August 10, 2006 Issue                                       

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local News...

Chestnut Hill College purchases Sugarloaf
The additional acreage nearly doubles the college campus, which is necessary to accommodate its expanding enrollment.
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

President of the Sisters of St. Joseph and Chair of Chestnut Hill College’s Board of Directors Sister Patricia Kelly, SSJ, and College President Sister Carol Jean Vale, SSJ, mixed the earth of the college’s current campus with Sugarloaf’s soil during the ceremony last Wednesday.

Hundreds of couples have stepped into a future filled with promises of love, “’til death do us part,” among the spring-green foliage of the Sugarloaf Estate. But, as of Wednesday, Aug. 2, the Sugarloaf estate will serve as the stepping stone for thousands of students, taking their own stride into an educated future with Chestnut Hill College.

The College signed the final papers in front of an audience of about 400, making official its purchase of the 32-acre Sugarloaf Estate from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation for $11 million. The college invited community members, students, staff and benefactors into the air-conditioned respite of Sorgenti Arena for a ceremonial signing and blessing of the now-expanded college campus.

Last Wednesday’s signing and blessing ceremony, which was supposed to take place on the Sugarloaf Estate, now referred to as SugarLoaf Hill by the college to fit its slogan of “joining of two hills,” was moved inside to Sorgenti Arena on the college’s current campus because of the overwhelming heat.

WMAN rejects New Covenant’s daycare expansion and elevator
The recently-formed WMAN zoning committee reviewed projects for New Covenant and controversial town homes on W. Mt. Pleasant Avenue.
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Van Strother, staff architect for New Covenant Church of Philadelphia, holds a rendering of a five-story elevator on the exterior of Founders Hall. The shaft could be constructed on the inside, pending a discussion with the city’s Historical Commission. (Photo by Kristin Pazulski)

West Mount Airy Neighbors’ new zoning committee voted August 2 to oppose two plans presented by New Covenant Church: one for the addition of a five-story elevator shaft to the outside of Founders Hall and the other for an expansion of its daycare program from 42 to 104 children.

New Covenant’s architect, Van Strother, had been asked to return to the WMAN zoning committee’s August meeting after presenting plans on both of the projects on July 5.

The July presentation left the community and committee with many unanswered questions. WMAN asked specifically for Strother to bring the following with him to last week’s meeting: details regarding the present day care’s operations, the day care’s role in the potential homeless shelter on the property, and the church’s master plan.

Strother responded to the requests in a letter dated July 11. He offered to bring the daycare operator, Nina Lockett, to the zoning meeting to answer operation questions, which he did. He also reiterated that the day care has nothing to do with the homeless shelter, but is addressing the 30-child waitlist for the day care services. It was previously reported that 50 children were on the waiting list, but Lockett said at the zoning meeting that some parents had found other facilities.

Water main repairs
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Residents of West Evergreen Avenue, between Germantown Avenue and Navajo Street, and Navajo Street, between Evergreen and Highland avenues, are facing eight months of heavy construction on their street as the Philadelphia Water Department conducts a routine, but large-scale water main replacement.

Pleasant Playground gets $2.5 million
The Mt. Airy playground’s advisory council hopes to raise $5 million for the new recreational center and facilities.
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

The light blue recreational center, in the background, at Pleasant Playground, will be replaced with a larger facility in the future. The advisory council currently has $2.5 million raised towards the project. (Photo by Kristin Pazulski)

On any summer day, Mt. Airy’s Pleasant Playground is swarming with children—playing on the big-kid, tiny-tot playgrounds, swimming at the public pool or tossing balls in the field or on the basketball courts. It’s hard to imagine that, with all the activity, the park was almost closed down for lack of use.

Now, with the property heavily used and programming growing, and $2.5 million secure, Pleasant Playground’s advisory council is halfway to its goal of a $5 million facility upgrade, which will include a brand-new, larger building for the recreational center.

Philanthropist, civic leader Dixon dies at 82

Fitz Eugene Dixon

Fitz Eugene Dixon, one of the Chestnut Hill area’s most notable civic leaders and philanthropists died last week, August 2 at the age of 82.He had been suffering from cancer for a year and finally succumbed to melanoma at Abington Memorial hospital.

Mr. Dixon’s farm estate covers 500 acres of bucolic fields and forests along the Wissahickon Creek just outside of Chestnut Hill in Whitemarsh Township. The farm is home to sheep, race horses and black Angus cattle and to a vast, formal garden and green houses; it’s the picturesque parcel one encounters on a drive along Stenton Avenue from Chestnut Hill.

One of his best-known civic accomplishments is the 1976 purchase of the Love Statue that currently stands at the head of JFK Plaza in Center City. Dixon purchased the statue from the Robert Indiana studio after the artist had removed it from the city failed to come up with the $45,000 he had requested for its purchase. Dixon bought the statue at a $10,000 discount soon after and gave the statue to the city.