Parking

Hello, beautiful. This week's park is Fitler Square, located between Pine and Spruce and 23rd and 24th Streets. This park is a charmer, with cute bronze animal statues, a central fountain, a garden, a weekly year-round farmer's market, and what appears to be an active and engaged Improvement Association.

However, the park wasn't always what it is today. Created in 1896 at the site of a former brickyard, the park was named for Edwin Fitler, Philadelphia's mayor from 1887-1891. The next fifty or so years of its existence were filled with deterioration, causing the park to be described as both a "mudhole" and the "forgotten park." As is now the scene in last week's featured park, empty bottles littered the square. In the 1940's and 50's, restoration began on the park as civic clubs and architects decorated and redesigned the park. However, their work, including new plantings and seating areas, were quickly ripped out and destroyed by vandals. Sigh.

But the people living in the area did not give up on their park! No, instead, in 1962, the Fitler Square Improvement Association was formed. The group raises money to help maintain the park, supplementing any funds received from the Department of Recreation. Funds are raised through annual membership dues (which are currently $20 for an individual) and from a Spring Fair that is held yearly. The association oversaw the repair of the cracked and missing sidewalks in the 1960's, planted flowers and bushes in gardens that once hosted nothing other than trash, and installed trees and light fixtures. In the 1980's, the park upped its game even more by installing three bronze animal sculptures: "Family of Turtles" and "Grizzly Bear" by Eric Berg and "The Ram" by Gerd Hesness (pictured). Today, the park is a great place to go and spend a lunch hour or to sit and have a long, undisturbed conversation. The animal statues are also quite popular with adults and kids alike. The year round farmer's market, held on Saturdays, is also quite a draw. Seriously, I bought the best baguette ever there last week.

Fitler Square's current and continuing beauty and functionality shows that a determined group of citizens can transform from their park from blight to a space suitable and usable by all.

Upcoming events in the parks:
Help Map the Future of Penn Treaty Park: community meeting to help shape the new Penn Treaty Master Plan, First Presbyterian Church, Kensington, 418 E Girard Avenue. Thursday 2/26, 6:30-8:30PM. Go to share your concerns about the park and hopes for the future park. Refreshments will be served. Hosted by Friends of Penn Treaty Park and the PA Horticultural Society. For more info or to register, email Alice at aedgerton@pennhort.org.

Get Involved: Dickinson Square Park Clean Up(Saturday, 9AM).

Get your veggies: Farmer's Markets: Fitler Square (Saturdays, 9AM-2PM); Clark Park (Saturdays, 10AM-1PM), Rittenhouse Square (Saturdays 10AM-2PM).

If you know of anything exciting happening in your local park in the near future, please e-mail amy@phillyist.com!

Photo by the author.