Vision for Schuylkill River Trail on southwest Philly industrial parcel next to Bartram's Garden

This past spring, the Community Design Collaborative's Initiative--Infill Philadelphia sponsored an industrial sites design challenge called Industrial Past to an Industrial Future.  Architects Chariss McAfee and Charles Loomis, along with the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), Southwest Community Development Corporation, and the University of the Sciences were tasked with preparing a vision for the land along the Schuylkill River Trail between the Gray's Ferry Bridge and Bartram's Garden.   This 300,000 square foot industrial-zoned parcel, owned by the PIDC, was formerly the site of the National Heat and Power Company and lies at the bottom of the Gray's Ferry Bridge on the Southwest Philly side of the River, just north of the Bartram's Garden property.  The master plan of the Schuylkill River Trail envisions a trail section along this parcel to link together Bartram's Garden with a bicycle/ pedestrian bridge crossing the Schuylkill over to Gray's Ferry Crescent.

The team prepared a vision for an eco-industrial park with the path skirting the edge of the property.  They propose access from an elevator on the Gray's Ferry Bridge, creating an access point for the Woodlawn and Kinsessing neighborhoods to complement the bike/ped bridge that is being planned by Schuylkill River Development Corporation using the abandoned rail bridge that is swung open.