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June 23, 2005 Issue                                                              

       Latest Update: June 24

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kssWinner of
Three 2005 Keystone Awards

Noted in the
Northwest
CHCA Officers, At-Large Election Results
(Update: June 24)
The 40-member Chestnut Hill Community Association Board of Directors elected the officers and at-large members of its executive committee Thursday evening (June 23).
Plans for Cresheim Valley outlined at celebration
The spirit of cooperation was a major theme at the Chestnut Hill Rotary Club’s celebration of the reopening of Cresheim Valley Drive and the restoration of its signature pergola structure. “This project really reflects the partnership of Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy,” club member Carl Shaifer told a crowd assembled on the pergola’s platform.
Imam Convicted in Probe
A federal jury found Imam Shamsud-din Ali, the politically-connected Muslim cleric at the center of a scam to defraud the city, guilty of racketeering, conspiracy and 20 related fraud charges last week. Among a number of what prosecutors described as “money-for-nothing” schemes was the yearlong effort involving a delinquent real-estate tax settlement with the Chestnut Hill-based development firm Bowman Properties.

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James Sturdivant
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james@chestnuthilllocal.com

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©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local News

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wises

Route 23 Derailed
by MICHAEL MISHAK

Is SEPTA breaking its promise to restore trolley service on the world's longest streetcar line?

As the bus passed Cumberland Avenue on 10th Street, William Faltermayer felt something was wrong. Route 23, which the retired Wyndmoor resident had enjoyed religiously most of his adult life, was somehow different that morning. Then, one block later, it hit him. The tracks were gone, paved over with asphalt.

He hadn’t noticed the 40-foot stretch of blacktopped rail when the bus veered off Germantown Avenue, but the six solid blocks of paved track between York Street and Susquehanna Avenue was hard to miss.

For Faltermayer, the paving is a harbinger of what many Northwest residents have feared for more than a decade: the end of the line, literally, for trolleys on the historic Route 23, believed to be the longest light rail line in the world, stretching 12.5 miles from Chestnut Hill to South Philadelphia.

Activists say SEPTA is deliberately placing trolley restoration out of reach. The transit agency says it's honoring its agreement with the city.

Chestnut Hill College to
Bid for Sugarloaf Property
by MICHAEL J. MISHAK
The college would develop student housing, parking and academic space on the 32-acre estate, which was placed on the market earlier this month
Nearly five months after Temple University exited the Sugarloaf Conference Center in Chestnut Hill, another academic institution is expressing interest in the 32-acre estate. Chestnut Hill College told a small group of residents at a community meeting last week it hoped to acquire the property, outlining its vision in the event of a sale. The school, which celebrated its 80th anniversary this year, is seeking to accommodate the unprecedented growth it has seen since going co-ed in fall 2003.

wbcmarkWissahickon Boys Club
Recognized as Historic Landmark
by AMY BRISSON
What do comedian Bill Cosby, Herbert Adderley (a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame) and Barbara Harris, the first woman ordained as an Episcopalian bishop, have in common? They are all alumni of the Wissahickon Boys & Girls Club, which was recognized last Wednesday as a Philadelphia historic landmark.

Hill Tower Changes Hands (Again)
By AMY BRISSON
Last week, residents of the Chestnut Hill Tower Apartments received a surprise slipped under their doors: a notice that the building, previously owned by Korman Residential Inc., had just been sold to BLDG Management Co. of New York, N.Y. Although the Local contacted several current tenants for comment, some had only just been informed by notice of the changeover. Former tenant association president Mimi Glaser said in a phone interview on Friday that she was “ambivalent” about the transfer, but had only learned of it that morning when a paper was slipped under her door.

commCommerce Bank Branch
Planned for Avenue
By MEREDITH SONDERSKOV
Representatives from Commerce Bank made their first presentation to the Development Review Committee on Tuesday evening, June 14, at Hiram Lodge. The bank has the property at the southwest corner of Germantown and Evergreen avenues under contract. The space formerly housed the Gap, which left in December 2003.

ZBA Approves Woodmere
By MICHAEL J. MISHAK
It’s finally over. The months-long case of Woodmere Art Museum and its neighbors ended last week when the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) granted the institution’s request for a zoning variance.

Crime Report     Pastorius Park News     CHCA News     Senior Center News  

Winners Named in Grass Court Tournament
Third seeded Madison Brengle of Dover, Del. defeated the number one seed, Lindsay Burdette (Jackson, Ga.) 6-3, 6-3 in Saturday’s final of the US Junior International Grass Court Championships at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Fifth-seeded Rupesh Roy (India) played an aggressive serve and volley game for a 6-1, 6-2 win over sixth seeded Will Spencer (Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.) in the boys’ finals.


Plunkett steps down as CHA head coach
by TOM UTESCHER
In about two months, Chestnut Hill Academy football players will gather at the local school for the start of training camp, the annual prelude to the autumn campaign on the gridiron. There will be something different about the ritual this time, though, because for the first time in two dozen seasons the Blue Devils will not have Jack Plunkett as their head coach.

Winning Pose
The Chestnut Hill Youth Sports Club major level (11 and 12 year-old) baseball champs this year were the Cardinals, who defeated the Mets in the championship game on June 16.

Depleted Magic top Rock South
by TOM UTESCHER
Although numerous absences reduced their roster to just seven players, the Mount St. Joseph Magic still managed to eke out a victory over Council Rock South last Wednesday evening in the Hatboro Horsham summer basketball league.

Local Life

Springside girls work so African kids can eat
by ELISABETH TORG
One hot Saturday not too long ago, Maddie Megargee walked three long, slow miles along Forbidden Drive. It took her three and a half hours. This was a one-girl walkathon with a purpose.

mktChestnut Hill Outdoor Market
to open June 25
by GAIL COHEN
An outdoor market, with real farmers, is coming to Chestnut Hill,” announced Bob Pierson, program director of Farm to City, on Monday of this week in a conversation with the Local. The market will open Saturday, June 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and every Saturday through November.

Hiller directs entertaining and sly screwball comedy
by HUGH HUNTER
The Old Academy Players is completing its current season with the running of Return Engagements. Directed by Chestnut Hill resident Helga Krauss, the play is an entertaining screwball comedy that gives new meaning to the concept of “family values.”

Germantown Music Studio
Still Melodic After 25 Years
by BETH A. BROOKS
Twenty-five years is a long time to be in one place. But that’s how long Rich Rudin and the Maplewood Music Studio in Germantown have been together. Rudin is the founder, owner and artistic director of the studio. Rudin, a graduate of Central High (228th graduating class) grew up in East Mt. Airy/West Oak Lane.