UCD solidifies local presence with new HQ

The University City District opened its new $1.7 million headquarters over the summer, giving the 2-year-old organization a permanent location from which to operate and providing a Philadelphia police substation staffed with 25 officers. Officials at the ribbon-cutting for the new facility said it will provide a vital base of operations from which to coordinate their goals of making University City a safer, cleaner and more popular place to live. "What's important about the building is having a highly visible location for the UCD and a physical confirmation of the revitalization of the neighborhood," UCD Executive Director Paul Steinke said. With space for administrative offices, conference rooms, a briefing and roll call room, a radio dispatcher and plenty of space for storage, the UCD headquarters enables its safety ambassadors to meet more regularly with elements of the University Police Department, which Steinke said will ensure that the "extra eyes" of the ambassadors can be more effectively used. The present location of the headquarters was once an abandoned Horn & Hardart restaurant. Since then, eight months of construction have made fresh what was a planked-up, derelict eyesore. The 3940 Chestnut Street location also means that the UCD is equidistant from the four corners of University City, encompassing an area that not only includes the many academic institutions that give it its name, but also includes the residential areas beyond Clark Park on 43rd Street. "We also wanted to be within the 40th Street corridor? the kind of dividing line between the institutional campuses and the residential neighborhoods," Steinke said. "We're hoping that rather than be a dividing line, 40th Street becomes a gathering place." Mayor Ed Rendell, Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney, City Council member Jannie Blackwell and Penn Executive Vice President John Fry were among the city and University officials in attendance at the opening ceremony. All the speakers praised what they said is a renaissance in University City. "University City is cleaner, University City is safer, University City is hot," said Fry, who also serves as chairperson of the UCD. And Rendell emphasized the importance of the extra police officers. "Seeing these extra uniformed officers out there -- regardless of whether the uniform's yellow or blue -- makes a big, big difference," the Penn alumnus said. Now in its second year of operations, the UCD has been involved in a variety of initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life for local residents and promoting the area to other city and suburban residents. The most visible of these initiatives include the yellow-jacketed ambassadors and the machine-wielding street sweepers and graffiti cleaners. The UCD's efforts are funded largely by Penn and other area academic institutions, as well as several corporate sponsors.