By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer
If you talk to residents of East Torresdale, many will say the municipal Pleasant Hill Park, along Linden Avenue west of Delaware Avenue, looks as if it has largely been forgotten by the city.
Neighbors routinely complain of murky water in fishing ponds on the site and overgrown foliage. The public bathrooms in the park are a disaster, too, folks say. Things have gotten so bad, in fact, that vagrants are said to be living in the park full time.
Even so, when the city’s Department of Recreation surveyed the park last summer and early fall, it discovered that as many as 1,600 vehicles enter and exit the facility on peak days.
As a result, they have decided to spruce things up a bit. Last week, Barbara McCabe, parks coordinator for the city Department of Recreation, told members of the East Torresdale Civic Association that efforts to develop a master site plan for the Pleasant Hill facility are under way.
The department has obtained $100,000 in grant money to hire a private consultant to develop the plan with input from stakeholders in the park, including nearby residents and local elected officials.
“What the department is thinking right now is the site needs improvements,” McCabe said during the ETCA’s monthly meeting on Nov. 10 at Liberty Evangelical Free Church. “We decided we should sit down and bring a lot of people to the table. Now, we have one hundred thousand dollars that is just for a plan.”
In June, the Department of Recreation received a $50,000 grant from the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. In October, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection issued another $50,000 in federal Coastal Zone Management funding. The CZM money is taken from federal tax dollars but administered by the state.
“By this time next year, we hope to have a plan in place and in writing: ‘These are our recommendations for future improvements to this park.’ ” McCabe said.
This month and next, the recreation department will prepare a request for proposals from potential consultants, according to a tentative schedule. The RFP will be formally issued in January, with responses due in February.
McCabe said she could not elaborate on the bid selection criteria.
The department hopes to have a consultant chosen by mid-March and have a project steering committee in place by April. The committee should include representatives from city agencies, political offices, private non-profit groups and community organizations.
“We need you to tell us (what to do) to make it a better recreational fishing experience for people,” said McCabe, referring to one of the most popular uses of the park.
“We certainly want your input. The ETCA will formally be invited to be a participant on that committee.”
For now, only youths are allowed to fish there. Game officials stock the ponds for fishing season, but the process could be modified to coincide with a city-sponsored summer fishing tournament.
During last summer’s survey, recreation officials also distributed questionnaires to neighbors of the park and learned that many people would like to see playground equipment there.
McCabe cautioned that having a master plan in place is no guarantee that the improvements outlined in the plan will occur. Possible funding sources for its implementation include state and federal tax dollars as well as private foundations.
Nevertheless, it’s very important to get a plan first.
“(Funding sources) usually look favorably on projects that already have a plan in place,” McCabe said.
In other East Torresdale business:
• ETCA member Doris Bell reported that vandals again broke into the church in Fluehr Park at Eden Hall late last month. It was the second time in as many months that vandals entered the historic city-owned building.
The trespassers shattered one of the few remaining stained-glass windows in the church, which is not used for services.
The incident was reported to both Philadelphia police and the Fairmount Park Commission, Bell said.
• Rich Apanewicz, the community relations officer for the 8th Police District, told residents that police are increasing efforts to stop speeders — particularly drag racers — on State Road. Officers have written a series of tickets in recent weeks and have asked the city’s Highway Patrol for assistance.
The district is anticipating the arrival of two new “tracker” patrol cars equipped with a special speed-measuring device. Most police cars are not equipped to catch speeders, so officers are limited to ticketing scofflaws for reckless driving and other violations.
• The next East Torresdale Civic Association meeting will be Monday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Liberty Evangelical Free Church, Linden Avenue and Milnor Street. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com