PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A group of national experts is suggesting a new operational structure to improve the Centennial District of Fairmount Park, and reconnect it to the people who live near the park.
The Urban Land Institute panel spent this week in Philadelphia, gathering final input for its report presented Friday to the Fairmount Park Conservancy.
While recognizing the park is a major Philadelphia asset, ULI panel chair Mike Higbee of Indianapolis didn’t pull any punches.
“Its physical conditions are poor. The programmatic offerings are conspicuously lacking,” Higbee said.
The 70,000 people who live in the Parkside neighborhood don’t feel connected to the park, Higbee said.
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“In many cases, the community is the last one to know whether or not an event is being held and how it might relate to the greater community,” Higbee pointed out.
“Local engagement is lacking, and certainly it feels like the park is more set up for the regional visitor and not the neighborhood visitor.”
The ULI panel recommended a West Fairmount Park Funding District be established to supplement city funding for park maintenance and operations.
“We recommend a surcharge on ticket sales or total revenues from park uses, including the Mann Center, the Zoo, the Please Touch Museum, and the Shofuso Japanese House,” said panel member Rachel MacCleery.
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The 1% to 3% surcharges, she said, could raise $250,000 to $1.5 million a year.
“Other revenue sources include regularized and monetized parking, solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations, ongoing stormwater funding,” she added.
Under the panel’s recommendation, the funding district’s board would operate through a memorandum of understanding with the Fairmount Park Conservancy.
Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell said a new governance structure isn’t necessarily a silver bullet, but she liked some of the panel’s recommendations.
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“I think some of the ideas coming out of this are really wonderful,” Ott Lovell said after the presentation at the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center.
“I think the idea of a funding district is important. I think we need a funding district for the whole park system.”
Ott Lovell, however, cautioned against putting a larger burden on non-profits such as the Zoo and the Mann Center that she says already support the park.
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