Thank you for the article, (12/4) “From demolition to collaboration,” a lengthy and carefully investigated report on Penn’s development and its relationship to the community since the '60s. I note that these decades coincide with my own as homeowner and community member. I enjoyed reading in the great Furness Library before Locust Walk led to the campus or Van Pelt existed.
One of the challenges for community members, over the years, has been adapting to dramatic shifts in the University’s administrative policies. There have been intense struggles, losses as well as gains. The University has deep financial resources and political clout. The community has limited resources to advocate for compliance with zoning and historic protection codes.
The reporter’s effort to document this complex history is totally commendable. My hope, as I said to her, is that her article will encourage others who have taken part in specific issues to add their own narrative to that history. Here are some possibilities: the community’s success in rescuing from demolition the 40th and Walnut St library; in preventing a hotel from rising 11 stories high at 40th and Pine; or the valiant community efforts which failed to save certain historic houses from demolition. Currently, the historic mansion at 40th and Pine is threatened. Woodland Terrace is continuing to collaborate with the University for a plan for that site and for preserving the gracious block on Pine between 40th and 41st.
Mary Daniels
Woodland Terrace Homeowners Association
