Viaduct revival

HIGH ABOVE the shadowy streets of Callowhill and Chinatown North, a lush green wilderness of weeds, thick grasses and purple flowering bushes thrives amid the rusted railroad tracks of the old Reading Viaduct.

From atop the viaduct, the city's modern skyline of towering glass and steel shimmers to the south, but one can also get a close-up glimpse into the city's industrial past: the area's brick former factory buildings that once made textiles or bicycles or held printing presses.

"We have all these beautiful urban views, and yet you feel like you're in a country meadow," said Hamilton Street resident Sarah McEneaney, 55, who has been lobbying, along with John Struble, for nearly a decade to transform the viaduct into an elevated public park with spectacular, panoramic skyline views.

"It immediately transports you from a bustling urban environment to one much more quiet with a lot of birds and a lot of plants."

Now, after eight years of prodding, McEneaney, a painter, and Struble, a furniture maker, have succeeded in getting city officials and other prominent Philadelphians on board with the viaduct park idea.

The city is in talks with Reading International Co. to take control of the larger section of the viaduct, said Alan Greenberger, the city's deputy mayor for economic development.

Meanwhile, the Center City District is working with SEPTA on a legal agreement to create a park on the shorter section of the viaduct owned by the transit agency.

"You can see it from down below here and you can walk around and it's really scary," Struble, 66, said of the view of the viaduct from street level. "It's not attractive till you get on top, then you go, 'Oh!'

"It's an amazing area, just a linear park just waiting to happen."

Amazing gathering spot

Walking with a group on the viaduct recently, Kelly Ganczarz seemed awestruck.

"This is amazing," said Ganczarz, 23, who works for an urban-planning design firm. "I love it."

Ganczarz moved into the Callowhill area - the area bounded by 8th, 13th, Vine and Spring Garden streets and called the Loft District by real-estate firms - only a few weeks ago, but she's already involved in helping the park effort. She is on the steering committee for creating a new neighborhood-improvement district.