Mayfair Memorial Playground will see new equipment and a little library, American flags will be installed on Rowland Avenue, and much more will happen soon.
This summer is shaping up to be a busy one for community activities in Mayfair.
During the bimonthly meeting of the Mayfair Civic Association, community leaders gave details on several new initiatives in the neighborhood.
Dana Lambie, co-chairwoman of the Mayfair Memorial Playground, reported three new pieces of play equipment will be installed at the playground by the end of June, with a fourth due to arrive in July. In addition, two Girl Scouts recently installed a “little library” at the playground as part of their Silver Award project.
The new equipment will include a climbing web, a “cozy cocoon,” an infant swing with a seat for an adult and a “teeter tunnel.” Workers will also lay down new mulch. The new equipment will complement the playground’s original equipment installed in 2011. The committee subsequently installed exercise equipment in 2013, a new fence and signs two years ago and new mulch last year.
The little library is a book depository fashioned from a former newspaper honor box. Delaney Hampton of New Foundations Charter School and Elizabeth McWilliams of St. Matthew School are both members of Girl Scout Troop 94427. They obtained an old newspaper honor box and repainted it with a happy face on the front.
People are encouraged to donate books to the library by placing them inside the box. Young readers are free to browse the books and borrow them, provided they return the books after reading them.
A group of neighborhood parents created Mayfair Memorial Playground Friends in 2009 after the School District of Philadelphia removed a popular play area from the grounds of Abraham Lincoln High School. In 2011, the committee received an $80,000 grant from Giant Food to install the first set of play equipment. The committee continues to raise money to fund new additions.
Meanwhile, the civic association’s treasurer, Jim Ortlieb, announced volunteers had completed the second-annual installation of American flags along Rowland Avenue. The flags will hang from utility poles throughout the spring and summer.
In addition, volunteers have installed memorial plaques around the “Lincoln Loop” jogging course to recognize police and firefighters who have been killed in the line of duty. Each year, the Mayfair Fallen Heroes Run memorializes a different fallen police officer or firefighter. This year’s run occurred on May 20 and honored Sgt. Timothy Simpson.
Donny Smith, the civic association’s president, announced there will be 11 concerts in the upcoming Pennypack Music Festival. The first show will be on May 31 and feature a Grateful Dead tribute act. All shows are held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at the Ed Kelly Amphitheater. Visit pennypack.org to view the full schedule.
Nance Kerns, an officer with the Friends of Pennypack Park, reported the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation expects to open a new footbridge near the amphitheater by July 4. The city was hoping to open the bridge spanning Pennypack Creek in time for the May 31 concert, but state game officials temporarily halted work on the bridge due to trout fishing season.
Sam Siegel, executive director of the Mayfair Business Improvement District, said the BID is planning to purchase and install seasonal banners along Frankford Avenue, which will help beautify the shopping district and complement the new sidewalk planters being installed there.
In other business, the civic association voted on five zoning cases. Members did not oppose an application for a new beer distributor at 7015 Roosevelt Blvd., the former site of the Empire Rock Club and a furniture store. Members also voted not to oppose an application for a new coffee shop and gourmet egg roll cafe at 3506 Cottman Ave.
MCA members were not opposed to a homeowner’s effort to legalize an exterior roof he built on the front of his home at 3467 Friendship St. But members opposed two other applications. In one case, a used car salesman is seeking permits to his expand auto repair activity at 6824 Frankford Ave. Meanwhile, at 3225 Guildford St., the owner is seeking to convert a single-family home into a duplex. ••
William Kenny can be reached at 215–354–3031 or wkenny@bsmphilly.com. Follow the Times on Twitter @NETimesOfficial.
