2.2 Recent Background

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In the past, the Powelton neighborhood has demonstrated its desire for a greener community. In 1994, working with PG, a Street Tree Inventory was completed by neighborhood volunteers and the information gained was used as a maintenance and tree planting guide. At approximately the same time, Drexel University began an investigation into its own campus planning and a new campus master plan was completed in 1998. This plan, when fully implemented, will contribute to the overall greening of the neighborhood and strengthen ties between the University and residential communities.

The continuing expansion of Drexel University in Powelton Village has brought these two communities together and formed a single neighborhood. Over the years there have been several ongoing collaborations between Powelton residents and Drexel University. The Tot Lot, on property owned by Drexel but administered by a committee of the Powelton Village Civic Association (PVCA), has been a successful partnership since 1976. In 1995 the Powelton community received a $5,000 America the Beautiful Grant for street trees that was matched with $8,000 in in-kind gifts. Drexel student athletes and service fraternities and sororities provided volunteer labor for the installation of 41 trees. Members of Drexel fraternities and sororities have also been active, for many years, in the semi-annual Powelton*Drexel clean-ups, held in the spring and fall. In the spring of 2000 the collaboration was expanded to include several sites in Mantua, the neighborhood to the north of Powelton Village, in cooperation with members of the Mantua community.

Other important greening projects currently underway in the Powelton*Drexel community include the rehabilitation of the Cochran Memorial, the design and installation of the West Bank Greenway, and the continuing use, maintenance, and growth of the community garden.