Fairmount Park Conservancy Centennial District

Video Summary: The Centennial District of West Fairmount Park sits on 700 acres originally identified by Frederick Law Olmstead as the location for the City's first purpose-built urban park. In 1876, it hosted the Centennial Exposition and today is home to anchor institutions the Philadelphia Zoo with the Please Touch Museum, Mann Center, Shofuso Gardens and Horticultural Center.  These anchor institutions attract over 2 million visitors a year. Despite the robust visitor-ship of these institutions, the Centennial District and its adjacent neighborhoods have struggled with disinvestment and disconnection.   

Dating back to 2005, the Centennial District has been the subject of numerous planning exercises which sought to leverage the site’s incredible location, cultural institutions and natural assets to create a civic campus, welcoming to neighbors and visitors alike. Shared among all of the plans is recognition of the District’s challenges: limited direct transit access, parking and user conflicts, unsafe streets and pedestrian access between institutions, limited park amenities, lack of wayfinding, ongoing shortage of maintenance and operations funds, and disinvestment in the surrounding community-owned retail. Since 2012, the Fairmount Park Conservancy has been working in partnership with local community members to build capacity and steward investments in West Fairmount Park. This partnership, organized through the Civic Commons framework, has included investments of over $5M in capital, maintenance, programming and activation.  

This presentation is of the ULI Adviosry Services Panel who was tasked by the Conservancy to help lay out the near, medium, and long-term horizons, how the anchor institutions, including Fairmount Park Conservancy should work together in partnership with the City to equitably create value for the surrounding neighborhoods and create a high-quality experience that benefits all.  

Dating back to 2005, the Centennial District has been the subject of numerous planning exercises which sought to leverage the site’s incredible location, cultural institutions and natural assets to create a civic campus, welcoming to neighbors and visitors alike. Shared among all of the plans is recognition of the District’s challenges: limited direct transit access, parking and user conflicts, unsafe streets and pedestrian access between institutions, limited park amenities, lack of wayfinding, ongoing shortage of maintenance and operations funds, and disinvestment in the surrounding community-owned retail. Since 2012, the Fairmount Park Conservancy has been working in partnership with local community members to build capacity and steward investments in West Fairmount Park. This partnership, organized through the Civic Commons framework, has included investments of over $5M in capital, maintenance, programming and activation.  

This effort seeks to understand, in the near, medium, and long-term horizons, how the anchor institutions, including Fairmount Park Conservancy should work together in partnership with the City to equitably create value for the surrounding neighborhoods and create a high-quality experience that benefits all.