Frankford Creek
is turning green

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

On July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson read the Declaration of Independence at what is now known as Womrath Park, before it was read publicly in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.
An excerpt from Fanny Saltar’s recollections of colonial days in Philadelphia describes Jefferson’s visit to her uncle’s summer house on the property: "He looked round and said: "This is the spot on which the signers of the Declaration of Independence dined the day they signed the Declaration."
Another formal declaration of sorts was made at the historic site last week.
James Donaghy, of the Philadelphia Managing Director’s Office, read a mayoral proclamation stating that June 15, 2007, was Frankford Creek Greenway Day and that the Frankford Creek Greenway Master Plan is officially under way.
The Frankford Creek Greenway project focuses on the Frankford Creek corridor, from Castor Avenue and the Juniata Golf Course, southeast to the Delaware River. The greenway would provide residents with access to the creek and the Delaware River, in addition to enhancing opportunities for recreation and renewal in the lower reaches of the creek.
The mayoral proclamation cites the creek’s role in Philadelphia’s industrial-age boom and the city’s designation as the "Workshop of the World."
The creek is located behind a stand of trees just yards from Womrath Park, also the site of the first Fourth of July celebration, according to Debbie Klak, president of the Historical Society of Frankford.
Early action strategies of the Frankford Creek Greenway Master Plan will be to redesign and incorporate wetland installations into the Juniata Golf Course. Other actions include managing non-native invasive plant species, altering the channel design to aid habitat restoration, adding energy dissipaters to slow the flow of the creek, addressing creek and golf course lighting, seating and other amenities, enhancing acreage of wetlands and increasing the length of the stream.
At Womrath Park, implementation will include addressing park amenities, including lighting and seating, installing signage for a Frankford Creek: Link To Our Past, Greenway To Our Future theme, and identifying and labeling links to people, places and events of historic character in multilingual forms.
Along the creek greenway itself, implementation will include stimulating economic revival by encouraging redevelopment and adaptive reuse and reclaiming brownfields, installing naturalized stormwater management systems, increasing the amount of flood plain accessible to the creek, improving water quality and reforesting the riparian area with native species.
To date, the project partners, which include the Philadelphia Water Department, PECO Energy and its environmental partner Natural Lands Trust, the Clean Air Council and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, have committed $260,000 toward the effort.
Consultants are making final edits to the plan, said Laureen Boles, project manager and Philadelphia Water Department civil engineer and environmental planner. She expects it to be available to the public on June 30 at the Frankford branch of the Free Library and the Historical Society of Frankford.
Additionally, Fairmount Park officials expect to get the plan under design by July 1 in the new fiscal year. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com