CAPA high school receives planning grant to transform its front yard on Broad Street

The underused front yard of CAPA, the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts at Broad and Christian streets, could see some new life.

The Community Design Collaborative has awarded CAPA’s Home and School Association a planning grant to explore possibilities for the green space out front. “We’ll help them discover how [CAPA] can transform its open space into an asset that enhances CAPA’s identity and connects it to the Avenue of the Arts, the surrounding neighborhood, and Philadelphia as a whole,” the Collaborative said on its website.

The Collaborative is the same organization helping so many planned improvement projects we’ve written about over the last couple of years: Columbus Square Park, Titan Park, Fabric Row, Southwark’s greening plan, Bainbridge Green and more.

Now we’re flush with renderings of ideal green spaces that are on the drawing board and only wish these things didn’t move at a snail’s pace. Remember, of course, that often we’re talking about big money to get this kind of thing done, and the Collaborative has a way of getting the ball rolling.

“Through these grants, our volunteer design professionals work side-by-side with communities to put their visions down on paper and move ahead with fundraising, gaining community and political support, and getting projects built,” the Collaborative said.

To progress, however incremental. Cheers.