Frankford’s business corridor
still waiting for beautification

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

When former City Councilman Dan Savage detailed a plan to beautify Frankford’s business corridor with welcome signs and aesthetically pleasing trash receptacles, the assumption was that the amenities would be installed in a timely manner.
Well, the announcement was made in December. There’s no denying that the project has inched forward at a snail’s pace.
“This has been a long, drawn-out process,” said Elizabeth McCollum-Nazario, president of the Frankford Business and Professional Association.
But there’s good news. That Welcome to Frankford banner sign that Savage unveiled during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late December, shortly before leaving office, is about to get some company.
McCollum-Nazario said she just recently signed the grant agreement with the city, which will enable the beautification process to move forward.
So the question remains, just why has it taken this long for a few banners and some trash cans to be placed along Frankford Avenue?
According to McCollum-Nazario, a big part of the holdup could be attributed to new leadership. When Mayor Michael Nutter took office at the start of the year, she said, his goal was to review all projects slated for the city that were commissioned under the Street administration, even smaller projects like the one for Frankford.
The beautification process was commissioned through the Frankford Special Services District, which was established by city legislation in 1995 to upgrade Frankford’s business corridor. Soon after its start, the Special Services District essentially collapsed, hindered by the difficulty of collecting tax levies from merchants to support the district, but was brought back to life with grant money last year.
McCollum-Nazario said the banners and trash cans initially were expected to be rolled out soon after the ribbon-cutting ceremony in December, but that never happened.
“Expectations of being ready to go at the end of January . . . I guess they were aiming high,” she said.
In January, the Times reported that a total of 80 banner signs — along with 84 trash receptacles and about 30 trees — would be placed throughout Frankford.
McCollum-Nazario said while she couldn’t deny her frustrations, since things haven’t moved as fast as she would have liked, she understands Nutter’s desire to review projects slated for the city.
“With a new administration, they want to make sure everything is where it should be,” she said. “That’s what the holdup was. It was a little frustrating, but I understand.”
Since the Special Services District recently signed the grant agreement with the city, all that remains is to contact the vendors and order the items.
McCollum-Nazario said she is pleased that mostly local businesses will be used to help implement the project. Aztec Signs, which will construct the banner signs, is a local company, as is MarkStaar, the business that will take care of the tree plantings. The trash receptacles will come from National Outdoor Furniture, a merchant recruited by neighboring Mayfair during its own beautification process, McCollum-Nazario said.
McCollum-Nazario said the project grant is $100,000, part of a $1 million appropriation earmarked for bigger projects along the business corridor, such as sidewalk replacement. About $200,000 of that appropriation is to be used for architectural design and construction during the overall program to improve Frankford’s appearance, she said.
“It’ll be an immediate facelift for the community,” she said. “These types of aesthetic improvements make people say, ‘We really do care about our community.’”
Once the signs are ordered, they should be erected fairly quickly, probably “within two weeks,” McCollum-Nazario said. The blue trash cans may take a bit longer to unveil.
“We’ve been working really hard to get this finalized,” she said.
Once again, the Special Services District requires business property owners in the neighborhood to pay an annual tax, with the levy used to benefit cleanup efforts and other projects in Frankford. ••
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com