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Parkside Association of Philadelphia, Inc was established on June 1, 1977 to provide community based planning for the West Parkside Community. Parkside Association of Philadelphia incorporated on December 30, 1977 and has been in operation for 33 years and continues to be a dynamic force in and for the community.
In 1977 the City of Philadelphia proposed to construct a parking lot for what was then called the Dell East in Fairmount Park. This was directly across from the residential 5100 hundred block of Parkside Avenue. Lucinda Hudson, then 28 year old mother of two sons, led a protest to stop the construction of that parking lot. PAP was born out of that protest which was viewed by the residents as a negative externality on their community. The momentum spurred further community organizing, participation, development planning efforts, and the subsequent appointment of block captains that would eventually become the Board of Directors of PAP. Ella D. Francis was elected as PAP first president and served in that capacity until October 1997, when Lucinda Hudson was elected and has been the president until present day. In 1978, West Parkside was given neighborhood status, and the Philadelphia Planning Commission put together the “West Parkside Strategy Plan”, a comprehensive plan directed at improving the neighborhood’s housing stock, site improvements to facilitate pedestrian travel, and improvements in bus service.
PAP has demonstrated experience in community development evidenced through its successful rehabilitation of 19 houses producing 26 units of living. Subsequently, the rehabilitation of these buildings has created much needed affordable housing stock for community residents, and restored aesthetic appeal to Parkside’s external façade abutting Fairmount Park contributing to the greater marketability of the community.
Centennial Village will be a mixed-generation community with fifty-two dwelling units and 7,633 square feet of commercial space located in the West Parkside neighborhood. It will be developed by Community Ventures in collaboration with the Parkside Association of Philadelphia. The site will occupy most of both sides of 52nd Street between Columbia and Parkside Avenues, as well as adjacent properties on nearby streets.
The City of Philadelphia has budgeted almost $3,000,000 in Neighborhood Transformation Initiative funds to acquire fifty-four properties on 52nd Street and on adjacent blocks. The Centennial Village site will be assembled from this acquisition package and from a group of adjacent publicly-owned properties. The remaining acquired properties will be set aside for follow-up packages of affordable sales homes. The remaining funding has come from a combination of CDBG funds from the office of Housing and Community Development; the West Philadelphia Empowerment Zone and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA).
An apartment building containing thirty-two one-bedroom units, a community room, a rental management office, and commercial space will occupy most of the entire west side of 52nd Street between Columbia and Parkside Avenues. Off-street parking will be provided at the rear of the apartment building with access from the 5200 Block of Parkside Avenue. A community park adjacent to the parking lot and fronting on 5200 Parkside will be renovated. The entire east side of 52nd Street facing the apartment building between Columbia and Parkside Avenues will also be developed. A former bar at Parkside Avenue will be renovated to include two two-bedroom units on the second and third floors and 833 square feet of unfinished retail space on the first floor. Two mixed-use buildings with a total of four three-bedroom homes and 3,600 square feet of commercial space (half of which will be occupied by Parkside Association and used to provide community services) will be constructed on the vacant lots between the Parkside Inn and Viola Street. Two three-bedroom and two four-bedroom homes will be constructed just south of Viola Street. The community park on the south end of the block will be renovated (funded by a contribution from Community Ventures’ development fee). Finally, the project site includes seven vacant structures and two vacant lots that have a direct impact on the main site. Located near the properties on the east and west sides of 52nd Street, they will be developed as eight single family homes and one duplex.
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