Results tagged “firedepartment”

There's Girard Avenue. Girard College. Stephen Girard Park. And Girard Fountain Park, the focus of this week's column. All are named for or funded by Stephen Girard, a banker from the 19th century who is apparently credited with saving the US from financial breakdown in the War of 1812. Created in the 1960s, Girard Fountain Park is next to the fire company on 4th and Arch street at what once used to be 325 Arch Street. A fund established by Girard to improve the Delaware Front of the city was used to refurbish the park in 1976.The park is a pocket park, since it is only .15 acre in size (a little bit bigger than your average row home). Unlike other city parks, this one is not overseen by the Dept. of Recreation or Fairmount Park but by the Fire Department. When approaching the park, you'll first hear the rushing water from its eponymous fountain. That may be the only clue you'll get that this is the park, as there aren't any signs announcing what it is. I wonder if that keeps people away: for the hour I was there, I was the only soul in the park (save for the birds frolicking in the large bowl of bird seed set out for them).

As mentioned earlier, Mayor Nutter is speaking today to the City of Philadelphia regarding some major budget cuts that will be taking place. According to the text in the draft of his speech as posted on 6ABC.com, some of the major changes will include: reducing police department overtime and leaving 200 vacant positions unfilled; reducing fire department overtime and cutting 5 engine companies and 2 ladder companies; closing 11 libraries and eliminating Sunday hours at three regional libraries; keeping all recreation centers open but in the summer closing 62 of 73 outdoor pools and 6 of 8 indoor pools and in the winter closing three ice rinks unless private funding can be secured; spending less money on street resurfacing and ending residential street cleaning, snow removal on tertiary streets, and bulk and tire collections; laying off more than 220 city employees and eliminating nearly 600 unfilled positions, more than 1,660 seasonal part-time jobs and about 570 contractual, non-city jobs.

Moving on from there, we thought we'd maybe hit one of Headlong Dance Theater's First Friday performances (happening at 8PM and 9PM) at the Spirit Wind Studio, across from the Painted Bride. Phillyist loves them some Headlong, and this performance is free, which makes it especially worthy of our affection. Plus, there will be beer.

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic night" and sang a custom version of Madonna's "Borderline" to a much-beleaguered board member.

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend.

At about 9:30 AM Saturday, a fire erupted in The Five Spot, an Old City restaurant and dance club located just off Market Street between 2nd and 3rd. By the time the Philadelphia Fire Department had the blaze under control about two hours later, the fire had caused enough damage to collapse floors, walls, and the roof. Much of the building will have to be demolished.

Luckily, no injuries have been reported, although eight nearby residents were forced to relocate.

Here's a peek at what you might've missed on the Gothamist network since Friday:

Come Fourth of July weekend, we can count on Philly residents with more enthusiasm than brains to take to the streets, illegal fireworks in hand. And we mean that literally. It is not unusual to hear the loud boom of fireworks, followed by gut-wrenching screams, the smell of burning flesh, and then ambulance sirens. Ah, the sweet sound of Philadelphia summers! Some people never learn to leave it the experts. Or, at the very least, to let go and run away after the fuse is lit. The PA Department of Agriculture changed the fireworks regulations. Items that are not grounded or that explode have been illegal in Pennsylvania for quite some time, and continue to be illegal. This means anything much past sparklers are verboten. But new laws say that you can buy all the firecrackers, M-80's, and various other fireworks you want in Pennsylvania...as long as you promise, Scout's honor, not to light them here. Drive to Jersey and blow your hand off, OK? Philadephia is now relaxing its own fire code regulations concerning the use of fireworks, according to CBS 3 Investigative Reporter Walt Hunter: "Despite demonstrations stressing fireworks safety, two fire department memos obtained by CBS 3 show the city is relaxing regulations and allowing more types of sparklers to be sold at more locations than in the past." Drinking at family picnics and street parties, combined with more powerful fireworks -- perfect together! Be careful this weekend, kids -- if you need to make an emergency room run, we fear that you'll be waiting even longer than usual.