John Fischer's Philadelphia
Vol. 1 - Number 10 - 06/16/99
The big news of the past several days has been the story of the human tragedy playing out in the Wissinoming section of the city, where, on last Friday city officials evacuated a dozen rowhouses and advised seven of the homeowners that their homes would need to be demolished, as soon as this week.
The homes were all built on the 1920's on, what turns out to have been, a bed of ash that had been used to fill in branches of the Wissinoming and Little Wissinoming Creeks. Ash, which is a byproduct of burning coal was frequently used as landfill in the early years of the century but it turns out that ash begins to seriously erode when exposed to moisture and water.
Over the years these homes have begun literally to collapse as cracks widen and walls began to bow outward and floors begin to sink. There is now some question as to whether the city may have, in some way, exacerbated the problem when they tore up the street in 1996 to lay a new wastewater pipe.
Just Monday, additional homes on nearby Devereaux Street were inspected and those homeowners are awaiting word on their fate.
The city's initial reaction was one of regret; but a position that the city did not cause the problem and, therefore, could really do little to assist these homeowners in their financial plight. Many of the homeowners still have their homes mortgaged. Others are retired and on fixed incomes.
In the last two days, the city's position has softened somewhat and it now appears that efforts are being made to assist these people. This is in no small part due to the efforts of City Councilwoman Joan L. Krajewski whose has pledged to find assistance.
Once again, however, I suspect that it was the power of a strong politician which may ultimately lead to finding financial support for these homeowners. In what is no coincidence Krajewski has pledged to tie up funding for the new Phillies and Eagles stadiums in City Council if a satisfactory solution is not found.
Once again, it is a sad commentary on our society when the city is prepared to move forward with giving millions of dollars to the rich owners of the city's baseball and football teams to build new stadiums while its citizens are literally being thrown out of their homes due to a situation of which they had absolutely no control. Well, I congratulate Joan Krajewski for her efforts for these citizens of Philadelphia.
On a more upbeat note, on Monday, in honor of Flag Day, and kicking off the city's Sunoco Welcome America! Celebration, a large mural was dedicated in South Philadelphia. It is located at the corner of 8th Street and Kimball Street. Designed by Stacy Lewis as part of the Philadelphia Department of Recreation Mural Arts Program and painted by Eric Okdeh and Jason Slowik, the mural is a tribute to the flags of the United States of America.
photo by John Fischer
photo by John Fischer
I offer my congratulations to the designer, artists and all involved in this project. I hope that you all have noticed the number of really excellent murals now scattered throughout the city. We'll be sharing more of these with you in upcoming columns.
Well, that's my spin on things. Let me hear from you.You can join me in our chat room almost every evening - Philly Chat - or drop me a note at philadelphia.guide@about.com. Also, be sure to check out our new Philadelphia Forum where you can share your comments and feelings, ask questions, post classifieds and much more.
If you missed any of our recent columns you can still catch them:
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Philadelphia 06/04/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 06/07/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 06/09/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 06/11/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 06/14/99