Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell today dropped her years-long opposition to
the removal of the Youth Studies Ctr. to 48th & Haverford by announcing
a complex $12 million deal to couple the juvenile detention facility
with an integrated "theme" of improvements right next to the
controversial site in Mill Creek, the neighborhood just north of
University City west of 42nd St.
The YSC will be accompanied by the transformation of Sulzberger MS into
a new "small HS" oriented toward public-safety careers: police, fire,
emergency response, etc. This HS will rest on a "campus" created by the
deletion of 47th St. north of Haverford. On the large vacant lot now
lying across 47th St. will be erected the Lucien Blackwell Community
Ctr., with athletic facilities and computer labs that will also be
available to Mill Creek residents at large, especially residents of
PHA's Lucien Blackwell Homes that are adjacent to the site.
Other components of the package involve beefed-up funding for community
groups, particularly in the area of public safety training. Mill Creek
is not the worst of low-income neighborhoods but the upsurge in violent
crime holds its beleaguered residents in the crosshairs, like those of
many other West Philadelphia neighborhoods.
-- Tony West
----
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
<http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
