The biweekly farmer's market is just one of the many ways that the West Philadelphia community has used Clark Park in recent years. And the improvements that the park has experienced over the past five years have further cemented its central status in University City.
The park, which stretches between 43rd to 45th streets and from Baltimore to Woodland avenues, has been the focus of many recent improvements. In the last decade, the park has gone from being a neglected, depressed greenspace to a thriving public space.
The revitalization plan that has provided a master plan for the park was originally adopted by University City District, Friends of Clark Park and other stakeholders in the summer of 2001.
"Clark Park is the largest public park in University City. It is a magnet for the community," said Eric Goldstein, executive director of the UCD. "It is also the most permitted park in the Department of Recreation in the public park system."
The most recent improvement was the completed renovation of a children's playground, the "tot lot" for young kids. The renovation of the park's second playground is under way.
The communal effort has pooled funds from a variety of sources, including a grant from the William Penn Foundation that has played a major role.
In recent years, maintenance has been at the top of the park's agenda. Annual fundraisers and volunteer work have enabled regular trash pick-up and collection, lawn mowing and mulching, as well as leaf cleanups and tree-planting.
Although each of the steps might not have had a major impact on the park's environment, in the aggregate, they have made the park a viable community center.
Further improvements -- even more tree planting, information kiosks and functioning bulletin boards -- are scheduled. These changes, among others, are budgeted and are now in the final planning stages.
"We realize that the park functions as a center for the community," said Tony West, the president of Friends of Clark Park. "And people want naturally to find out information that is important to the community."
The response from those concerned with the park's well-being have been varied, but as the improvements have become tangible, more and more people have come to agree on the great benefit that this project has had.
"Initially, there was a great deal of anxiety over the renewal plan, because there was never a broad-scale plan for the park before," West said. "The community was stirred with many fears about the process. They were afraid that radical changes would take place rapidly without any control. ... Before the renewal plan, people were afraid of change; now they see that change can mean improvement."
As it stands now, Clark Park is in high demand as a space for recreational activities.
"It is a night-and-day difference from five years ago," Goldstein said. "Having the community, UCD and the city working together has made a large difference in a very widely used public park."
