Woodmere awarded $90,000 state grant

As the future of Gov. Rendell's environmental bond initiative, dubbed Growing Greener II, remained uncertain last week, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) presented Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill with a $90,000 check. The grant was one of 13 awarded to local institutions and conservation groups in what may be the last gasp of a five-year program that has run out of funding steam.

The grant will help finance the construction of a porous pavement parking lot as part of Woodmere's expansion project. Supported by the Philadelphia Water Department, Wissahickon Watershed Association and Morris Arboretum, the parking lot design will reduce storm water runoff and overall pollution to the Wissahickon Creek. Designed on a slope, the museum's current hard-surface asphalt lot has contributed to flooding problems in the Wissahickon Watershed.

While the DEP had intended to cover Woodmere's entire request of $138,000, uncertainty about future funding for Growing Greener prompted the agency to scale back its award.

Though Rendell proposed an ambitious plan for the program's expansion in February, the state legislature has largely ignored pleas to approve the measure, which would borrow $800 million for cleaning up abandoned mines and preserving open space, among other environmental projects. Some Republicans object to the borrowing, in addition to raising trash-hauling fees.

The legislature has until Nov. 30 to address unfinished business. If approved, Growing Greener II would come before voters during the May Primary Election in the form of a ballot initiative.

"Without additional resources, prospects for the future are grim," said DEP regional director Joseph A. Feola last week. "If this doesn't pass, economic development and environmental improvements will take a hit, but nobody's talking."

The art museum was one of 54 applicants in Southeastern Pennsylvania. According to Feola, less than a quarter of projects seeking grants in the region were selected. The $600,000 regional appropriation, part of a $5.5 million statewide total, was significantly less than previous years, he said. "The program is winding down," Feola said.

The Morris Arboretum's Bob Gutowski, who was on hand for last week's check presentation, lauded the Woodmere parking project, but warned that cutting the Growing Greener program could result in fewer nonprofit environmental groups like the Friends of the Wissahickon.

-Michael J. Mishak