City govt. praises facilities proposal

But city officials said the new plan could take several years to approve and fully implement. City officials said this week that approving and implementing University President Judith Rodin's facilities proposals could take several years. But they generally reacted favorably to the campus construction and development possibilities Rodin announced last week. Agreeing with the city predictions, University administrators stressed the long-range aspects of Rodin's proposed changes, describing them as future buildings that current students wouldn't be able to use during their years at Penn. Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Zappile will serve as the city's liaison to the University on the new projects, which include the revitalization of the 3600 and 3700 blocks of Sansom Street with shops, restaurants, a hotel and Barnes & Noble bookstore within the next two years. "They seem like good ideas on face value," Zappile said. "We'd probably support the University." Rodin's plans also called for closing 36th Street from Walnut to Chestnut, creating an urban park on the land instead. The city's Streets Department would have to approve the proposal, but spokesperson Cynthia Hite said her department would likely support the University's request. "A request like this one is usually viewed favorably, because it means an improvement for the area," she added. "Creating a new park would benefit the entire neighborhood." Hite noted, however, that closing the street is "a long, tedious process" involving approximately 18 separate steps. "Closing it would take a fairly long time," she said. "There would be a lot of bureaucratic hurdles to overcome." The entire process could last up to two years from the date the University makes the initial request, Hite said. And Carol Scheman, Penn's vice president for government, community and public affairs, said the request itself could be many years away. "Most of what Rodin announced is at least a few years off," Scheman said. "She was really just foreshadowing the future direction of the University." Hite explained that the University would begin the lengthy process of sealing the street by sending a letter to Streets Department Commissioner Larry Moy requesting the closure. The department would then commission a survey studying the effects of the proposed closure. City officials would also speak with the owners of all adjoining properties. If the survey's results were favorable to the closure, Moy would ask the department's Bureau of Survey and Design to have the requested area "stricken and vacated" from official city street plans, and the department would write an ordinance officially explaining the closure. The University would present that ordinance to the Philadelphia City Council for a vote. While any members of the council could legally propose the ordinance, West Philadelphia Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell will probably be the one to present it, Scheman said. Once Council approves the ordinance -- something Hite said is a near certainty -- work could begin to physically close the street. Scheman explained that while work on the new Barnes & Noble bookstore planned for 36th and Walnut streets will begin shortly, an "enormous amount of work remains to be done before the street can be closed." "Rodin was trying to put across the message that she has a plan to make this campus really vibrant and exciting," she said. "But the new bookstore and hotel are really much more concrete than closing the street." Scheman added that properly "sequencing" the new construction is very important for the project's ultimate success, even if it may mean delaying things like the street closure for a few years. She noted, for example, that part of the development intends to extend Sansom Row between 34th and 36th streets to encompass the new bookstore and hotel. But a University building at 36th and Sansom streets lies right between the two sites and would have to be moved before the two areas could be connected. That would require leaving 36th Street open throughout construction. "The University needs such a strategic plan in order to ensure that nothing is done in the short term which would preclude doing any of our long-term goals," Scheman said. "And conversely, there's a lot of short-term stuff to be done in order to pave the way for the long-term projects."