Something’s finally going to happen at Benjamin Rush State Park at Southampton Road and the Boulevard.
A groundbreaking ceremony has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 19, for improvements to the park that will include the addition of unpaved roads for biking and walking and restrooms. The 275-acre park will get a new entrance, too, off of Southampton Road.
There has been talk of improving Rush for years. Zoning issues had hung up improvement plans, and after they were sorted out, money, or lack of it, got in the way.
In late 2010, local and state officeholders announced that the money was in hand to get the work started, but 2011 and most of 2012 went by with nothing happening.
Early this year, members of the Parkwood Civic Association said they were informed that work at the park will be completed in 2013.
In 2009, state officials presented a plan to develop Rush as a passive recreation area. The park had been used by community gardeners, a model airplane club and horseback riders, and had remained undeveloped for decades.
Contact John Loftus at 215–354–3110 or jloftus@bsmphilly.com