ones would mostly go to non–Chester residents.

But Mark Freeman, president of Laborers Local 413, a building trades union headquartered in Chester, told the task force in May he believed construction of an LNG facility would be good for his members, especially following the 2019 closure of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery in South Philadelphia.

“Members have had to take lesser paying jobs, or work two jobs,” Freeman said. “This [proposed LNG] plant brings opportunities for our members to make living wages and to continue to send their children to college.”

P HOTO GRA P H BY M AT T B E N D E R

Getting real These are difficult problems to unravel.

Where exactly are the lines between idealism, realism and the whole world is at stake so we must-ism? Even if gas does still have any merit as a “bridge fuel,” shouldn’t polluting infrastructure go somewhere besides communities that have already long borne that burden?

But as far as southeast Pennsylvania is concerned, it probably doesn’t matter, Mikulska says: an export terminal is unlikely to be built.

“If you ask [industry sources or experts], is there going to be an LNG terminal in the East, they’ll say ‘Pssh, no way,’” Mikulska said.

Mikulska says that’s for a variety of reasons. In the U.S., permitting new fossil fuel infrastructure is a difficult process, especially in the more progressive Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. That’s certainly the case in Chester, where Mayfield, the

longtime environmental justice activist, has already geared up for battle, raising hell outside the closed doors of the first LNG task force meeting in April.

If EQT’s Rice liked Kazeem’s passion, Mayfield told Grid in a spirited, expletiveladen interview, “he just gonna love me.”

Mayfield, founder of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, says opposition is already organized and her group has plans to also begin attending the meetings of Delaware County–based political entities to pressure local politicians to take a stand.

“If I let you know you’re not welcome, you’re a fool to try and come anyway,” Mayfield said. “But that message needs to be sent out.”

In Chester, the political winds are also still shifting, after first-term City Councilmember Stefan Roots defeated mayoral incumbent Kirkland in this year’s primaJ ULY 20 23 G R I DP HILLY.COM 1 1

If I let you know you’re not welcome, you’re a fool to try and come anyway, but that message needs to be sent out.”

— zulene mayfield, Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living ry, likely clearing his insurgent path to the mayor’s office.

According to his online biography, Roots previously worked for Philadelphia Gas Works and as an industrial operations employee for various companies, including Sunoco. And while Roots told Grid he has not yet studied the issue enough to know where he stands on the LNG proposal, he said he is generally of the philosophy that Chester’s waterfront should be moving away from its industrial past and toward mixed commercial and residential use, which gas 12 GR ID P H IL LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

opponents say offer longer-term economic and health benefits.

In the greater Philadelphia region, things don’t appear much better. Although the LNG task force on paper is studying any potential site for an LNG facility, all signs are currently pointing to Chester-or-bust.

Democratic State Rep. Joe Hohenstein, whose district incorporates Philadelphia’s River Wards, said he asked to join the task force out of a concern Port Richmond could be targeted for LNG export. But he quickly learned that, for various reasons, the port

S C OT T L E W I S

Zulene Mayfield stands against a Chester LNG terminal.

and others in Philadelphia are likely not a good fit. Hohenstein says he has stayed on the task force out of a general interest in the topic, with his staff hoping to ensure diverse perspectives are included in the final report, due this fall.

And international factors also play a role in limiting the likelihood of a local LNG facility, Mikulska said. New LNG supplies are already coming online, and long-term demand is uncertain. European energy customers are reluctant to sign long-term natural gas contracts. Developing nations are viewed as volatile and a credit risk. This all makes for a difficult pitch when a developer like Penn America tries to raise capital, with the company reportedly seeking between $4 billion and $8 billion in financial backing to build the Chester export facility.

“At least from my experience, it’s going to be very difficult for all those reasons,” Mikulska said.

So why bother creating a task force, when it has no formal powers beyond submitting a final report? White’s office did not make the representative available for an interview or respond to written questions. Sources in Harrisburg told Grid they could only guess at the genesis of her legislation and said generally there does not appear to be any major push by industry to prioritize the siting of an LNG export facility in the Southeast over any other infrastructure.

Still, others remain vigilant. The nonprofit Delaware Riverkeeper Network is heavily involved with other environmental groups in opposing a separate proposal to transport LNG by rail from Northeastern Pennsylvania to Gibbstown, New Jersey, just across the Delaware from the Philadelphia International Airport. From there, the LNG would be shipped overseas.

Maya van Rossum, the Dealware Riverkeeper, says opposition from her organization and other groups has been instrumental in creating a series of setbacks for the Gibbstown proposal. And in the task force and Chester proposals, she sees spokes of the same wheel, necessitating the same level of attention.

“We’re very concerned about the task force,” van Rossum said. “It’s nothing new, but if you just push long enough and hard enough, get the right politicians in place and in play, and suddenly something starts moving. And that’s the worry here.” ◆

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THE THIN GREEN LINE Philadelphia Art Commission is a force for sustainable building

W

hat do you think the Phil��adelphia Art Commission does?

You might correctly guess that it approves works of art purchased by the City or placed on public land, along with some street signs. But anyone who has tuned into a public meeting of the commission will have noticed that the nine-member body does more than talk about aesthetics.

Green roofs, stormwater management, native species plantings, public transportation access and bike racks (or their absence) all come up for comment at the 14 GRID P H I L LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

story by bernard brown

meetings. And if the commission doesn’t approve a building’s plans, the developers have to come back again until they get the okay. The commission’s mandate includes the review of buildings going up on public land or funded with City money, and it ends up considering the sustainability of those buildings as well as their appearance.

The commission’s meetings include public comment, which means Philadelphians have the ability to weigh in on green building issues on public land that matter to them, as has been clearly evident as elements of the Cobbs Creek golf course ren-

ovation have come before the commission.

I sat down with sculptor Robert Roesch, the chair of the Art Commission, to learn more about what they do and how the commission members see their role in ensuring a more sustainable city. Roesch has served on the commission since the beginning of the Nutter administration and as chair for a year and a half. (The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

When I’ve watched Art Commission meetings I’ve been impressed by how deeply the commissioners have dived into the sustainP HOTO G RAP HY BY CHRIS BAKER EVENS

Robert Roesch, chair of the Philadelphia Art Commission, is proud of his involvement with the green-roofed Barnes Foundation.

it. You might remember there’s a big hole in the ground, so we went through three or four different architects bringing that to the commission, and they fell apart because they weren’t worthy of that space. Now we have one that is quite beautiful, but it had to have anti–bird strike glass. I mean bird strikes are a big deal, and glass is a big deal, so when it comes past our commission bird strikes are an important thing.

At the Calder Gardens we asked them to widen the walkways that go through the garden … it’s going to be a year-round garden. Something beautiful about it, to ask them for a wider walkway isn’t too much to ask. We also asked how many bicycle racks do you want to have because bicycles are a big thing in the city.

It’s a win-win. I walk away from the meetings feeling like I helped make the city a better place.

Are you seeing the priorities that the commission focuses on in its meetings gain wider acceptance? We have one commissioner that always asks about lighting, and I’m noting that the people who are presenting are presenting lighting now. They bring us a rendering of the night view of the building so we don’t have to ask about that so much anymore.

I have such respect and joy to be able to work with the current group of commissioners, and without the great staff that keeps our work running smoothly, our work would be very difficult.

ability of the buildings being presented.

The Art Commission for me should be the Art and Architecture Commission. I’ve been on it all these years and I see us as one little step in the process of actualizing buildings and art and the like in parks into the city fabric. We’re one little bump before they go to press. That bump over the years has become very sustainable.

Has it always been this way? I don’t think so. I think it evolved as it got very popular.

For all of us we started to see it was a big deal.

Are there any buildings whose sustainability reviews come to mind when you think of the commission’s impact? The Barnes Foundation is a perfect example. They came to us and it was so sensitively done. I believe they have a Platinum LEED rating.

It was just a beautiful thing to watch it come through the process. They came back to us two or three times for little adjustments.

For example, if you can have a green roof, why not have a green roof?

Behind the Rodin Museum, that’s a new building that’s built actually in the air: there’s a whole train network underneath

The commission functions as a gatekeeper for projects that can have a lot riding on them. Does the commission ever get pressured to greenlight something? We sometimes get pressured. I read all the emails and basically I’m one voice. There are eight other people … We do the best we can.

For example the Cobbs Creek Golf Course is going to be a tough haul because it is broken down into smaller parts [with their own approvals] and I think that there is no good answer. There are the people who dissent on the project, and there are people who see it for community benefit, and somehow we have to fit in the middle there, that little bump before it goes, and that’s a big deal. ◆ J ULY 20 23 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 1 5

parks

PARKS Philadelphians rely on their parks. In a densely-packed city the open green spaces are critical to give us room to stretch, air to breathe and a taste of the natural world to enrich our asphalt and concrete-bounded lives. ¶ In this section we celebrate our parks, but every piece also examines the tension between demands and resources, between potential and capacity. It might be the case that park users make some demands, like swimming access, that cannot be accommodated safely and sustainably. Other demands, like gardens still take a lot of work by volunteers, work that is harder to come by in the neighborhoods that need them the most. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation has done amazing work to restore natural lands, but, in a theme Grid has covered in the past and is committed to covering in the future, the city’s elected leaders neglect to provide the funds critical to continue the work. ¶ The Trust for Public Land released the 2023 ParkScore ratings in May, telling us again what we already know. Philadelphia has a lot of park space but not enough park dollars. The City of Philadelphia spends $56 per capita on parks. Private organizations and volunteers (counting the dollar value of volunteer hours) pick up about $24, for a total of $80 per capita. That is $28 per capita less than the average total for the 100 most populous cities in the country, a gap mostly accounted for by lower government spending. Ninety-five percent of Philadelphians can walk to a park in 10 minutes, but those parks are under-policed, undermaintained and under-staffed. Philadelphians need those parks, but the parks need help, too.

16 GRID P H IL LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

Michael Wilcox and volunteers get their hands dirty at the Hunting Park Community Garden.

SPROUTING

F ROM

T H E

AS HES

Michael Wilcox prepares the Hunting Park Community Garden for a comeback story by kiersten adams • photography by chris baker evens

A

cross the street from one of the last remaining Catholic girls’ schools in the city, the Hunting Park Community Garden sits unattended behind a padlocked fence.

Where nettle and knotweed grow in abundance and raised beds sit empty, the garden waits for the return of its loyal stewards.

Michael Wilcox has been involved with the garden and orchard since the beginning.

Now serving as the garden coordinator, Wilcox sees another summer of potential in the 11,000-square-foot space for residents of all ages to get involved with the growing,

planting and greening of their community.

Having grown up planting and growing vegetables in his parents’ backyard, Wilcox is acutely aware of what grows best under shade or full sun and at what time. As a volunteer tree tender for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Wilcox became active in his community through tree plantings and later through community garden tending. Wanting to emulate his experience of growing up in the South and having access to fresh fruits

and vegetables, Wilcox joined the Fairmount Park Conservancy’s efforts to bring a community garden to the North Philadelphia neighborhood adjacent to Hunting Park.

But as many organizers in public parks know, things aren’t ever that easy. A small arson fire ravaged the garden in November 2018, forcing a pause in the growing operation.

“When we discover over a weekend, everything was burned, you’re almost having to start from scratch, and you’re waiting to get started again. It’s definitely resiliency that people still want to be involved, and that they do care about the neighborhood,” Wilcox shares.

Wilcox and his team of devoted community gardeners are finally ready to get back into the soil.

Hunting Park United co-founder and president Leroy Fisher stresses the integral role the garden plays in creating an intergenerational activity for neighbors both young and old.

“Michael has done his lion’s share of work with the community garden. You have older individuals, you have schoolchildren, you have PowerCorps [volunteers] who are taking care of the community garden. It’s just one of many beautiful investments in Hunting Park,” Fisher says.

“I think there’s a certain resiliency amongst our core group, because a lot of people could’ve just walked away from the challenges,” Wilcox says. This summer, he hopes to get the garden back up and running for the community. Looking to a greener and brighter future, Wilcox plans to reintroduce programming to the garden and get younger people involved, as they have in years past.

Wilcox is hopeful that partnering with local charter schools will bring some new and eager volunteers to the garden to help tend the land in the upcoming season.

“When [people] come to the park, just being able to work outside and being with all the trees, there’s an added health benefit, and having a space where people can grow their food and get back to the community,” Wilcox shares.

“I welcome anybody or anyone to just stop by. We have a lot of things going on in the park.” ✿

Want to get involved? Email huntingparkcommunitygarden@gmail.com. You can also lend a hand with gardening, pruning or cleanup during the Love Your Park celebration held twice a year.

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parks

THE 10TH INNING Old baseball fields along Cobbs Creek are becoming a natural oasis

story by bernard brown • photography by chris baker evens

O

n a brisk and sunny March day, the dry grass of the south Whitby Meadow stood tall as a few dozen volunteers gathered with hand tools, potted shrubs waiting to be planted and bundles of live stakes — thin branches cut from black willow and silky dogwood trees intended to take root and sprout along the bank of nearby Cobbs Creek.

What is now a meadow had been a baseball field for at least 75 years on the Philadelphia side of Cobbs Creek, the boundary between the city and Yeadon in Delaware County. Two ballfields had occupied the Yeadon side as well. According to Tom Dougherty, who worked for Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and its predecessor the Fairmount Park Commission, the fields were underused and were prone to flooding from the nearby creek, so, in the early 2000s, the park’s Natural Lands team converted them to meadows, habitat that is now scarce 18 GR ID P H I L LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

in a region where any untended land tends to sprout trees.

“The meadow is a great spot to go exploring and birding, particularly early [in the] morning,” says Robin Irizarry, Delaware River watershed program manager for Audubon Mid-Atlantic. “It’s a nice and peaceful spot. You go at dawn, and when the sun is hitting the trees at the edge of the meadow, it just comes alive with birds. We did a walk in the fall in the peak of fall migration and had 40 species.”

Trees that began growing soon after the park was created from old industrial and agricultural lands in the early 1900s now stand tall around the meadow, forming a canopy of oak, maple and tulip trees. Beneath those trees, however, little has sprouted recently except exotic plants such as wineberry and oriental bittersweet. “Those plants don’t provide much ecological services for critters along the creek. Native insects don’t find

At Whitby Meadow it’s easy to forget the city. Audubon’s Robin Irizarry examines live stakes on their way to becoming trees.

It’s just that experience of being in a more natural setting and you really haven’t gone all that far.” // ROBIN IRIZARRY, Audubon Mid-Atlantic those plants as palatable as the native species that should be there, and that chips away at the local ecosystem,” Irizarry says.

“The focus of our work has been to work with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and other partners to enhance the riparian zone and the meadow across these two meadows,” Irizarry says.

Bethany Teigan, founder of the Philadelphia Mycology Club, first came to Cobbs Creek in search of mushrooms. She helped out on a citizen science project to track

down fungus species that had last been documented in the Philly area more than 100 years ago, many of them in what is now Cobbs Creek Park. That led to her organizing trash cleanups and in 2021 a role in the Cobbs Creek Ambassadors, a group that organizes stewardship activities in the park.

“I had posted signs around the Thomas Ave. parking lot [near the meadows] about when our cleanups were, and someone from Audubon reached out.”

“We did a big trash cleanup where they

filled up a dumpster and had it taken away.

There was furniture that day, like a couch.

There’s always a lot of contractor dumping along Whitby,” says Teigan, who took part in the March planting event.

The first step to plant a live stake is to pound a section of rebar into the mud, sand and cobble at the edge of the water. This creates a long hole that, with the rebar removed, is easy to push the stake into.

Planting live stakes is a low odds/high volume project. Many of them will not sink roots into the soil and grow leaves, but if you plant a few dozen, only a small portion need to survive to produce a shoreline dominated by native trees and shrubs that will serve as food for wildlife such as beavers as well as hosts for butterflies and other insects. In the months since the planting, the current of Cobbs Creek has draped the stakes in plastic debris and dead leaves, but many of them are sprouting leaves.

Urban habitat restoration is not without its hurdles. A fire this spring burned part of the south meadow. Irizarry says they were able to re-seed the burned portion. The fire also burned some of the shrubs they had planted around the edge, “but a lot of that stuff is resprouting from the base.”

The work is not done. Exotic invasive plants like Japanese hops and mile-a-minute weed threaten the meadows. There is a lot of shoreline and forest understory still to plant. Contractors working for Parks & Recreation have knocked back the Japanese knotweed along the creek, work that will need to be repeated until the willows and dogwoods grow enough to shade it out.

Audubon, along with a long list of partners that includes the Darby Creek Valley Association, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, Mobilize Green and LandHealth Institute, has made the site more accessible and welcoming in the meantime by clearing a trail down from the multi-use path along the nearby Cobbs Creek Parkway and installing a sign to let passersby know what they can find on the other end of that trail.

“It’s kind of an off-the-radar spot,” Irizarry says. “It feels removed from the neighborhood when you walk down the trail from the parkway. It’s just that experience of being in a more natural setting and you really haven’t gone all that far.” ✿ J ULY 20 23 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 1 9

parks

The Natural Lands team of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation has restored landscapes across the city.

Will the next administration keep up the effort? story by bernard brown 20 GRID P H I L LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

CHRISTIAN HUNOLD

ENGINEERING A THE URBAN WILDS

t houston meadow it’s easy to forget the city. Grasses and wildflowers cover the hillside that slopes into the wooded ravine of the Wissahickon Creek below. Bees and butterflies dance across the flowers. Over at Three Springs Hollow in Pennypack Park hikers can walk beneath towering oak and tulip trees while wood thrushes serenade them. It all might look natural and wild, but in the forests, meadows and waterways of the Fairmount Park system, nature needs a hand. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s Natural Lands team works to restore and maintain habitats like these for human visitors and wild residents.

If we want to have wild woods, we are going to have to maintain it.” // TOM DOUGHERTY, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation ecological restoration, retired

Houston Meadow didn’t grow on its own.

Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park system was assembled by the City from the mid–1800s to the early 1900s. Workers mowed lawns and tended shade trees, but up until the end of the 20th century, the forests, meadows, marshes and streams were more or less on their own. Trees sprouted and raced for the sky across thousands of acres. In other areas, what had been meadows maintained by grazing livestock gradually shrank as the forest encroached on their borders.

By the end of the 1900s much of the unmanicured land of the Fairmount Park system wasn’t in great shape. Deer proliferated in green spaces where no one hunted them.

They devoured new trees and shrubs before

they could find their place in the forest. Exotic plants that deer don’t like to eat, such as Amur honeysuckle, Japanese knotweed and garlic mustard, filled the empty spaces.

Help arrived with a $26 million grant to the City from the William Penn Foundation, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 1995. The money was intended to fund ecological restoration, expanded environmental education programming and volunteer stewardship capacity. Thus was born the Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental Education Program (NLREEP).

“What people would often say to me is, ‘Doesn’t the woods take care of itself?’” says Tom Dougherty, who worked for NLREEP in volunteer stewardship and then ecological restoration before retiring in 2020. “The answer is it may have at a different time, but now in the 21st century urban forest is kind of a contradiction in terms. If we want to have wild woods, we are going to have to maintain it.”

“The purpose of the $26 million to the park was to develop a plan to restore natural areas,” says Nancy Goldenberg, the first director of the program and currently president and CEO of Laurel Hill cemetery.

Goldenberg says that when she came on board “there was nothing. We didn’t have an office. ‘Here is $26 million. Figure it out.’

I had to hire staff, do an organizational chart and put a budget together.”

Before they could figure out what to restore, the new unit had to figure out what was growing and living in the parks in the first place. “We hired the Academy of Natural Sciences to do the inventory,” Goldenberg says. “You have to know what’s there before you can restore it. It was a dream team, and the data we got was extraordinary.”

NLREEP initiated pilot projects as well, realizing that they couldn’t wait until the inventory, which took four years instead of the one year that had been planned, was complete to start restoring habitat. “The first thing we did was a hillside in the Wissahickon that was at the Walnut Lane Golf Course, where it comes down to Forbidden

Drive,” Goldenberg says. “The sign is still there. [With] everything we did, we wanted to educate people on what we did and why.

We tried to marry education and civic engagement with the actual work.”

The program initially planned to expand existing nature centers and add new ones in FDR Park and in Fairmount Park East in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.

“The only one that got done was the expansion of the Pennypack Environmental Center,” Goldenberg says.

It was clear that the scale of the work dwarfed the resources. “$26 million gets you a lot of leverage, but nowhere near enough,” says Dougherty.

Over the years the restoration strategy evolved to reflect real-world limitations.

Joan Blaustein, the park system’s former director of urban forestry and ecosystem management, started in 2006. “From when I was there until 2010 we continued working from the master plan that had been done by William Penn Foundation funding. Then in 2010 we got a little bit of funding to redo the … forest management plan,” Blaustein says.

“We took a hard look at what our capabilities were and what our challenges were, which were enormous. We determined we couldn’t restore areas and walk away from them, due to deer and invasive species. That was an exercise in futility. We decided we would change our approach, that we would do largescale restorations only if we could install a deer fence. Otherwise we weren’t going to do it.” Parks & Recreation’s urban forestry initiative launched in 2013, and new projects under the initiative kicked off in 2015.

The philosophy of restoration changed as well, moving away from thinking historically and trying to recreate the past. “That became impossible because you could never recreate it, not with the pressure of insects, deer and climate change,” Blaustein says.

“We had to think of what the new structure of forests would be and how we could manage and preserve what we could.”

The organizational landscape was shiftJ ULY 20 23 G R I DP HILLY.COM 21

parks

22 GRID P H I L LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

NATURAL RESULTS Are you a Philly parks fan? Here are five projects for which you can thank the Natural Lands team

1

Three Springs Hollow The forest canopy soars above Three Springs Hollow on the north side of Pennypack Creek, between Krewstown Road and Bustleton Avenue, but by the early 2010s the forest managers realized that new trees weren’t growing up to replace their elders.

After erecting a fence to keep deer (like this young buck found outside) from eating seedlings didn’t do the trick, the unit initiated tree plantings to see what would work to kickstart forest regeneration. The forest in the hollow “was really, really nice to begin with, so we fenced it in, and have since been planting,” says Tom Dougherty, formerly of Parks & Rec. The plantings include hybrid American chestnut trees, a species that once formed a major portion of the region’s hardwood forests but that was wiped out by chestnut blight in the early 1900s.

2

Houston Meadow Next to the Andorra neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia 30 acres of meadow spread across the hillsides at the edge of the Wissahickon Valley. After hundreds of years as open agricultural fields and pastures, the land had grown in with trees as part of the park system. Keith Russell, program manager for urban conservation with Audubon MidAtlantic, had birded in the meadows in his youth and had watched as they dwindled and grasslands bird species disappeared.

In 2007 Russell and the Natural Lands team’s Tom Witmer hatched a plan to restore the meadow, and with funding

from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and other sources they were able to cut the trees back around the edges and re-seed the meadow with native grasses and wildflowers.

3

Haddington Woods In Haddington Woods, a section of Cobbs Creek Park north of Market Street in West Philadelphia, a deer-proof fence protects what could be the future of urban forestry in Philadelphia. As global warming cranks up the temperature in city forests, some snow-loving species of trees, such as sugar maples, will likely disappear. Their replacements might currently grow to the south, where forests have evolved with the climate that awaits Philadelphia. To get ready, City foresters have planted southern species such as loblolly pines in Haddington Woods.

4

Greenland Nursery The Greenland Nursery in Fairmount Park West dates back to the late 1800s but launched in its current form in 2009. The nursery staff harvests seeds and cuttings from native plants growing in the park system and uses them to generate more plants for ecological restoration work. “We were not seeing a lot of natural regeneration in the forest, so we’ve had to get involved,” says Max Blaustein, the nursery’s director, quoted in Grid #122 (July 2019).

5

FDR Park South Meadow Lake Meadow Lake in FDR Park is a great spot for watching winter waterfowl, but up until the early 2000s, the southern portion of Meadow Lake was “a broken-down concrete swimming pool,” says Dougherty. That pool had been built on top of what had originally been part of the lake. “The freshwater lake had been reshaped, filled and armored to facilitate its conversion to a swimming pool,” according to a project summary by Biohabitats, the engineering firm hired to restore it. With the pool in disrepair, NLREEP used a grant from the state’s Growing Greener program to pay for Biohabitats to rip out the concrete (which was used to elevate chronically soggy baseball fields nearby), restore the lake with native vegetation and install a walkway with signage, allowing park visitors to access the site.

C LO C K W I S E F R O M TO P : B E R N A R D B R O W N ; M A R G O R E E D ; C H R I S T I A N H U N O L D

ing as well. In 2010 the Fairmount Park system merged with the City’s Recreation Department, creating the current Parks & Recreation Department. The environmental education and volunteer stewardship functions of NLREEP were split off under the new bureaucracy, leaving six full-time staff working on natural lands restoration.

The reduced unit has further atrophied in recent years, with positions such as the operations manager going unfilled after retirements. According to the City’s 2023 Tree Plan, “currently, there are only three full-time Philadelphia Parks & Recreation staff members and two full-time Fairmount Park Conservancy staff members in the Natural Lands team responsible for managing and protecting 5,600 acres of forest, meadows, and streams.”

The unit could be poised for a turnaround. Cherelle Parker, the Democratic candidate for mayor, has called for doubling Parks & Recreation’s operations budget.

The Tree Plan calls for eight additional staff positions to tend the urban wilds, recognizing their importance in the health of the city. (Grid reached out to Parks & Recreation for an update on natural lands staffing but had not heard back as of press time.)

“That’s where the work happens. The work of natural resources happens in the forest,” Blaustein says. “Air is cleaned, water is cleaned. It doesn’t happen in mowed lawn. We need big mature trees, deep roots and soil.”

“They’re sort of the lungs of the city, and they are very important around climate change,” says Michael DiBerardinis, who headed the William Penn Foundation from 2000 to 2002 and with the City oversaw the park system merger in 2010. “They clean the air and provide temperature relief during the increasingly hot summers we’re having. They provide tens of thousands of people with recreational activities adjacent to their neighborhood[s] … They really provide a place for people to enjoy nature beyond their important environmental features.” ✿

Omar Buenaventura

Woodworker & Colloborative Artist Philadelphia-based artist inspired by Filipinx tradition and reclaimed materials. @bahay215 TELL US ABOUT YOUR STORY

I am a self-taught Filipino-American installation artist living in Lenapehoking. In 2020, my partner Nicky Uy and I formed Bahay215, an ongoing art collaboration inspired by Filipinx tradition, diaspora, community, and nature. Motivated by the local environment as well as my childhood experiences growing up in the Philippines, my work commonly implements reclaimed wood and locally grown bamboo.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU & WHAT’S NEXT?

I’m inspired by my memories of growing up in the Philippines and I try to create familiar pieces that would invoke longing for home and the feeling of belonging for Filipinos who want to reconnect and for folks who want to get to know the beauty of our culture. That inspiration comes easy, and the hunt for materials to reclaim is exciting. It’s the space to keep bulk items without becoming a hoarder that is the most difficult part. My family is what really inspires me—I believe in honoring the past through art and practice, and I believe my work is an act of resistance. My goal is to never stop learning and to keep on improving with my techniques. I intend to learn more about CNC and computer design when the opportunity comes in the future.

nextfab.com/blog

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parks

JUMPING IN

Swimmers are enjoying Devil’s Pool, whether or not it’s safe or sustainable story by ben seal • photography by troy bynum

O

n a sunday afternoon in early June, Jorge Oliveras and Jackie Colon packed up their beach chairs, filled a cooler with snacks and brought their children out to Devil’s Pool. They sat amid a loose constellation of rocks at the confluence of Wissahickon and Cresheim creeks, watching their kids swim and splash around, basking in the sun, water and forest that surrounded them.

The warm weather had brought nearly 100 visitors to the site that afternoon to dip and dive into Philadelphia’s most notorious 24 GRID P H IL LY.CO M JU LY 2 0 23

swimming hole and its neighboring waters.

Some had started small fires on the creeks’ banks or in portable grills balanced among the rocks to cook a meal fit for the scenery.

Teenagers and twenty-somethings leapt off 15-foot-high cliffs into Devil’s Pool, the sound of their screams colliding with the music bouncing around the valley walls that have made this location a gathering place for centuries. Nearby, a man encouraged his dog to swim.

The crowds that flock to Devil’s Pool each summer are a testament to its unique status

in the region as an outdoors destination that offers something no public pool ever could.

“There’s a connection with nature,” Oliveras said. “If you’re going to a swimming pool, you don’t feel that connection — that you’re close to the trees and the water and the fishes, being out in the sun and having fun.”

That connection has made visiting Devil’s Pool a generational affair. Like many who spend time there, Oliveras first came with his family when he was young. But the natural and elemental beauty that brings crowds to Devil’s Pool exists in contrast to Philadelphia’s prohibition against swimming in the city’s waterways, in part to protect nature and in part to protect visitors. Just 48 hours earlier, a man had drowned in a different section of Wissahickon Creek. Two weeks later, another drowned in Devil’s Pool itself.

Craig Johnson, who for 11 years has lived in Glen Fern, the 300-year-old stone house at the bottom of Livezey Lane, just a few hundred feet from Devil’s Pool, said a half-dozen accidents at the site each year require emer-

A visit to Devil’s Pool is a family affair, despite a lack of facilities and a prohibition on swimming.

[W]e are not an enforcement group, so we really are working to engage visitors, educate and hope to spark something in people to at the very least carry out what you carried in.” // RUFFIAN TITTMANN, Friends of the Wissahickon Executive Director gency attention from first responders. In addition to the risk of injury and drowning, the water can also become polluted after rainfall because of the city’s use of combined sewer overflows. Despite these concerns, Devil’s Pool has remained a special setting for generations of Philadelphians.

“The biophilic benefits of connecting with nature, connecting with natural water and being in that kind of environment in a safe social landscape are enormous,” Johnson said. “I can’t tell you how many happy people and happy families we see coming and going, having one of the best days of the year to get out and be in this kind of an environment that is quite unsupervised.”

The freedom afforded by Devil’s Pool is a significant part of its appeal to Nathan, 16, one of Oliveras and Colon’s children who was enjoying their family outing that Sunday. He appreciates walking over the rocks that have surrounded Devil’s Pool for hundreds of years and seeing fish swim past when he’s in the water.

“When you’re here, nobody can rule you,” he said. “You can be yourself. But with that you’ve got to be careful of certain things. This isn’t a pool, and there’s no lifeguard.”

Among other typical poolside amenities, the location also lacks restrooms and trash cans — an understandable if unfortunate reality for a natural setting that isn’t intended by the City and its park system as the summer hangout it has become.

Ruffian Tittmann, executive director of Friends of the Wissahickon, said her organization has gone “all-in” on its leave-no-trace approach to the park, working to educate visitors about the harm caused by any trash, waste or food they leave behind. The Friends clean up tons of trash from the park each year, including at Devil’s Pool, but “we are not an enforcement group, so we really are working to engage visitors, educate and hope to spark something in people to at the very least carry out what you carried in,” she said.

Having witnessed all aspects of what Devil’s Pool offers and invites over the years,

Johnson said he wishes the area had improved signage to give visitors the information they need to enjoy themselves responsibly — both for their own sake and for the park’s.

“I would do more to help visitors understand the cultural and natural history of the site, not just for education purposes, but because they’ll care for it more,” Johnson said.

The City prohibits not just swimming but also wading and sitting in creeks, and “visitors of all ages consider this policy to be unjust, unenforceable and ridiculous,” Johnson said. If the prohibition exists to protect people from the water itself, water quality sensors could be installed to create dynamic indicators that would inform visitors of what to expect when they wade in, he suggested. And if the prohibition is intended to protect the landscape, even the simple presence of trash cans would help.

To Nathan Boon, a senior program officer with the William Penn Foundation, whose aims include improving water quality and recreational access in the Philadelphia region, “traditional parks infrastructure” would go a long way toward improving the Devil’s Pool experience by creating harmony between recreation, safety and preservation.

He wants to help the region’s waterways shed their reputation for being unclean so more people can engage with nature.

“There’s a spiritual connection there for folks in the ability to immerse yourself in a natural water body,” Boon said.

Boon has watched as visitors have traveled to the Wissahickon in record numbers in recent years, particularly as Philadelphians sought refuge and relief in nature during the pandemic. Like Oliveras and his family, Boon appreciates the powerful presence of Devil’s Pool as a shining asset in the city’s park system. Its ability to attract so many visitors despite its risks and imperfections — and the City’s desire to keep people out of the water — makes it a site that should be celebrated and supported in all it has to offer.

“You’ve got a phenomenon that is worth accommodating,” Boon said. ✿ grid reminds readers that, however popular and compelling, swimming at Devil’s Pool remains both against park rules and dangerous.

J ULY 20 23 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 25

parks

THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE

Park groups take native plantings beyond the urban wilds story by bernard brown • photography by chris baker evens

Someday this seedling will improve a park for humans and wildlife.

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uilding on philadelphia’s history as the “Garden Capital of America,” conservancy groups, landscape designers, urban horticulturists and backyard growers in our region are taking part in a revolutionary shift in gardening. By incorporating native plants — the trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that flourished here over 200 years ago — into local landscapes, these practitioners are moving beyond gardening for people toward gardening for people and the planet.

“In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty,” writes Doug Tallamy, entomologist, author and founder of nonprofit Homegrown National Park. “Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.” Choosing native plants is a simple, transformative act we can take.

Allison Schapker, chief projects officer at the Fairmount Park Conservancy, shares the reasons the conservancy’s work includes going native. “In every landscape we manage, regardless of scale or location, we are always thinking about providing beautification and spiritual uplift for residents, while providing ecological uplift.”

To get the most from their financial investments, the conservancy designs gardens to deliver a broad range of benefits: natural beauty, wildlife food, even stormwater management. Their ongoing work at FDR Park includes numerous native plant installations. Next up is the creation of a native plant habitat at the Johnny Sample Recreation Center in Cobbs Creek Park.

Roxborough Manayunk Conservancy (RMC) stewardship coordinator Tom Landsmann is a passionate propagator of natives. On an ingeniously designed compact property, Landsmann operates a private nursery for RMC’s reclamation projects. Landsmann, a lanky former marathoner largely self-taught in horticulture, recalls riding his bike to Pennypack Park, his childhood playground. He remembers the park as a mess of illegal dumping and neglect, but it introduced him to the quiet enjoyment of nature. In 2005 Landsmann began converting his secluded riverfront plot from a weed-choked junkyard into a richly fertile nursery. Since then, Landsmann estimates that, under the dappled shade of graceful trees, he has nurtured

Tom Landsmann, of the Roxborough Manayunk Conservancy, tends a nursery of native plants bound for public parks.

about 6,000 native white oak, river birch, sugar maple, shagbark hickory, ash, cedars and beech trees — and various shrubs — from seedlings to maturity. While he stops short of naming his plants (although he did refer to a lone Jack-in-the-pulpit as “my Jack”), his respect and affection for the plants under his care is palpable.

RMC began as a group of concerned citizens hoping to protect vulnerable land from development. It now cares for 18 sites, most notably the Roxborough Reservoir, where Landsmann estimates the group has planted more than 1,000 trees. Reclamation work requires considerable time. In Landsmann’s estimation, “if you put 100 or 1,000 hours into something, you want to see results. The bottom line is, it’s easy to plant natives. The reward is not just a pretty plant. You want a landscape that’s low maintenance. You want it to look pretty and attract interesting things.”

The Philadelphia Orchard Project (POP) has been planting fruit trees across Philadelphia since 2007 with a specific goal in mind: making fresh fruit available to people with limited access. Co-executive director Phil Forsyth explains that POP plants both native and non-native trees since most of the fruit Americans eat is non-native. Apples, for example, did not originate on this continent. Forsyth promotes more widespread use of our native fruits, in particular the little-known pawpaw. Dubbed the “banana of the North,” the delicious pawpaw is native to Pennsylvania, as are juneberries, chokecherries, maypop vine and, of course, blueberries.

It’s easy to plant natives. The reward is not just a pretty plant. You want a landscape that’s low maintenance.

You want it to look pretty and attract interesting things.” // TOM LANDSMANN, Roxborough Manayunk Conservancy Fruit trees can be notoriously tricky to grow, but not so with natives. “If I plant something native it’s automatically going to be happy,” Forsyth says. “Native fruit trees have a special relationship with native insects and the wildlife that depend on them. They provide habitat and food for a greater part of the ecology.”

Blueberries, as Jeff Lorenz, co-founder of Refugia Design, Inc., discovered, are a powerful “gateway plant” for homeowners unsure about adding natives to their landscape. There used to be a reluctance to use native plants for fear that they would create a “fuzzy” look instead of the manicured lawn or the showy plant “bling” we have been conditioned to expect from our gardens. What began years ago as a trend is now, Lorenz believes, a powerful movement toward creating sustainable, gorgeous native landscapes. A Temple graduate who hires “native talent” from his alma mater, Lorenz launched his business in 2015 to design and install native habitats for homeowners. These gardens serve as what he describes as “connective tissue,” linking municipal parks and preserves into a healthy ecosystem across our region.

Lorenz likens native plants to “an EV for

your garden.” His list of potential benefits includes sequestering carbon, absorbing stormwater, promoting plant resiliency, creating cooling shade, preventing erosion and supporting a food web for pollinators and wildlife. “You’re not gardening just for eye candy, but you can still have the eye candy” with gardens designed for lush color and visual interest across the seasons. Lorenz notes that while city dwellers often travel to experience nature, “with native plants in your backyard you can experience nature at home.”

Tallamy’s initiative, Homegrown National Park, wants to inspire 20 million acres of native plantings across the United States.

Thanks to Audubon Mid-Atlantic’s cleverlynamed “2020 Birdy Dozen” list, it’s easy to know what to plant. Every small-scale planting matters, even in urban and suburban gardens. As Fairmount Park Conservancy CEO Maura McCarthy says, “the thing to remember is it’s not all or nothing.

Every native plant has value.”

And Landsmann asks you to consider this question: “How much more beautiful does it make a flower when it attracts a swallowtail or monarch butterfly or a ruby-throated hummingbird?” ✿ J ULY 20 23 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 27

parks

( N OT

SO)

HIDDEN GEMS Not all of Philly’s finest parks are public story by ashley lauren walker

A

re you searching for places in the area that allow you to enjoy what the outdoors has to offer?

As summer heats up, many of us are looking for an urban (or rural) oasis that will let us briefly escape the hustle and bustle of city life to enjoy the natural environment. While popular locations such as Fairmount Park West and East, FDR Park and Clark Park are typically the first locations that come to mind, Philadelphia’s privately-owned parks allow visitors to encounter the intersection of nature, education, history and community. The city is home to a number of beautiful arboretums, cemeteries, gardens and nature centers that offer visitors a wide variety of environments and experiences that aren’t replicated anywhere else in the area.

Here are seven privately-owned parks in and around Philadelphia that offer the peace and tranquility of nature in unique settings:

arb oretums

Morris Arboretum & Gardens 100 E Northwestern Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118 • Morris is a 92-acre Victorian arboretum located in Chestnut Hill. Connecting plants, people and place, the grounds boast more than 11,000 plants of more than 2,500 species. Once visitors have observed the flora, they can view the arboretum’s beloved Garden Railway, get a bird’s-eye view of the forest from 50 feet high on the Tree Canopy Walk or take a lap around the swan pond.

Now through October, Morris is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends with the last entry at 4 p.m. Tickets are free for children 2 and under, $10 for youth ages 3 to 17, $18 for seniors 65 and over and $20 for adults. Discounts are available for PennCard or ACCESS holders, students and members of the military.

cemeterie s

Laurel Hill 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19132 (East) and 225 Belmont Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 (West) • The historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, arguably the most famous burial ground in the city, was the first architecturally designed cemetery in the country. Spanning 265 acres with a certified arboretum, Laurel Hill offers a beautiful place to reflect on those lost, relax in serenity and relish natural landscapes. The arboretum has a curated collection of more than 6,000 specimens of trees and shrubs along with a breathtaking display of various flowers and foliage. Laurel Hill is accessible via foot, car or public transit via bus routes 60 and 61).

The grounds are open 365 days a year at no cost to the public.

Mount Moriah Historic Cemetery & Arboretum 6201 Kingsessing Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19142 • Mount Moriah is a 200-acre cemetery that stretches across Southwest Philadelphia and Yeadon and serves as a historic burial ground and arboretum. The extensive grounds offer a space to get lost amid the historic monuments and the greenery.

There are plenty of volunteer opportunities to restore and maintain the space, plus

Greenspace for the living at Mt. Moriah cemetery.

1 Awbury Road, Philadelphia, PA 19138 • Awbury Arboretum is a 56-acre landscape nestled in Germantown. Established in 1916 by members of the Cope family for the “quiet enjoyment of nature” and educational purposes, the arboretum combines nature, history and community for all visitors. They offer a number of educational programs and events, including the Awbury Farm Market every Sunday between 1 and 5 p.m. from April through October and Wellness Walks every Monday and Thursday from 7 to 8 a.m. Awbury’s grounds are open dawn to dusk, 365 days a year, and free of charge.

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DREW DENNIS

Awbury Arboretum

sibility — via the 40th Street Trolley Portal, I-76, or pedestrian and bicycle pathways — is also a plus. The Woodlands is open 365 days a year from dawn until dusk.

gardens and more

Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden 1829 East County Line Road, Villanova, PA 19085

• Stoneleigh, a Natural Lands Trust garden that showcases native plants, is located just outside of the city and sits on over 40 acres of land adjacent to Villanova University.

Home to more than 40,000 plants, the garden offers visitors a glimpse at a variety of flora and fauna and serves as a destination for the community by offering programs like yoga and summer gardening. Stoneleigh is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is only closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission is free and the paths are accessible for people of all abilities.

The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education Walk right in at Stoneleigh Preserve, admission is free.

The Woodlands 4000 Woodland Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104 • The Woodlands is a 54-acre active cemetery located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. With beautiful gardens, a stunning mansion and a landscape that hosts a variety of community programs, it is easy to see why the Woodlands was designated a National Historic Landmark District. Acces-

MAE AXELROD

year-round events such as community days, craft markets and even an annual cemetery crawl. If you’re planning a visit, please note that the Kingsessing Avenue gate is open Friday through Monday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Yeadon-side gate is only open on weekends during the same hours.

The Yeadon entrance is at 1004 Cobbs Creek Parkway. Admission to Mount Moriah is free to the public.

8480 Hagy’s Mill Road, Philadelphia, PA 19128 • The Schuylkill Center provides visitors with 340 acres of natural lands to explore in Upper Roxborough. Accessible via car, various SEPTA routes or the Miquon train station, it is the largest privately-owned open space in the city. The center offers a variety of programs and activities for all ages, including birdwatching, artworks and nature education (there’s even a preschool).

Admission is free for all. Gift shop and visitor center hours are Monday through Saturday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and trail hours are dawn to dusk. ✿

J ULY 20 23 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 29

parks

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parks

L EAVE

IT

TO

BEAVERS

What if we had handed Cobbs Creek over to wild engineers?

The beaverengineered landscape is a resilient one. When it rains, the marshes and ponds hold water.

Beaver dams can shunt floodwater out into the floodplain, which slows its flow downstream (though it can be a problem for human infrastructure in the floodplain).

M uch of the work being done in the Cobbs Creek Golf Course by the Cobbs Creek

Foundation is intended to reduce flooding around the creek and its tributaries, including Indian Creek. Human engineers have designed retention ponds and artificial wetlands … kinda like what beavers build. ¶ To be clear, this is a fanciful thought exercise. A beaver-driven restoration of the floodplain is not currently possible given that the lease with the foundation won’t expire for several decades.

But maybe the next time a Philly waterway needs to be restored, the beavers can get the contract.

Beavers are the other great landscape engineers in the Philly region, aside from humans. The semi-aquatic rodents, which live in and around the golf course, build dams that back up streams and creeks into ponds. Eventually those ponds fill in with sediment and become wetlands, and the beavers move up- and downstream to repeat the process. The result is a dynamic landscape of meandering flowing water, ponds and marshes.

A beaverengineered landscape might have meant less golf right around the creek, but given the flood control and other environmental benefits of a rich wetland complex such as carbon storage and improved wildlife habitat, maybe that would have been worth it.

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RE N D E RIN G BY B RYAN SATA LI NO

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