Germantown
neighbors look to save Wissahickon Playground from destruction
Published: Monday,
March 30, 2015 on http://montgomerynews.com
By Bernard J.
Scally
bscally@21st-centurymedia.com
@MrBScally on Twitter
Germantown >> Last
month, a group of residents filed a civil complaint against the Philadelphia Housing Authority with the goal of saving their
local playground.
A suit was filed in Orphans’
Court on March 3, seeking an injunction to halt the redevelopment of the area that was once the Wissahickon Playground, located
at the corner of Pulaski Avenue and Penn Street.
“Playgrounds are
very connected to the community,” said resident Greg Paulmier, the complaint’s lead plaintiff. “They are
like a good food store. It’s where we meet.”
According to court documents,
attorney Samuel Stretton claims the City of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) and the Philadelphia Authority
for Industrial Development (PAID) have violated the Public Trust Doctrine among other laws.
According to the plaintiffs,
the Wissahickon Playground was deeded to the city in 1935. It was dismantled in the years leading up to the implosion of the
Queen Lane Apartments. The six-story high rise was demolished to make way for a new 55-unit low-density development. Neighbors
and PHA officials among others worked to preserve a Colonial-era Potter’s Field, or burial ground, on the site.
According to plaintiff
Hal Sawyer, the site was a playground as far back as the 1890s. The playground is named after the Wissahickon Boys Club, the
first and oldest and at that time only youth club for blacks in the country, which leased the site for a club playground.
“It played a real
role in the Boys & Girls Club,” said Paulmier.
According to the suit,
the city wrongly deeded the property to PAID, which deeded it to PHA. Both transfers, according to the suit, should require
Orphans’ Court approval.
According to Paulmier,
there is hope for victory as attorney Stretton made a similar argument in Northeast Philadelphia in 2008 against Fox Chase
Cancer Center from annexing a section of Burholme Park.
“We expect there
to be a wonderful playground in future for the kids to play in,” said Paulmier.
According to Paulmier,
the case should be heard in Orphans’ Court in April.