Tempers flare, accord
sought at Water Tower meeting by AMY BRISSON The tension in the room was tangible at the beginning
of the first meeting between the public and the Water Tower committee
of the Chestnut Hill Community Association on July 18 in the recreation
center gymnasium.
The ad hoc committee was created in March to
consider options for “the CHCA partnering with the City of
Philadelphia to expand the recreational opportunities” at
the Water Tower. Last week’s meeting — the first with
the public — followed the distribution of a CHCA survey about
the recreation center.
Committee member Bob Previdi invited the approximately
50 community members present to share ideas about the Water Tower
with the group so that they could base future plans on the interests
of the neighbors.
by
MICHAEL J. MISHAK
As Americans celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World
War II this year, one group of distinguished veterans is proudly
marking another occasion: the breaking of the color barrier in the
U.S. Marine Corps.
Among them is Richard V. Washington, one of nearly
20,000 black Marines who served in the war after training at Montford
Point, a segregated military camp in North Carolina. More than two
decades before the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, the Montford
Point Marines opened a door that had been closed to the black community
for 167 years.
For Washington, who was living in Mt. Airy at the
time, enlisting in the Marine Corps was just one milestone in a
life of firsts. “There are far more opportunities now than
there were then,” Washington said in an interview last week.
“But in 1942, the country needed shaking up.”
At last month’s Land Use Planning and Zoning
committee meeting, many concerns were raised regarding the bank’s
plans for the building, the former Gap location at the corner of
Evergreen and Germantown avenues. Among the items the committee
asked the design team to reconsider were the scale of the building,
the commercial feel, the colors, the tree pits, the window frames,
and the lighting — elements key to ensuring that the building
fits architecturally with the historic, pedestrian-friendly character
of Chestnut Hill.
A contest between Democrat Cherelle Parker, a former
aide to City Councilwoman Marian Tasco, and Republican Robert Rossman,
a retired computer programmer and longtime area activist, will decide
the successor to state Sen. LeAnna Washington.
Washington, who served nearly six terms in the state
House of Representatives, switched legislative chambers last month
after winning a special election in May. She follows now-U.S. Rep.
Allyson Schwartz, who vacated the state Senate seat in January when
she was sworn into Congress.
by
MICHAEL J. MISHAK