Tag Archives: lower merion township

ardmore needs more love and positive municipal attention from lower merion…

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It was weird in a way going back now as a veritable stranger to a place I spent so much time in for so many years. So much has changed and I don’t necessarily feel it has changed for the better.

Ardmore needs more….love. And positive municipal attention.

In my prior post, I wrote about the condition of the sidewalks and streets in Ardmore, and the roads in general throughout Lower Merion Township. The roads are in deplorable condition. It’s like they are growing orange highway cones as a cash crop in places, and in other places, holes and what not are just waiting to trip people up. And when I asked a couple of people about it, they all say the same thing that they report these things to the township but nothing happens. It makes you wonder what former West Chester Borough Manager and current Lower Merion Township Manager Ernie McNeely does besides fall asleep at meetings, where they are talking about the police, right?

And when it comes to managers, I wasn’t necessarily a huge fan of the manager who proceeded Ernie McNeely, but somehow Lower Merion seems worse than when I moved? I remember when my friends from West Chester heard that McNeely was going to Lower Merion and they just laughed and laughed and laughed and said “good luck to them!”

I guess now I know why, because Lower Merion looks like crap in their business districts. There might be tons of new places to eat, but nobody leaves their lights on much anymore except for stores that have been there long enough to know it makes a difference, the streets are dirty and broken up. There’s a lot of trash. Especially in Ardmore.

Ardmore used to be different and you could feel an energy. And most importantly, people knew one another. You would hear people saying hello to each other going past each other on the street. last night for the first time on a Saturday night, I didn’t hear that. And I also noticed that in spite of all the dining choices it’s like people go early to eat, and they just leave. By like 9 o’clock-ish when we left the restaurant, it was a ghost town.

We met at my friend Sherry’s store, Past*Present*Future. As well as being one of my most favorite and cherished friends, her store is always one of my favorite places to visit. And more people should discover the wonderful treasures inside. (hint to my lovely Savvy lady- have you ever interviewed her and visited?)

Past*Present*Future was one of the few non-food establishments with good lighting. The other was the Junior League Thrift Shop, which had some wonderful window displays as well. There was a salon that had some lights on with one guy sitting there inside. But these places being lit made an enormous difference, especially since the township has broken sidewalks and stuff in front of some of these places and bricks all up out of where the street trees are….and as much as anything else, keeping the stores lit, reduces the chance of somebody tripping and possibly falling.

The other thing about these two stores with lights is when we first got to Ardmore, these were the stores where people were actually looking in the windows of. And that’s the thing, people used to look in the windows more. You don’t have the people that stroll. Now it was cold last night, but it wasn’t unpleasant walking.

SEPTA also has moved a train platform to behind Past*Present*Future and Merion Art and Repro since I lived there. I guess it’s part of the station makeover? You can see a little SEPTA sign in my photos. So what I wonder is why haven’t they (SEPTA) paid to light that alley and parking lot people have to cross to get to platform better when it’s dark? And the configuration they created in the back for the platform affects the limited parking that a lot of Ardmore merchants desperately need on that side of Lancaster. It’s kind of surprising that SEPTA can’t do a better job around there, right? And after all Leslie Richards head of SEPTA is very familiar with Ardmore because she spent enough time campaigning during events when she wanted to be county commissioner, didn’t she?

And the trash. Can I talk about the trash on the sidewalks again? Or the trash cans that needed to be emptied that are Township trash cans? Does no one get that people notice these things? And I think one of the things about the trash is people in general have gotten worse since COVID. It started with all the disposable masks and even disposable gloves just chucked on the ground. I think people in general are just littering more and it doesn’t help when trashcans aren’t emptied enough in business districts and shopping centers. Gateway Shopping Center has trash issues too in Tredyffrin. (but I digress.)

Which brings me to the Ardmore Initiative. It’s a marvel they were renewed. They are supposed to be all about the business district and even their own front stoop looks like crap. If their job is to make Ardmore look good and help the business district why isn’t there attention paid to the little things that help businesses? I was thinking of Borough, and even West Chester Borough when I was in Ardmore last night. All of these main street oriented municipalities are struggling through the same economic uncertainties, yet Malvern and West Chester just seem so much more alive and Malvern doesn’t even have the number of stores or restaurants that Ardmore does!

Quite literally the Ardmore which the Ardmore Initiative features on their website doesn’t look like what I saw last night and it makes me sad.

It was like the lights under the bridge tunnel entering Ardmore? The tunnel was dark last night, so what happened to those expensive lights?

My photo from years ago and
lights weren’t on last night
My photo from years ago

So if there’s this business district authority, and it costs people to belong to it whether they want to or not because it’s kind of like a tax /assessment thing, what are they doing for the businesses and people in Ardmore? The last Executive Director who took over when the one which preceded her who got sick, literally worked her ass off and no matter what you thought of the Ardmore Initiative, it showed. Not the same now at all.

I just looked up the Ardmore Initiative website today and they have MORE people working and what do they do? Ardmore has enough in the dining arena that it should have more vibrancy at night and it does not. And there also aren’t as many stores where you can look in the windows, which is pretty basic for a main street business district to make people want to stay and poke around.

But then again, people always said Ardmore’s biggest problem was that Lower Merion Township was headquartered in it. Also what ails Ardmore will not be solved by more infill development. You can’t artificially manufacture energy. Elbow grease and a certain mindset goes into that. Ardmore still deserves better.

Now where we went and where we ate, which was terrific, and why I think Ardmore deserves better once again. We started out at Matatawny Still Works Ardmore tasting room. We buy their whiskeys sometimes now, but I had never been to one of their tasting rooms. It is a really cool space and a fun vibe and they had great music on so a couple of people did a whiskey tasting and I had this amazing spiked apple cider, which was just the thing to warm you up on a chilly night. And the fun thing about this place is you can bring takeout dinners into there and eat while you do a whiskey tasting.

From there, since we already had a parking spot, we headed to Cricket Avenue for dinner. We passed Buena Vista which we go to in Lincoln Court Shopping Center which was packed in Ardmore and Maido the Japanese grocery store which is so cool.

Crossing Lancaster Ave there at Anderson Avenue in Ardmore has not improved since people still don’t pay attention to pedestrians crossing correctly at the lights. Oh, and people still blow that light headed east on Lancaster which begs the question of the police station is right there, so you would think traffic would be better, right? Especially if Lower Merion wants to persist in their pedestrian walkability fantasy?

So on Cricket Avenue I still miss MilkBoy Coffee on the corner. Sorry but pucciManuli doesn’t do it for me and I had a friend tell me recently that they wanted to go in there for a gift and had to be buzzed in, the door wasn’t just open during business hours. I tried to patronize them a bunch of years ago, even before they were at that location and I just found them overpriced. And I love handmade and better quality things, but their prices? Meh.

I will admit that I still think that 1 Ardmore Place is super ugly. For those of you who grew up around Ardmore, these apartments are on the parking lot that used to exist for the old movie theater, which also does not exist anymore . I still hate the design aesthetic of this building, and it totally doesn’t fit in with the area.

We had dinner at Nam Phuong Bistro on Cricket Avenue. They have really wonderful Vietnamese cuisine. It was a terrific meal and I would go back again. I will caution people they don’t have much staff so you have to be prepared to be patient but the people who work there couldn’t be nicer. Their spring rolls were awesome and they also do softshell crabs which is one of my favorite things and they were fabulous. The prices were good and it’s one of those places that I had such a good meal. I forgot to take pictures of the food!

That was the end of my Ardmore re-entry adventure and we headed our way back home to Chester County. Walking back up Cricket. I was glad to see McCloskey’s had a good crowd, and looked as cheerful as ever. One thing that bummed me out, though is there is no more Marjorie Schneider Antiquary. I loved that store and used to love looking in the windows from the time I was young. She had wonderful antiques!

Before we went home, we drove around Ardmore a little bit, and I hadn’t been down some of the streets I used to walk on regularly for years. I came to the conclusion, however, that as much as I miss a lot of my friends down there, I do not miss Lower Merion at all. I think it is probably because the area I grew up in still exists because a lot of the buildings and people are still there, but it has lost so much of what made it very special. It has lost a feeling.

And seeing Ardmore with finally new restaurant destinations but no foot traffic and vibrancy on a Saturday night made me just shake my head. As I said earlier, Ardmore was one of those places where people would say hello to each other on the street as they passed by. Now there is this more transient nature, and a lot of that I think has to do with the infill development. The rental price points, like many other places, are off the charts, so people come, but they don’t stay.

I know this is kind of a mixed review of a visit to a place that I just loved so much once upon a time, but it just really disappoints me that Lower Merion Township just doesn’t really seem to give a crap about the Ardmore Historic Business District, even worse than before. What did we save Ardmore from when we stopped eminent domain for private gain years ago?

Small businesses need a lot of local love. If you are from outside Lower Merion, show Ardmore some love.

If we don’t support small businesses, they cease to exist and we are stuck with homogeneous box stores and chains. And if you live in Lower Merion Township still, I encourage people to stand up and not only demand a better police department but better township management and elected officials. What I saw last night wasn’t “first class” it was “We don’t care, just shut up and pay your taxes.”

Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it starts with baby steps and standing up and caring. Use social media to show why Lower Merion needs to do better on so many fronts. It’s also time to question why the Ardmore Initiative exists. They obviously aren’t living up to their mission statement which of course also begs the question of do they deserve their non-profit status?

Discover something new in Main Street towns like Ardmore, and even West Chester and Malvern Borough. Discover what makes them tick. And if you don’t like something a municipality would be responsible for, hold local government accountable, don’t take it out on the small businesses.

Have a good week.

isn’t it wonderful lower merion is a “first class” township?

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I was in Ardmore again for the first time in a very long time. There are lots of dining options and other things to look at, but the streets are broken and filthy.

The roadways themselves are broken and rutted and it’s hard to imagine a township with so much money and bravado can’t seem to see the ruts and potholes.

So here I was back in Ardmore, where the actual township building is located, in the Historic Ardmore Business District with a business improvement improvement district called the Ardmore Initiative and let’s talk about the god damn sidewalks in what they like to call “the Main Street” of the Main Line. They are deplorable and dangerous. But hey, they can keep deluding themselves, right?

The sidewalks are badly broken in too many places, so I wonder if this is an odd metaphor for the state of Lower Merion Township itself? And it’s February so why are the holiday snowflakes still up?

Many years ago many of us fought to save the Historic Ardmore Business District. I am not sure what we saved Ardmore for. It’s so wrong.

Clean up Lower Merion, you can afford to.

where are we as women and human beings supposed to go with this, lower merion?

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A long time friend from whence I came called me this morning. Had I seen “the” video about Lower Merion Police Department? I did not have any idea of what she was talking about. She sent me a link.

I am not being a drama queen writing that this made me want to scream in outrage, cry, and be terrified. What is going on with Lower Merion Police Department?

I grew up in Lower Merion. I met so many awesome and helpful police officers who were just good at their jobs for the right reasons from the time I was growing up through to when I left Lower Merion in my late 40s. So literally over 40 years. I will be honest, however, and say I encountered some that I was a little less enthused with. Who gave me pause, right or wrong.

I never talked about Lower Merion and their police really before. I have law enforcement in my family so I am extraordinarily aware of how difficult a career path it is and I have respect for the badge. But what happens when you feel that some of those who wear the badge don’t have respect for you and others? Do your feelings matter no matter who you are? Also note from jump I am not saying police shouldn’t do their jobs. But was this thing that happened really good policing and good police?

Also, If you talk about police and it’s not 100% positive, you often put yourself at risk. Sorry not sorry that is how I feel, and surely all the TV programs that discuss things like this have to have some real life inspiration somewhere, right? What I am going to talk about is long past, but it came rushing back today when I saw this video.

Right or wrong, when I was growing up and well into adulthood in Lower Merion, you were told (in a hushed tone) as a woman don’t get pulled over as a woman alone in a car. RIGHT OR WRONG being the key here. I always thought this was like urban legend until a rainy night many. many years ago now.

We were in the thick of fighting Lower Merion Township over eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore, or maybe it was just after eminent domain was killed which was like 2006. Below is a video of a news report that aired right before we killed eminent domain. I found it as I was thinking about my timeline. It’s a bit of an aside, but what we accomplished then (at personal expense sometimes) was kind of huge.

Anyway, when you take a stand against something big, you become a target. During those years private citizens and business owners alike, we were targets. It could be unnerving. Lower Merion Township was THAT angry we wanted to air dirty laundry about eminent domain. I have never known if what I went through was related, but somehow it felt related, right or wrong.

So this one night I was driving home after a Save Ardmore Coalition meeting above Hu Nan in Ardmore (the original Save Ardmore Coalition, not what it eventually became before it fizzled out when most of us were gone away.) It was a nasty rainy night. Driving, teeming rain. I was driving home when all of a sudden I saw flashing lights behind me. I drive like grandma, so I wasn’t speeding or anything. I didn’t think the police car meant me. But then I realized it was me being all flashed at and sirened, so I put on my hazards and stopped.

A policeman came up to the window of my car, yelling. He was yelling did I know what I did? I said (quietly) why are you yelling at me? That of course made him yell louder. We did the whole license and registration request and meanwhile I am on Lancaster Avenue headed west between Ardmore and Haverford, just past Woodside Road and the other side of a light not there, but next one up. S. Wyoming or something maybe? It was a weird light.

In between the shouting and the passing off to him of my information he tells me I ran a light. Again, I drive like Grandma, so I am not your lead foot pedal to the metal kind of driver. I did not run a light, and I am wracking my brain trying to think was the light changing as I went through it or something and I simply did not know. As I am sitting there I am becoming more and more uncomfortable and scared. I could feel myself shaking but didn’t let on or tried not to. Traffic was speeding past us at such a rate that I asked if we could literally move like 20 feet maybe into the parking lot that was just slightly up to the right. It wasn’t an accident scene, and it would have been safer for all. I really thought someone was going to hit the officer in his dark uniform standing outside my car or either one of our vehicles. The officer yelled at me no we weren’t moving. I asked again why he was yelling at me, which made him yell louder again. I never yelled, he never stopped, was that right? Was that a tactic? What was that?

OK look, I wasn’t being argumentative and told him that. I was a woman alone, very uncomfortable, very unsure as to what I actually did and terrified that I was going to get hit, he was going to get hit, WE were going to get hit. This was then the end of it and I drove home with my ticket, shaking. I kept on shaking for a good while after inside my home.

This was a new experience for me. I always before this had this kind of hero thing for police and firefighters. But this? It made me never want to drive at night as a woman ever again anywhere. I did take it to court and it didn’t make me feel any better. The whole experience left me feeling unsafe, uncomfortable. You see I complained, after the fact, so I still ask was I made to feel uncomfortable for a while because of that? I lived in Lower Merion for many years after this, and I always felt apprehensive even seeing a Lower Merion officer after that. As someone who is a law abiding rule follower even if I am occasionally politically/civically mouthy, I never looked at the police force where I grew up ever the same way again. And all these years later, this makes me very uncomfortable and sad to talk about. I hadn’t thought about all this for years until today, and watching that video brought it all back. Like a whoosh.

This scenario, right or wrong is one of those things that you aren’t just looking at race, you are thinking as a woman, what if she was me? What if that was me? What if I had been tased more than once?

Then it’s the scenario of a black woman being terrified, a cop with his gun out (listen to the recording – a woman who also happens to be a lawyer who was there speaking about it), and other black people as car passengers. This woman was handcuffed while her breasts were exposed after they dragged her out of the car? And tased how many times? According to the video, the female lawyer who saw it said the car passengers said tased 3 times? In the end like MORE than the police cars we can see in the video? Like 7 they say on the video? How is this not so incredibly action movie set excessive?

Then after that one experience of mine in years that followed, I had two experiences at public events where I was photographing said events, including one as the as the event photographer where I had police yell at me for taking photos. These were clear no expectation of privacy in a public space kind of deals and in one instance, a police officer from a suburban police force actually touched my person in front of witnesses including one of the event organizers and tried to literally RIP my camera off of me for taking event photos. In the middle of a public street, at a family friendly music event.

But these incidents have stuck with me. I rarely talk about them. And a big irony I keep coming back to regarding this whole LMPD debacle? National Night Out, the annual nationwide event to bring police and community together was founded in Lower Merion.

I live in a municipality now that I think has an amazing police force. I feel lucky.

Lower Merion Police Department is I don’t know what to think these days, but after this latest thing? Change has to happen. Multiple big white guys, one black woman. Her shirt is pulled up and in disarray, and I somehow don’t think it’s a Mardi Gras celebration and there will be beads, right?

To the poor lady, I am not trying to make light of what I have seen on video. I am so not. That terrifies me. That could be anyone. And if you listen to the recording which was as the whole thing was unfolding, this was for a supposed traffic infraction and the WOMAN COULDN’T SAFELY PULL OVER IN TRAFFIC, HEAVY TRAFFIC!!! This woman pulled into a parking lot, which is one of those public place situations/reactions women are told to do if they feel unsure, or unsafe.

And then all of a sudden it’s one, then two, then three, then FOUR police officers…eventually 7 cars as per the video. If I was THAT woman I would have been terrified I wasn’t getting home alive or in one piece. Absolutely freaking terrified. ALL yelling at her. And HOW many times is it even LEGAL to tase someone? It seems from the video she was tased MULTIPLE times. But seriously, they could have thrown her into cardiac arrest or something doing it more than once, couldn’t they have? What if she had a pacemaker for example?

And yes, the woman was cussing a blue streak at them by the end. I have to say in this circumstance however, if it was you or me would you have been able to not cuss them out given what transpired? I mean Jesus. What was all that?

Lower Merion Police has had a slew of issues making the papers off and on the past couple/few years. I am putting a few articles up because I think it is timely and I have to ask is this a department in turmoil?

This scares me what happened. What happened to me all those years ago has indeed stuck with me, right or wrong. And it’s hard to talk about because we are not supposed to criticize law enforcement.

But Lower Merion needs to deal with this, as well as their commissioner police committee and their Township Manager Ernie McNeely, who used to be West Chester Borough’s Township Manager. I will note that one Lower Merion Commissioner Scott Zelov has been on the police committee forever, and really, they need to deal with this. Something is wrong if things like this are happening.

Thank you for the brave women who put this forward in a video. That takes guts and courage. And again to the woman to whom this happened: I am really sorry. No woman black or white deserves what happened to you. It’s scary and was all unnecessary and should not be swept under the rug. I hope she will be O.K. That is enough to cause PTSD for real.

I have now walked away from this post for a while to let it simmer. I still feel quite strongly that this needs to be addressed. This is not just a race thing, this is something that needs to be dealt with for all women. And men. This is something that will outrage and sadden, and cause fear.

I found some press release thing via screen shot. Not sure to whom it was released and then I went to their website and I see a thing about George Floyd? Well what about Jane Doe from Norristown and her traffic stop 1/8/23? You as a department, can’t talk the talk if you don’t walk the walk and this thing that has happened? This thing will also affect other police departments who weren’t part of this “event”. Not right either.

Police are here to protect us. And this is not some de-fund the police post, so we’re clear. This is a big box of wrong that needs to be unpacked, discussed, resolved. Lower Merion isn’t the Magic Kingdom even in as much as they think they should be.

What happened shouldn’t have. I end this post being so lost in thought about after all we have been through as a country that this shit is still happening. To my friends who still live in Lower Merion, please demand better from this township.

Lower Merion FOP: Supt. McGrath has “destroyed the integrity and reputation of the Lower Merion Police Department”

Lower Merion police lieutenant suspended for 3 days for allegedly helping candidate on exam
Sources say after the candidate “aced” the test, it was clear to other officers that the candidate knew the questions.

Chad Pradelli via WPVI
Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Township Looks for Answers in Wake of Accusations Against Lower Merion Police
Days after two separate but very serious accusations against Lower Merion’s police officers and its leadership, township and LMPD officials are still digesting what came to light Wednesday night.
Thomas J. Walsh, Patch Staff
Posted Fri, May 20, 2011 at 10:10 pm ET
Updated Sat, May 21, 2011 at 9:17 pm ET

The Harriton Banner: Policing and Race in Lower Merion October 9, 2015

The New York Times reported in 2014 on the vacated 1944 murder conviction of a 14-year-old black boy, George J. Stinney, “the youngest person executed in the United States in the last century.” Stinney was convicted of the murder of two white girls in a trial that took less than a day, and was executed only three months after the day of his arrest.

Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen’s decision to vacate, or legally nullify, the conviction was not based on the merit of the case but because “[t]he prosecution had failed in numerous ways to safeguard the constitutional rights of Mr. Stinney, who was black, from the time he was taken into custody until his death by electrocution.”

In light of the 2014 police killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, along with other notable cases where a white police officer killed a black suspect, a reasonable person may ask the question, “Has much about the justice and police system changed in the last 70 years?”

From Stinney’s case in 1944 to the cases of Garner and Brown in 2014 and many others, police and judicial racism against black citizens blights the United States’ national history. Closer to home, a history of racial profiling allegations exists in the Lower Merion Township, perhaps less violent or high-profile than that of Philadelphia or national breaking cases, but no less important.

In 2011, Officer Kerry Godbold accused the Lower Merion Police Department of racially biased hiring and promotion policies, which further consultant investigation found to be untrue. In January 2015, Wynnewood resident Deborah Saldana speculated that the police stop of two African-American snow shovelers was racially motivated, which the police department denied on the basis of previous illegal solicitation stops.

Both of these incidents were covered in Harriton Banner reports. According to a 6ABC report, a February 2015 meeting between residents and police gave no further satisfaction towards ending a legacy of tension.

Data and coverage of police bias events on the national and even local scale abound, but we wondered what stories we would find within our own school. In order to learn more, in December 2014, we interviewed two Harriton focus groups, one composed of ten black students in the POWER program, and the other of ten white students in Mr. Crooke’s journalism class.

The primary question was whether any of the students had been stopped by police. Though the groups were small and we were unable to account for the exact reasons students had been stopped, the numbers between the races were quite different: Eight of the ten black students had been stopped, while two of the ten white students had experienced similar treatment.

Matt Powell, then a Harriton senior, had on a black hoodie and got stopped across Lancaster Avenue. A white woman had become frightened, but in remembering, Powell wasn’t sure if it was because he was wearing all black or because he is black. Ethan Anderson, also a former senior, got stopped once while biking.

Savannah Brown, then a junior, reported that she was stopped and questioned by law enforcement when walking home from a friend’s house down the street. Later in the interview, Brown shared that she has multiple relatives who are cops, and although she does not hold any resentment or suspicion toward them, she still believes that some of their colleagues are doing wrong.

She was with Chris Fulton and Robyn Clark when, as Fulton described, the three students were stopped as they crossed a street. The officer told them not to jaywalk and said “Don’t do it again” to Fulton but not to Clark and Brown. Fulton felt uncomfortable, like the stop was “politically incorrect.”

hey lower merion residents, is this your billboard future?

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Hey Lower Merion Township/Penn Valley/Gladwyne is this your future?

The secret is out. Once again the billboard baron is on the march. A reminder of what they did in East Whiteland Township, Chester County:

Oh and these are the trees they weren’t allowed to take in East Whiteland because residents went to PennDOT:

What has recently been heard regarding East Whiteland is that Catalyst withdrew their application from Penndot not so long ago and something like the billboard site is being sold to yet another billboard company?

And here are more views of current uses of the West Conshohocken sign not really so far away from where they want them in Lower Merion:

Yeah so read what came out from one Lower Merion Township Commissioner, Josh Grimes. And people say the commissioner in Bryn Mawr, Scott Zelov is all for moving the billboards so it now becomes the problem of another area of the township? Pretty obnoxious if true, right? Especially given all of the support other commissioners have gladly provided to him all these years over billboards in Bryn Mawr? Really hope this isn’t true don’t you? I also wonder who he’s using for a lawyer this time? Because unless I am mistaken I believe the lawyer he used and East Whiteland is actually Radnor Commissioner Jack Larkin and I wonder how he would feel if the shoe was on the other foot and they wanted to put billboards in Radnor?

And what’s with the carrot and rabbit psychology by billboard company? Kind of like what they did in East Whiteland, right? Perhaps it’s being done this way in Lower Merion because the objective all along was to get the giant TV billboards on the Schuylkill Expressway? Maybe the billboards should go up at “Maple Hill”? That’s in Gladwyne, right?

Please visit Daily Mail to read article

So my opinion which I’m entitled to have as I hope lower Merion fights these billboards because just because the man can buy a house in Lower Merion it doesn’t mean Lower Merion should have to be the location for his billboards unless they’re going on his own front lawn, Anyway, here is what Lower Merion residents are now facing:

what about oakwell? once part of stoneleigh, now set to be demolished by greedy lower merion school district?

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Tea House at Oakwell (October 2022 photo)

Oakwell. 1735 County Line Road, Villanova, PA. Originally part of Stoneleigh…..

I wrote briefly about Oakwell at the beginning of this year. I wasn’t going to care. I don’t live in Lower Merion any longer, so why should I care? Then a friend sent me photos. She had gone on an impromptu tour of the grounds, and met Dr. Bennett who is the man who first was selling to Villanova, then Lower Merion School District had it’s greedy paws out.

once again, lower merion school district and her cheerleaders can’t see the forest for the trees….so why not just clear cut the forest?

But then down the rabbit hole I went because a friend was there this weekend and sent me photos.

It started with the tea house. Such a folly. I had seen photos of them in Victorian estates. And then I saw the life size terra cotta warrior. A Chinese warrior. I find the Chinese terra cotta warriors fascinating. I have a small replica of one. (Check out the Smithsonian article HERE on them.) I have only seen life size ones in this area one other time: a few years ago for sale at Resellers Consignment Gallery in Frazer.

Then I read some fun history the Save Oakwell folks have dug up:

1921 Olmsted Brothers map of Stoneleigh property that become Oakwell in 1922: Greenhouse Complex, Superintendent’s Cottage, Squirrel Inn dormitory for women in the gardening and horticultural training program. White oak indicated in red box. Source NPS Olmsted Archives, Job #3577

In 1919, William Bodine was making preparations to build his new house on a portion of his father’s Stoneleigh estate, a property that came to be known as Oakwell in 1922. The famed Olmsted Brothers firm had been Stoneleigh’s landscape architects since 1908, and there are hundreds of pages of their records for both properties accessible in the Library of Congress and the National Park System’s Olmsted Archives showing the level of expertise and thought that went into the stewardship of this place through the 1950s.

What was Olmsted Brothers’ main concern when it came to placement of the new house and driveway along County Line Road? Almost 103 years ago to this day, this telegram to their client William Bodine, along with other correspondence, shows that their main concern was situating these structures in order to “save trees.”

~ Erin Vintinner Betley “Save Oakwell” Facebook Group

Friday May 23, 1919 was a busy day for Stoneleigh’s Eleanor Gray Warden Bodine.

Bryn Mawr College was hosting the 5th Annual Conference of the Woman’s National Farm and Garden Association. As an association member, Mrs. Bodine listened to talks on topics ranging from War Gardens to Community Gardens to the Woman’s Land Army.

Two years later, an article in House & Garden titled “Consider the Gardener” again shone a public spotlight on this program for training of young women, “offered by Mrs. Samuel T. Bodine of Villa Nova, Pa whose extensive estate and eminent superintendent-gardener, Mr. Alexander MacLeod, have formed an exceptional combination.”

After the program, the conference attendees toured 4 nearby farms & gardens, with Stoneleigh the last stop of the day. Eleanor Bodine would have welcomed attendees to view Stoneleigh’s magnificent gardens at the front of the property but given the interests of the membership, the back of the property likely would have been center stage. For this is where Mrs. Bodine and her superintendent Alexander MacLeod hosted an innovative gardening and horticultural training program for women, centered on a greenhouse complex and Superintendent’s Cottage designed by noted architect Frank Miles Day sometime before 1903 (both structures became part of her son William Bodine’s Oakwell after 1922). The women in the program lived in a dormitory they named “Squirrel Inn,” built specifically for them by the Bodine family, near the sprawling fruit and vegetable gardens where they spent their days (these were Victory gardens during WWI).

The article focused on the need to foster the interest of more young people in gardening and horticulture, with these lines that resonate 101 years later: “nature study classes and school gardens are awakening special powers of observation and emphasizing the practical value of patience and diligent perseverance…. public and private enterprise must combine to throw searchlights on the path to be chosen, revealing the mysteries of science related to horticulture [because] even soil… teems with history, science, poetry and religion.”

~ Erin Vintinner Betley “Save Oakwell” Facebook Group

So Oakwell. Was (again) literally once part of Stoneleigh. Stoneleigh as in the house was built in 1877 by Edmund Smith, a Pennsylvania Railroad executive. Pennsylvania Railroad money built a lot of the Main Line of a certain period, didn’t it? When the Bodines acquired the estate, in the early part of the 20th century, what is now Oakwell and Oakwell land was gifted to William Bodine. William Bodine’s house “Oakwell” was built in 1922. In 1932, it was subdivided off of Stoneleigh.

Historic Commission Pushes Back On LMSD Sketch for Villanova Playing Fields

So Stoneleigh survived, was donated by the Haas family to Natural Lands, yet Oakwell, which is a place that should be part of a similar preservation and conservation conversation is at risk. It is fascinating that there has not been more noise about this. Maybe people are just tired of Lower Merion School District taking properties or causing reassessments and increases in taxes. The Lower Merion School District is a greedy behemoth and I don’t think those in the administration have ever cared about other that what can be gotten in the name of the school district.

Ok yes, a lot of this is memories of days gone by, but properties like Oakwell? Legendary. Why shouldn’t a place like Oakwell live on with an adaptive reuse? The gardens although a wreck, are all still there! The tree are amazing. There is literally a small oak forest. And all of this is supposed to be flattened for TURF fields? For MIDDLE SCHOOLERS, no less? Is this an actual need, or a want?

Gilded Age Estate to be Demolished by School District

Hidden City Philadelphia wrote an amazing article a couple of days ago. The talk about Oakwell being a historical resource. I will remind people this is Lower Merion Township and I watched Addison Mizner’s La Ronda get demolished. Being a historic asset may buy some time, but we live in a private property rights state, so it can sadly only delay the inevitable. And Lower Merion needs to pay more mind to demolition by neglect, in my humble opinion.

Here is an excerpt:

….The Oakwell estate’s current resident, Dr. John Bennett, founder and CEO of Devon Medical Products, has lived there for 25 years. He intended to sell the sprawling estate to Villanova University to be used as a retreat. However, in December 2018 the school district elbowed out Villanova and voted in favor of condemning Bennett’s property.

This is not how the school district sees it. “After a long search, the school district paid more than $12.9 million for the contiguous properties, which had both been offered for sale by their owners, for use as playing fields for Black Rock Middle School,” said Amy Buckman, director of school and community relations for Lower Merion School District.

Bennett disagrees. “I had the property under agreement with Villanova and, just prior to closing, the school district took it by eminent domain,” he said. “I didn’t want to see it go to baseball fields, destroying the ecological setting we have here. I went to court to fight them and lost. It’s a travesty.” The school district paid Bennett $9.95 million for the property.

“I offered to remain on the property to care for the house, but they want me gone so they can claim that it is abandoned, allow it to deteriorate, and tear it down.” Bennett has kept the entirety of the estate well maintained and still lives there with his daughter and grandchild.

~ Hidden city philadelphia 10/22/2022

Ok I saw this also in the Tap Into online publication in 2019 it was, I guess:

Landowners’ Charge LMSD with Fraud, Collusion, Bad Faith and Arbitrary Action in New Court Filing By MIKE BANNAN Published February 12, 2019

The day that LMSD condemned 1835 County Line Road allowing it to be taken by Eminent Domain, the property was effectively titled to the LMSD.  The only option available to the owners to get their property back is to fight a legal battle in court.

Lower Merion Township, PA — Fraud, collusion, and bad faith are alleged in court documents filed on February 7, 2018, by attorney Michael F. Faherty on behalf of his clients, township residents John A. Bennett, M.D. and Nance Di Rocco who are in a legal battle over the taking of their property by the Lower Merion School District.

~ TAP INTO LOWER MERION

Now back to the Hidden City Philadelphia piece (it’s wonderful):

How was Stoneleigh able to block the school district, while the historic landscaping, Acorn Cottage, and horticultural structures of the Oakwell estate, originally part of Stoneleigh, at risk? “When the historic resource inventory survey was conducted in the late 1990s, the greenhouse buildings were overlooked. However, this parcel is historically associated with the Stoneleigh estate and warrants similar protections,” said Kathleen Abplanalp. director of historic preservation at the Lower Merion Conservancy.

“From the very beginning, the entire 13-acre property has fit into our mission goals for historic preservation, open space preservation, the health of the local watershed, and sustainability,” Abplanalp said. “We are vehemently opposed to the current plan and hope the school district will compromise some of their programmatic needs.”

Erin Betley, a conservation biologist who lives in Lower Merion, views the pending destruction of the estate’s landscaping and historically significant structures like the greenhouse complex as lost opportunity. “Oakwell’s intact landscape provides a hands-on educational opportunity for our children, and our community, to learn about ecology, conservation, environmental science, gardening, sustainability, history, natural history, historical preservation, and more,” she said. “Historical records reveal that Stoneleigh’s greenhouse complex and fruit and vegetable gardens were educational spaces for young women during and after WWI, where they gained practical training in gardening while also feeding the community. I hope this can be viewed as a chance for this valuable place to come full circle and used in a way that takes inspiration from our collective past to inform our collective future”…A single mature oak tree can consume more than 40,000 gallons of water a year. Where will all that water go when the Oakwell estate’s trees are gone? 

Doug Tallamy, a conservationist, author, and professor of agriculture and entomology at the University of Delaware, agrees. “If you replace a forest with a lawn, you are generating run off,” he said. Tallamy was involved with preserving Stoneleigh. His message to the school district? “Find another place without cutting down hundreds of trees.”

~hidden city philadelphia 10/22/22

I am a huge fan of Doug Tallamy, own his books, have heard him lecture a few times now. I also live with a woods full of oak trees. I love them. I am attached to my woods and the creatures and plants in them, much like the folks who live around Oakwell.

This property would be better suited as a retreat, which is I think what I heard Villanova wanted to do with the property.

And not to skip around but is all of this crap being done by Lower Merion School District going to cost Lower Merion Township big time when it comes to public works, police, fire, EMTs? So when will they have to put in another firehouse and where exactly?

Here are some links which I saw on Save Oakwell which some of you might find of interest:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskn2EhZ5

https://www.flickr.com/photos/olmsted_archives/collections/72157657327384753/?fbclid=IwAR0hJvNu8F-i4pJ6ElAV3miRecfqnKmIMlqQitcfA8CaNMyIbtc4NGqIDwk

https://www.loc.gov/item/mss5257102658/?fbclid=IwAR0wGaGhzlHG5t7JHdZIk5aTviAy3q60lsWdnrNmHO3ckxIR5YaFT41wYOk

https://www.loc.gov/item/mss5257104294/?fbclid=IwAR1nRjtB9CqWct6cU0GR9Zy4016WG7ySHg2KmcVY4TiAgp8K5qETBGhhpgE

What do I think? I am not sure as on one hand, this is such a complex tale that I do not know if we will ever know the whole story. BUT on the other hand I am so tired of major properties being demolished and I am definitely of the school of thought that Lower Merion School District need to be stopped. After all, #thisplacematters and has anyone gone to the National Trust for Historic Preservation yet?

And let’s talk about the trees. 500 as in FIVE HUNDRED. Yes, that is the destruction number. That makes me want to throw up.

Isn’t it time to curb the rabid dog of destruction that is Lower Merion School District? From the historic preservation aspects to land and environmental preservation aspects, sadly Oakwell has it all going on. Yet people are being too damn quiet about this. Natural Lands needs to speak up. Hell, they know what it is to have to fight Lower Merion School District over eminent domain and also, the eco system that is their Stoneleigh will be threatened and altered and affected irrevocably if the mass destruction of Oakwell succeeds. Natural Lands speaking up now is very important, and I don’t quite get their silence, do you?

Oakwell-ZHBDownload

Oakwell need a reprieve. But more people need to care. Not enough people seem to care or are willing to stick their necks out. I really wish that someone would sit down at Oakwell with people who had lived there, or whose family has lived there and film an oral history. Well that should have happened before I think. And where are elected officials on this? Not just statements of Lower Merion Commissioner, but State Reps, State Senators, Congressional representatives, etc? County Commissioners? State environmentalists?

Where. Is. The. Really. LOUD. Public. Outcry?? And more media or do they only cover bad politicians and crime in Philadelphia?

I don’t have answers here only dismay and anger at Lower Merion School District. There is a Save Oakwell page on Facebook, a Save Oakwell group also on Facebook, Save Oakwell on Instagram, SaveOakwell.org, and Preserve Oakwell.

People. We need to save the region’s history. That includes gardens too. Trees. Houses. Tea Houses. I don’t have the answers. God I wish I did. But if we allow this to happen, in the end we will all be sorry. And I have to ask, is Radnor Township asleep here? Their township is quite literally across County Line Road. Radnor residents will be affected too. One would think the Radnor CONservancy might feign an interest, but that would mean getting out of their bubble, right?

Oakwell needs some big hitter angels, do any exist for this property? Why is it in other areas of the country, properties like this are revered and preserved?

Enjoy the photos my friend took.

#SaveOakwell

once again, lower merion school district and her cheerleaders can’t see the forest for the trees….so why not just clear cut the forest?

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RANT ALERT. If you don’t want to hear it, turn away now.

Traveling back from whence I came, or visiting issues in Lower Merion Township is always amusing albeit somewhat disturbing to always be amazed at the blind devotion to Lower Merion School District especially when once again they are doing something destructive.

The comments from the blind faithful THIS time are over Lower Merion School Board plans to bulldoze a beautiful swath of woodland unnecessarily is truly something which will take your breath away. I am not giving those comments air time because they are always the same thing: when it is distilled and boiled down, Lower Merion School District is perfect.

If you disagree with Lower Merion School District cheerleaders no matter what they are trying to do you are at a minimum a bad person. Or you are NIMBY, which doesn’t apply unless it’s in your neighborhood and even then it is just a knee jerk pejorative term most of the time. These folks want to drive their status symbol green friendly Teslas, but when it comes to actually doing better the environment in other ways, or even just preserving an area to keep a bit of charm, that is far too inconvenient.

And OMG you would think Lower Merion School District was in dire peril if they don’t get their way every single time.

MISPLACED SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT. Lots of school districts excel and thrive on far, far less.

No Lower Merion School District is not perfect and it has decades of issues to prove that. And no I don’t think highly of them.

And Lower Merion Township has contributed to issues surrounding Lower Merion School District vis a vis development. Sure they are separate entities autonomous from one and other, yet they have a weird codependency since what they do as individual entities affects the other. And when you overdevelop and they come, it overcrowds the school district, correct?

A few years ago now, Lower Merion School District had a failed attempt to seize land from Stoneleigh, the 100% preserved property donated by the Haas family to Natural Lands to remain preserved in perpetuity for people (and nature) to enjoy.

Then when Lower Merion Township School District couldn’t get their greedy paws on Stoneleigh, they acquired the old Clothier Estate and it was happy bulldozing. Oh and I forgot, before they attempted to get Stoneleigh, there was that whole situation where they made a play to take Ashbridge Park. Yes a park.

So then there was the whole thing of they still need more land and that old disco song “More, More, More” comes to mind because with Lower Merion School District more, more, more is always their mantra. Nothing is ever enough.

Photo Courtesy of Save Oakwell Sister to Stoneleigh.

As a school district they could have sent representatives to Lower Merion Township for years to express concern over infill development, but they didn’t. And once upon a time, they had other schools, that they closed. They closed Ardmore Junior High School around 1978, they let the Ardmore Avenue School (elementary) rot and eventually closed it (that caused redistricting back then didn’t it although it was also integration?) they closed Bryn Mawr Elementary School, and the Wynnewood Road Elementary School.

So in my humble opinion, Lower Merion School District has always had issues and always been a crappy neighbor. In the vein of that opinion, their still current and fractured relationship with neighbors over field lights at Arnold Field. And remember redistricting again in the not too recent past and the case Students Doe v. Lower Merion School District which made it to the U.S. Supreme Court although it was not heard?

So back to Villanova where the new middle school with the stupid name that means nothing but could have meant something if they had bent their absurd rigidity and allow it to be named after beloved educator, Sean Hughes. Anyway, Lower Merion swoops in and elbows out Villanova University using eminent domain once again to get 13.4 acres on adjacent sites to Stoneleigh at 1800 West Montgomery Ave. and 1835 County Line Rd.

Oakwell. 13 acres of old growth woods and heritage trees, mostly majestic oak trees. HUNDREDS of them. This property was in play for a while and I believe the former owners just dangled a juicy carrot until they had enough people salivating. First it was Villanova University (which would have been just as bad owning this property in my opinion.) But you know Lower Merion School District and their favorite billy club of eminent domain, right?

So now it is to be turf field city, the hell with trees and species like the great horned owl which remarkably DOES live there? This is also still a threat to Stoneleigh in my humble opinion. This is also an enormous environmental threat to the entire area and will affect not only Lower Merion Township residents, but Radnor Township residents who literally are on the other side of terribly narrow County Line Road. And of course one can’t help but wonder, does a new school mean the need for another outpost for first responders? Where would THAT go if so?

This is post is truthfully an addendum to a last-minute call to arms the other day for anyone who grew up in Lower Merion Township or lives there still today.

Please continue to send emails telling the Lower Merion School District to NOT bulldoze down many acres of a pristine old growth oak forest. They want to destroy a valuable natural resource that will affect Stoneleigh immediately adjacent, and neighbors in Lower Merion Township and Radnor Township just so middle schoolers can have a few turf fields.

FLOOD THEIR EMAIL!


I hate to sound as old as dirt but we had plain old grass fields and survived quite nicely. It’s middle school. Of course ironically it’s also the place in school where they teach or used to teach earth science and this property is like a giant living earth science lab complete with great horned owls.


The school board keep trying to do an end run around neighbors who want to have a zoning hearing board meeting on this issue. I think it behooves all of us to support the neighbors and environmentalists on the front lines of this issue.

This property they acquired adjacent to Stoneleigh is irreplaceably special. It has mature woodlands with all sorts of flora and fauna species as well as the oaks. Those old growth oaks in particular are extraordinarily valuable, and not just monetarily. They are also heritage trees.


This property has been evaluated by experts and it is a treasure trove of species. It is home to many, many migratory birds, etc.


Here is whom you address your email to (and YES include LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP):

communitycomments@lmsd.org
publiccomment@lowermerion.org
shouchins@lowermerion.org

drmumin@lmsd.org

mcgloia@lmsd.org

shaferm@lmsd.org

Now including those email addresses because if you have been sending emails their comment email address keeps getting overwhelmed.

Lower Merion Township Zoning Hearing Board Meeting Cancelled 1/25/22

The zoning meeting got cancelled on this topic this week. It is rescheduled. Do not know exact date. Including Lower Merion Township in your email will probably be the only response you get. And it will be from the current Township Secretary and it will be terse and may even feel somewhat rude, but you have put your sentiments on the record which is important in any issue. Don’t expect great things from the Township Manager, Ernie McNeely, and if you don’t believe me just ask folks in West Chester Borough where he came from before he became socially upwardly mobile and moved to Lower Merion, right?

By all accounts, Lower Merion School District finally has a decent superintendent. But he inherited a legacy of bad decisions and bad apples in my humble opinion. This was set into motion by the previous superintendent who was even worse than the one he succeeded.

Middle school kids can play just fine on grass fields and the new middle school has field space too. They could have fields on this latest seized property and save the woodlands. Saving those woodlands gives them opportunities from other than turf fields. Kids could learn from actual nature, not what is projected on a screen as they sit growing like mushrooms while they are looking at their phones anyway. Nature gives kids room to be kids.

Middle school kids aren’t competing for the Heisman Trophy or Soccer World Cup, maybe less playing fields and letting kids still be kids at that age would be more productive? But then the soccer moms and dads in their expensive athleisure wouldn’t be able to drive their giant gas guzzling or environmentally appropriate SUVs through the Starbucks drive thru with casual disregard for other drivers and pedestrians only to scream and yell at the side of a field and because it’s Lower Merion expect others to clean up their Starbucks cups, right?

Hell yea I am on a rant. This is ridiculous. I don’t always agree with Lower Merion resident Phil Browndeis, but his thoughts posted with his video shared above, struck a chord:

This is the last winter for a stand of old growth trees in Lower Merion. The Lower Merion School District plans to clear cut the trees to build new athletic fields for the new middle school. So much for carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat and all the other good that trees provide us.

Allow me also to share verbiage from a petition about this (and sign that too while you are at it!):

THIS PETITION IS SPONSORED BY CLIMATE ACTION LOWER MERION (CALM) https://www.climateactionlm.org/ contact us at climateactionlm@gmail.com

Lower Merion Township is facing a great challenge which must be addressed with urgency: the Township is under tremendous development pressure which is being allowed to continue under old building and development and land use codes that do not protect and preserve the Township’s shrinking remaining environmental assets. This is a matter of grave concern: our tree canopy is under attack. Our waterways, already polluted, are being further compromised. Our cost to correct the adverse impacts of this type of development may greatly exceed whatever short term benefits may be derived.

An environmental tragedy is unfolding. Over 482 trees over 6” in diameter (which probably understates the number of mature trees) including 26 giant oaks, a magnificent oak savannah, and a densely treed mature woodland are slated for removal according to a proposal before the Township for their approval. It would be hard for this proposal to be enacted under the current zoning code, but this proposal is sadly grandfathered under old rules.

Due to an unfortunate set of events that occurred a few years ago, a wooded parcel was acquired by the School District for playing field development. This parcel is located at 1800 Montgomery Avenue and 1835 County Line Rd in Villanova. The plan involves an almost complete deforestation of the parcel including a clearcutting of vast swaths of trees. Neighbors say it is a stopover for migrating birds including snowy owls.

At the same time that this project is moving forward, the Township is in a planning process to write and implement a Sustainability/Greenhouse Gas Reduction plan and is considering adopting a Net Zero Carbon Emission resolution. The destruction of the woodland would be a self-inflicted wound making it far more difficult and costly to achieve the sustainability and carbon reduction we so desperately need. In addition, the children cannot walk to the proposed playing fields. They will have to be bussed. So we hope another site could be equally viable.

We are simply asking the Township authorities and the School district to work together to exhaustively and completely explore all other options. We must be stewards for our children and our children’s children. We can do the right thing, its not too late.

I don’t hold out great hope here, I am a realist and this school district is always selfish and so are the majority of their narcissistic blind faith devotees. However, you just don’t know and if we can save these woods, it is so crucially important to the are and to nature herself.

Thanks for allowing the rant, you know I love my oak trees and owls and woodpeckers and other critters. Visit Save Oakwell Sister to Stoneleigh on Facebook to keep up with what is happening. I guess I am a tree hugger after a fashion. And I definitely don’t agree with yet another bad plan by Lower Merion School District.

Maybe this in the end is just another Don Quixote tilting at windmills issue, but I still think it is something to talk about, and why not object to the plan? After all WHY couldn’t they preserve these woods and use other open space on property for fields? Why CAN’T they be part progress part preservationist? These trees are actually important and I am completely unapologetic to those who cannot see that.

Photo Courtesy of Save Oakwell Sister to Stoneleigh.

Interesting reading on Lower Merion School District:

Inquirer: “Stoneleigh garden may be saved from Lower Merion school district by new law”
June 25, 2018
By Natural Lands

WHYY ‘Disconcerting to be a taxpayer and not be heard’: Lower Merion residents rebuke school district in open space battle
By Kenny Cooper October 14, 2021

6 ABC Save Stoneleigh supporters storm Lower Merion School Board meeting
By Annie McCormick
Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Philadelphia Magazine: Lower Merion Schools: OK, We’ll Leave Most of Stoneleigh Alone By Claire Sasko 2018

Inquirer: “Is Stoneleigh safe? Lower Merion district buys nearby property for middle school”
July 20, 2018
By Natural Lands

LMHS Newsroom
UPDATE ON PROPERTY ACQUISITION (2019)

UPDATE ON PROPERTY ACQUISITION (2018)

MOI: A Closer Look
The Moment of Integration – Project Description

http://www.lowermerionhistory.org/photos/wynnewoodnew.html

Lower Merion The First 300: Public Schools

Postmortem: Redistricting battle in Lower Merion
A week ago, the Supreme Court declined to hear Students Doe v. Lower Merion School District, ending the legal debate over the Lower Merion School Board’s redistricting plan.

by Adam Bredenberg
Published Jun 28, 2012

NOVEMBER 16, 2021 Lower Merion community wants new middle school named after late principal Sean Hughes
Students and parents have started an online petition to honor the longtime educator, but district policy explicitly prohibits naming buildings after people
BY HANNAH KANIK
PhillyVoice Staff

IT run amok: Pa. school allegedly spied on students via webcams by Bill Detwiler in TR Dojo, in Hardware on February 19, 2010, 6:03 AM PST

Great Horned Owl Nest. Photo Courtesy of Save Oakwell Sister to Stoneleigh.

more collateral damage in gladwyne, pa from hurricane ida

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Old real estate listing photo
for Gladwyne’s 1690 House – it was for sale a few years back.

Damage from Hurricane Ida was a hot topic among fair goers at the Harriton Fair yesterday. I know because I saw Lower Merion Commissioner Scott Zelov getting his ear bent about it, especially about the Mill Creek Road Bridge.

Now sometimes over the years I have been hard on Commissioner Scott Zelov. We know each other from things Lower Merion. But where I will always give him credit is unlike others, he shows up to events in Lower Merion Township, and listens and engages with residents. I especially give him credit for supporting Historic Harriton House and the fair because the commissioner whose ward contains Harriton can never seem to show up for anything there which I find strange because it’s a wonderful place.

Anyway, River Road in Gladwyne was hit horribly and other places in Lower Merion as well. But I did not know about other Ida collateral damage until this morning when a member of Gladwyne Civic posted the following (and I am re-posting verbatim):

‼️📌MILL CREEK ROAD BRIDGE
From Scott Zelov, LM commissioner: the Mill Creek Road Bridge at the 1690 House has to be demolished and re-constructed due to extensive damage from Ida. The engineering and design could take 9 months, and then construction could be another 9 months, meaning that the bridge won’t re-open until March 2023. This bridge is owned by Montgomery County, not Lower Merion Township. We are working with the County to try to compress both the design and construction periods. TO CONTACT COMMISSIONER ZELOV https://www.lowermerion.org/services/township-secretary-s-office/board-of-commissioners/commissioners/v-scott-zelov 📌‼️

An old art item found on Internet of 1690 house.

This makes me really sad. The history of the 1690 house is amazing. There is this website called Living Places which has a history. I will share an excerpt:

📌The Mill Creek Historic District is located in Gladwyne, Lower Merion Township, on the west side of the Schuylkill River. Approximately ten miles from downtown Philadelphia, it is situated at the juncture of Mill Creek and Old Gulph Roads alongside of Mill Creek.

…,The area was originally settled by a Welsh Quaker named John Roberts “the miller” who purchased the rights to 500 acres of land in the Welsh Tract in 1682. Taking title to 250 acres; he set up his grist mill called “The Wain” by 1690 or earlier….The house at 543 Mill Creek Road is the oldest in the area and possibly in Lower Merion Township. Originally it was the log house of John Roberts, the Miller, c.1683. The house, which is commonly called “the 1690 house” has been expanded several times and now bears no resemblance to the original. It is 1 1/2 stories has brick chimneys, and dormers with slanting overhangs. Presently, it is sheathed with wood shingles. Over the years, Mill Creek Road has been raised giving the house the appearance of being in a gully.📌

Lower Merion Conservancy photo

The 1690 house is a private residence. It’s a gem. I actually had senior portrait photos taken at the old mill across the street- way before it was restored into a private residence.

Of course this begs the topic of bridges in this area. And roads under construction BEFORE Ida . Everything seems to take so long. Like the hanging rock on 320 and the road closure that is supposed to be done by November, 2021. The hanging rock AKA “Drummonds Head” is actually located in Upper Merion Township and they are supposedly shifting the roadway AWAY from the rock, so it’s got me wondering what they are doing to the creek on the other side?

But my point is even THAT is taking forever. And you can’t get around easily and it’s right where 76 has an exit. The Mill Creek Road Bridge being out will mean a need for a huge work around connecting parts of Lower Merion Township to other parts of itself.

But I am glad the 1690 house can be saved. Here’s hoping the re-engineering can lift it up some and save parts of the original structure to incorporate into the re-build.

Ida was a real natural terror and my heart goes out to the people who own the 1690 House and my friends on River Road and elsewhere. And no, I have not seen photos of the 1690 house post-Ida

Part of an old real estate listing of 1690 House.

estate sale find: history treasure trove of articles and a fabulous book

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That is a photo of a history book about Lower Merion Township from 1988. It was this great book that was privately printed that only had 1000 copies ever printed on the original publication, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen this book out there for sale other than on eBay. I bought it for $10 at an estate sale.

Inside the book was a treasure trove of articles mostly about things in Lower Merion Township but one about Radnor Township as well. The articles were from The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Main Line Times when it was still advertised as an independent newspaper.

I have only just started to read the book but I am sharing screenshots with all of you fellow history buffs that I hope you will find of interest. One thing I loved in particular is a screenshot about things in Gladwyne. it was obviously an old map and it was lent to the folks who put this book out by the father of a childhood friend.

There is so much about the history of the Main Line and Chester County the disappears year-by-year. This is why I love when I can get my hands on one of these really good local history books. I don’t know who owned this particular copy of this book but it’s a wonderful book, and the articles are fabulous.

Enjoy!

gladwyne village is fighting for survival from bad development.

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https://www.gladwynecivic.com/

This has been posted for perspective. So don’t tell me it’s not Chester County, etc, it’s indicative of the problem throughout the Southeastern Pennsylvania area with regard to invasive, unnecessary development that doesn’t even pause to reflect the character of the area.

So yes, even in Gladwyne, PA neighbors are rising up. Even in the rain they packed this VFW hall over a bad plan that would totally kill the sweet village of Gladwyne. And it’s literally a village.

Where they once had a grocery store ACME markets failed there and closed, and some developer wants to come in and put like apartments or townhouse condos and it’s not some gracious plan that will fit with the surrounding area and be across the street from a church, it’s a cram plan and a load of crap.

And I can’t help but go back to the people that owned the parcel who could have chosen differently and didn’t. Because they’re greedy in my humble opinion. Sorry not sorry.

But it’s Lower Merion Township, the land of infill development and former West Chester Borough Manager Ernie McNeely is the current township manager, and well he always loves development doesn’t he? And the current Director of Building and Planning in Lower Merion is someone who can’t suck up to a developer fast enough.

https://www.savegladwynevillage.org/

Essentially if this plan gets built it will be like putting an Eastside Flats in the tiny village of Gladwyne. And while people think of the Main Line as large houses etc, there actually are villages left that have to fight for survival when they should be embraced and encouraged to exist.

From the local civic association:

📌Acme Property Update

Dear Gladwyne Residents:

With so many rumors circulating about the Acme Property I wanted to take a moment to inform you of what we know about recent events and once again inform you that you to a June 8 meeting we are holding to discuss it.

Here is what the Gladwyne Civic has been told:

  1. The Acme property (NOT including the Shell station) is under an Agreement of Sale with a developer.
  2. The Developer has NOT submitted an official plan to Lower Merion Township or any commissioner.
  3. The Developer has shared two preliminary concepts with a small group of Civic Directors. Neither of those concepts meets the Township’s Zoning requirements for a Village Center https://www.lowermerion.org/home/showpublisheddocument/23245/637214107846470000).
  4. The Civic Association has not yet engaged in any official discussion of the concepts, nor has it taken any position with regard to them.

Consequently, after summarizing what we know about the sale of the property and the developer’s ideas, we intend to pivot this meeting to be the first of several Civic workshops to create a Community Vision for our Village Center. In preparation we encourage you to familiarize yourself with 2016 Comprehensive Plan (https://www.lowermerion.org/home/showpublisheddocument/13726/636072036854530000 ) as well as the aforementioned zoning code. In this context please consider that, by design, a Village Center is meant to be a mixed use area that will likely include some residential component within what is primarily a commercial setting. The operative portion of the code reads:

VC Districts are the small commercial areas that function as neighborhood or village centers, generally compact, walkable in scale, with local retail, and occasional residential uses above the first floor.

We are currently working with the Township to clarify what the allowable density can be on the property and other pertinent information.

….If you have specific questions you would like us to cover at the start of the meeting please email them to gladwynecivic@gmail.com by the end of day on June 6 before the meeting so that we can be prepared to respond.📌

Gladwyne is a gem nestled in the Main Line. And I’m not talking about the overpriced extended ZIP Code 19035, I am talking about this village. And the reason I am talking about this village is many decades ago when I was considered a “city kid“ my parents moved us to suburbia. We eventually settled in Haverford, but our first year was spent in Gladwyne.

We were just outside the village on Monk Road, and in those days kids could walk into the village via Youngsford Road without fear of becoming road pizza. We played kick the can and other fun games outside in the evenings in the summer. And in the winter if we were really lucky Mr. Gwinn took folks on a sleigh ride. We learned how to ride horses in Gladwyne, and a daily sound that I remember is the clip clop of horses hooves. (Although I didn’t belong because I wasn’t that good of a rider there was an amazing pony club.)

One of my favorite libraries I’ve ever been in is the little Gladwyne library. There was an old fashioned hardware store where the floors creaked, there were all sorts of old houses both 18th century and 19th century splendid and simple Victorians off of all the little streets. Gladwyne Village is special.

Today a lot of that still exists because the people who live there care. I have always applauded the people who live in Gladwyne because they rally together and they are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in.

I know if this development gets built it will forever change a historic village and the village does not deserve this. That is why I’m posting this. I would like the future kids to move here or even the ones that are there today to be able to still wander around a cool little village.

This is the place where you can still go to the fire company and celebrate the lighting of the Christmas tree (and buy your tree!), and have a fabulous Memorial Day parade that is old-fashioned and memorable. This is a village where you could go trick-or-treating with your families safely. This is a village where people care about their history. You know your neighbors because they stay, they aren’t transient. Therefore this is a village that deserves better than some crap developer with a cram plan because they just want to make money and move on.

We need to stop this kind of sprawl in ALL of our communities. Progress should complement our communities, not maim them. We need to stand up for places like the Village of Gladwyne, Berwyn, Malvern, wherever we live.

These are our communities and we deserve more in a say on how their future is shaped. It is high time to start lobbying our elected officials in Pennsylvania for a comprehensive update of the Municipalities Planning Code and better protections for where we call home. We need more that shredding events in our communities sponsored by elected officials. We need these people to roll up their sleeves and get busy trying to help the people that put them in office in the first place.

Not all developers are bad, but sadly there are a lot of bad and greedy developers. Developers might not like my opinion but the First Amendment says I can express myself thusly.

Thanks for stopping by.

target bryn mawr: today’s example of another bad proposed development plan…

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Today social media groups on the Main Line are all abuzz about a particular development plan. It is proposed for Bryn Mawr. I think it’s awful.

This was the proposed “Berwyn Square” that Easttown recently said no to.

It is the same developer apparently as the “Berwyn Square” that Eastown just said no to. Which was truly remarkable because Eastown never says no to anything.

I didn’t just connect the dots to all these development plans, Savvy Main Line did it for us (CLICK HERE FOR SAVVY)

Too. Damn. Much. Development.

The Bryn Mawr plan is shocking. Having grown up on the Main Line, and especially because where I went to high school was Shipley which is in Bryn Mawr, I spent a lot of years in Bryn Mawr. And I can tell you a great deal of the wonderful “village” feel disappeared when Bryn Mawr Hospital supersized. But a plan like this? I think it would kill what is left of the small town Main Street kind of vibe.

Obviously I no longer live in Lower Merion so even though I sent the commissioner for the ward that contains Bryn Mawr an email, I know my opinion doesn’t matter, I just gave it anyway. I figure he owes it to me to listen since way back when he wanted to become a commissioner in the first place a group I was part of helped him get elected.

The other reality of this plan and if you look at the last screenshot in this post it shows a rendering of sorts, and it also totally doesn’t show you what that Lancaster Ave (Route 30) intersection in Bryn Mawr is really like. It is an extraordinarily busy and accident prone intersection. It’s where Morris Avenue ends and Bryn Mawr Ave. begins. It’s where Ludington library is, the main and original branch of Bryn Mawr Trust Company is there. It’s where the train station is and a block or so from where the hospital begins.

2007 Accident Bryn Mawr.

The above photo was taken in 2007. One of the many accidents at this intersection. This particular accident I believe resulted in the fatality of the driver in the car in front of the bus. I also had another friend who was hit pushing her babies across the street in a stroller on a pedestrian walk signal at this corner. At that time, there was an NBC10 report on that accident.

No one is going to say that the building currently on the corner where they are proposing to put this apartment development is attractive. It’s never been attractive. But every development that is proposed is overly dense no matter where you live and whichever township or county you call home.

Downingtown PA development on Route 30.

The above photo is a development in progress in Downingtown. Another massive development. And none of these developments are particularly distinguishable from each other. Which is why I find great humor in the “brynmawr square“ and “Berwyn Square” development proposals

Development in East Whiteland along Route 30.

Above you see the development often discussed in East Whiteland. I don’t understand how the people who are paid to do the planning for these townships as well as elected officials have no vision.

At the end of the day this is why we desperately need to update the Municipalities Planning Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This amount of development is not sustainable. And I will never believe the emperor’s new clothes fairytale that it is.

It’s very sad that it has come to this, but pick the township, town, and county and there’s always a bad development plan or several bad development plans. We are the ones that live in these communities and it’s time for elected officials to start listening to us.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe in the snow.

Proposed “Bryn Mawr Square”
Lancaster Ave (Route 30)