Hostoric Woodlands to close

The historic Woodlands estate -- located in University City near the Schuylkill River -- has been a local landmark for over two centuries. More than just an aging house with a cemetery and gardens, the property has served as a community center for parties, weddings and social gatherings. When the estate's ten-year lease expired recently, the directors did not renew it because of financial failure and fear that the manor is structurally unsafe. But many University City residents are frustrated with the decision to close the historic property. "We're all kicked out and it's hard to figure out why," University City carpenter Louis Tannen said. "We definitely weren't costing them money, we were raising them money." Former Philadelphia Community College history professor Mike Hardy is credited with revitalizing the Woodlands beginning in the late 1970s as part of his work with the University City Historical Society. Under Hardy's leadership, the society raised $300,000 in grants and restored many parts of the Victorian-style mansion. The directors eventually hired him to oversee the house business, and Hardy transformed the mansion into the community center it became. "People love to go to the cemetery," historical society member Ruth Molloy said. "They think it's a little bit different. We had one woman, a dancer, who wanted to have her baby there. We had to turn that down, though. We thought is was too dangerous." But the cemetery's salesman marketed the land -- dependent on the sales of new cemetery plots and endowments for survival -- as a place for low cost burials only. Philip Price -- president of the Woodlands Cemetery Company of Philadelphia -- agreed that the company had to increase the cemetery's revenues in order to stay afloat and hired a consultant to help in the process. "We can't do it with volunteers anymore," he said. "We're in the process of bringing in professional management to run the cemetery." "We found out that the house couldn't carry the cemetery," he added. "It has to be the other way around." The directors paid Hardy $13,000 for his services, most of which he donated back to the house. But the house only generated approximately $5,000 annually. The cemetery directors terminated Hardy's employment in September due to their financial difficulties. They also found problems in the house itself that made the building a dangerous place for visitors. But some University City residents said they thought the company merely wants to regain the control it previously had over the land. Price reiterated that the company's health and safety were the primary reasons for Woodlands' closing. "You can't run [the estate] as a civic association," he said.