In the early 1700s, botanist John Bartram surveyed his farmland abutting the banks of the Schuylkill River in what is now Southwest Philadelphia and had an idea: build a garden for his beloved plants. Approaching its 300th anniversary, the modern Bartram’s Garden is a National Historic Site and a gem of Philadelphia’s park system. But
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On October 2 a large pile of tires was dumped below the Whitaker Avenue Bridge in Tacony Creek Park. One tire lodged in a forked trunk of a tree growing below the bridge. Two others had hooked a branch of another tree and remained suspended about 15 feet up in the air. A tire dropped
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On Wednesday, November 16, the Cobbs Creek Foundation held a town hall meeting at the Overbrook Educational Center, the first time that foundation representatives and elected officials faced the public in person to answer questions about the controversial golf course renovation, in which over 100 acres of trees have been cleared by the West Conshohocken-based
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Councilmember Curtis Jones’ proposed ordinance, if passed, would subvert local environmental protections and violate the Overbrook community’s right to self-determination by giving the golf course developers free reign to cut trees on any steep slopes on the premises without going through the regular zoning process and without community approval. The developers originally applied for and
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Curtis Jones, the City Council member whose district includes the Cobbs Creek golf courses that are being developed by the Cobbs Creek Foundation, has introduced legislation in Philadelphia City Council to exempt the golf course from restrictions on cutting trees on steep slopes, rules meant to protect water quality and prevent erosion. So far, over
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After being told three times to come back and try again, the Cobbs Creek Foundation had its plans for the driving range and educational center building for their controversial renovation of the Cobbs Creek and Karakung golf courses approved by the Philadelphia Art Commission. As Grid has reported, the City signed a $1, 30-year lease
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On Thursday, Philadelphia City Council introduced legislation authorizing animal husbandry on what, until the fall of 2021, had been part of the Sedgley Woods disc golf course. As Grid reported, on October 11, 2021 (Indigenous Peoples Day) a worker in an excavator began clearing trees at part of the Sedgley Woods disc golf course in
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The paintings vibrate with color — bold greens, golds and blues transport the viewers to a quiet space that flourished during the pandemic and was widely loved for its healing powers, magic and beauty: the South Philly Meadows in FDR Park. Kate Kern Mundie’s series in oil, REST, captures a moment that the Meadows gifted
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Grid was invited to attend and moderate a panel at the Mural Arts Institute Art and Environmental Justice Symposium on Sept. 14th. This event was part of a week long series exploring how art and environmental justice intersect throughout the US with Mural Arts Institute Partners. The below image is a reflection on the day’s
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The Lower Merion School District plans to raze a wooded area — home to towering tulip poplars and red and white oaks — to build practice athletic fields for the nearby Black Rock Middle School. The grounds of Oakwell, an estate on County Line Road in Lower Merion, have greenery that includes high rhododendron bushes
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At its September 14 meeting, the Philadelphia Art Commission again did not approve the first element of the Cobbs Creek Foundation’s renovation of the Cobbs Creek golf courses: the driving range and education center. This is the foundation’s third attempt to gain final approval for the driving range and the education center at the golf
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