UCD breaks ground on new headquarters

The site will house the University City District, as well as a substation for the city's police department. Sporting yellow plastic hard hats to go with their black and navy business suits, officials from the University City District, Penn, the city and other groups broke ground yesterday afternoon on a building that will house the UCD and a Philadelphia Police Department substation. More than 60 officials, safety ambassadors, police officers and area residents attended the UCD-organized event, which marked the first stage in the construction of its new home at 3940-42 Chestnut Street. Representatives from the city, the UCD, the architecture firm and a community group all helped turn the shovel in a parking lot behind the future headquarters, symbolically starting the $1.7 million project designed to further unite the UCD's safety ambassadors and local police officers in their effort to reduce crime in University City. The building is located less than a block away from the Penn Division of Public Safety headquarters at 4040 Chestnut. "It gives more respect to the ambassadors when they are associated with the police," said Joe Ruane, president of the Spruce Hill Community Association, who attended the event. The new headquarters is scheduled to open next spring in the central location. The UCD is a year-old organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in University City while promoting its culture and diversity to other city and suburban residents. A large chunk of its funding comes from Penn, and University Executive Vice President John Fry serves as the group's chairperson. The 40 ambassadors -- currently headquartered at 3201 Arch Street -- are unarmed officers who patrol University City and assist pedestrians. The new location will allow the ambassadors to call roll daily with the lieutenant, two sergeants and 25 officers -- from the city police's 16th and 18th districts -- who will report to the substation located in the other half of the new building. The location formerly housed the Brass Rail bar and Horn & Hardart restaurant, whose sites are no longer in use. As part of the construction, the eastern half will be renovated, while the former bar of the western half, which is added on to the front of what was once a house, will be demolished beginning today. The headquarters and substation will have separate entrances, connecting inside with a shared roll-call room. The substation will also have a rear entrance, including a ramp for bike patrol officers. The University owns both properties and will rent them to the UCD for $1 a year. Penn is also funding the construction through a no-interest loan. The UCD will pay operational costs and will repay the University's loan through corporate and foundation funding. So far, telecommunications giant Bell Atlantic Corp. has donated $50,000 and Townsend Capital, a Maryland real estate and management company which recently bought a building in University City, donated $200,000. The UCD is also looking into a possible contribution through the state's local initiatives program.