Parking

Today we venture over to Northern Liberties to check out Liberty Lands park, the only park located in the NoLibs (do people actually call it that?) neighborhood. Liberty Lands has a terrifc back story. It rests on the site of the former Burke Brothers Tannery. The land was donated to the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA) in 1994. The original plan was to renovate the former tannery buildings, but the city stepped in, deemed the structures condemnable, and demolished them all. NLNA was then left with an empty lot that had over $1,000,000 in demolition and tax leins on it. Some donation. (Although the city did later forgive the $500,000 demolition lein).

But as with so many other park stories, the NLNA was not dissuaded by this unfortunate turn of events. Recognizing that their neighborhood had no park, a group of residents banded together and decided that the lot on North 3rd was the perfect spot. They had the soil tested by the EPA to make sure it wasn't super contaminated and thus unsafe to use for a park, got funding from the Philadelphia Urban Resources Partnership, and Liberty Lands was born in 1997.

Today, Liberty Lands is host to a 37-plot community garden; an herb garden; a butterfly garden; a playground for the kids; a mural; sculptures by local artists; and the usual park benches and picnic tables. Liberty Lands also holds a weekly "Lawn Chair Drive-In" movie night during the summer time and several festivals throughout the year. I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time in this park, but every time I wander through, I'm impressed by how much people love and enjoy the space.

Two things separate Liberty Lands from most other parks in the city. First, it is overseen entirely by the people, i.e., by the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association, not the Department of Recreation. If you live up in Northern Liberties and want to get more involved in your community, they meet once a month at the NLNA offices at 3rd and Fairmount. Second, the park closes, for the most part, at dusk. Not knowing this, a few weeks ago I went there around 8:30PM. It was dark and abandoned. So, don't head out there after dark. Unless it's to see a movie during the summer.

Upcoming Events in Parks:
Get Involved:

• Dickinson Square Park Clean Up Saturday, 9AM, Tasker and 4th Streets (previous Parking).

Dance:

• Line Dancing at Malcolm X Park. Wednesday, 10/21, 6-9PM

Farmer's Markets:

• Cliveden Park, Wednesdays, 2-6PM, Chew Avenue and Johnson Street
• Schuylkill River Park, Wednesdays, 3-7PM
• Fitler Square (Previous Parking), Saturdays, 9AM-1PM
• Clark Park (Previous Parking), Thursdays, 3-7PM, Saturdays, 10AM-1PM
• Rittenhouse Square (Previous Parking) Tuesdays, 10AM-1PM and Saturdays 9:30AM-3PM
• Palmer Park Frankford Avenue and East Palmer Street, Thursdays, 2-6PM

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