Triangle at Passyunk and Mifflin to be rebuilt into community space
UPDATE: As of Monday, the newsstand was removed from the triangle. This post has been updated with new photos.
The Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corporation, which was responsible for turning the area around the fountain at Passyunk and Tasker into a usable space, plans to take its methods to another triangle a few blocks down.
PARC director Sam Sherman told us the organization bought the newsstand and plans to tear it down. They’ll then add seating, better lighting and landscaping to the triangle, which includes the bronze statue of boxer Joey Giardello.
The transformation from glorified traffic island — across the street from the under-demolition former King of Jeans building — to hangout space is scheduled to begin within the next couple weeks.
“Today the power should be cut from the building, and if that happens, demolition will occur shortly thereafter,” Sherman told us yesterday.
The changes won’t be as comprehensive as around the fountain or at the gateway that is still planned for Broad, Passyunk and McKean. But expect to see another area to hang out with a cup of coffee, or a comic book and a cupcake from across the street.
“We’re trying to make it outdoor flex space, like a smaller version of the fountain,” Sherman said. “As you see our trend here is to create these sort of resting spots along the avenue.”
They will take out the trees on the 13th Street side “and put some that are more appropriate,” Sherman said. The roots are beginning to push up the sidewalk.
The goal is to get everything done in time for the car show on July 26.
Awesome. I see it also looks like they are ready to demo the king of jeans building? I spied some chainlink fence the other day…
“They will take out the trees on the 13th Street side “and put some that are more appropriate,” ”
I get that trees with roots that push up the sidewalk are bad, but are these new “appropriate” trees going to be the kind of tiny/”decorative” trees that I’ve seen being planted that don’t seem like they’ll ever offer any kind of real shade? Because otherwise they’re just glorified shrubbery.
Wonderful!! It is so nice to see the avenue coming to life again.
How about Caramella Gourmet Popcorn kiosk ?
Hell yeah! The popcorn place on 12th St in CC is like crack.
Id love to see some grass! There are so many dog owners along the avenue and so few grassy (not mulchy!) places for them to do their business. Add a trash can or those dispensers like in Rittenhouse and there shouldn’t be any problems
Gross
public space! somewhere for dogs to shit and piss!
there’s a dog park 4 blocks away.
The vast majority of visitors to Passyunk who are not dog owners would probably not appreciate smelling more poop. Take them to the dog park at 12th and Reed.
What about the project to redo the 12th/Morris/Passyunk intersection?
https://passyunkpost.com/2014/02/20/city-planning-to-make-improvements-to-12th-and-passyunk-ave/
I believe they made (minor) adjustments to the traffic lights, but it’s still terrible.
Nothing has happened yet, but it’s still coming. Stay tuned.
Please no peninsulas… Thats like training wheels for people who don’t know how to look both ways before crossing the street. Oh… And please look up from your phones people before walking across an intersection… Jeez!
Also made me think about the $500K William Penn grant for the East Passyunk “Gateway”. That article was from 1 1/2 years ago. What ever happened to that project?
Groundbreaking is April 15th, 6PM.
Need update on sketches, pictures, plans. Good you are good to go April 15th.
Show us photo updates of demolished news kiosk and installation of benches. Wonderful way to spruce up a public area and make the area look great!
how do we make the joe g statue go away?
It could be moved to the Wells Fargo Center as interior art. Better to keep the renovations now planned simple as a place for people to sit down and relax.
While the Joey G. statue is one of the most bizarre things I have ever laid eyes on, I say leave it.
Why?