As one of the top urban research facilities in the U.S., the
University City Science Center
has launched many groundbreaking innovations inside
its labs. Its most recent innovation, however, had nothing to do with
formulas or equations. The Science Center this week celebrated its
Market
Street Revitalization Project, which raised over $2 million from the
City
of Philadelphia's
ReStore Corridors Project, the
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and 11 Market Street tenants from 34th to 41st streets. The
revitalization added new trees, sidewalks, benches, bike lanes, lighting and crosswalks to the
7-block corridor.
"We look at ourselves as having a campus here,
between 34th and 39th Street," says Science Center Senior VP of Real
Estate Curtis Hess. "Part of the reason for the project was as a way to
tie the whole campus together. As a major stakeholder in this corridor,
it just made sense for us to take the lead on the project."
When the project was conceived in January of 2008,
University City District
approached the Science Center about streetscape improvements at 40th
and Market. By the time the project got underway in November 2009, the
two projects had been combined to encompass the whole corridor from 34th
to 41st, connecting the Science Center complex with neighborhoods to
the west. Officials hope the added lighting and footpaths will make the
neighborhood safer and will beautify the Science Center campus for future tenants.
"If you
look at the fact that we broke ground in November 2009, we had horrible
rain in the fall, not one, not two but three blizzards in the winter,
then it got to summer and the temperatures rose into the 90s and 100s
and stayed up there," says Communications Director Jeanne Mell. "There
were a lot of challenges to overcome and now that it is completed, we
want to celebrate it and show it off."
Source: Curtis Hess, University City Science Center
Writer: John Steele