Architectural Plans

The Upper Uwchlan Township Planning Commission unanimously endorsed a preliminary plan for the Eagle Industrial Park Thursday night, despite the concerns of about 30 residents who peppered developer Fritz Senn with questions. Commission members said the plan, which now goes to the township supervisors for final approval, met all the requirements for the light- industrial zone in the southern end of the township. A main concern of the residents, most of whom own properties along Township Line Road, was sewage disposal.

In the latest salvo in the legal war over construction of a Family Court building, a developer says the Philadelphia Parking Authority and city courts are working together to unfairly dump him from the project. Lawyers for Conshohocken developer Donald Pulver say he also is still owed a $1.6 million development fee from the courts. Pulver was booted from the $200 million project after The Inquirer reported that he had a side deal to share development fees with lawyer Jeffrey B. Rotwitt, who was also being paid to represent the courts.

A story Tuesday about the Live Arts Festival/Philly Fringe misstated the name of choreographer Brian Sanders' festival production, Sanctuary. It also gave an incorrect age for choreographer Nichole Canuso, who is 37. A story June 27 incorrectly described a 2009 e-mail sent by a lawyer to city Court Administrator David Lawrence about a potential ownership dispute involving the architectural plans for a new Family Court building. In the e-mail, the lawyer said an agreement negotiated by the Obermayer law firm potentially gave ownership of the plans to the architectural firm EwingCole.

For 50 years, Coatesville area children have traveled between school and home on bright yellow buses owned by the Krapf family. So it is only fitting that the family company decided to celebrate its anniversary by celebrating its "patrons" - children. The Krapfs are helping pay for the renovation of the children's area in the Coatesville Public Library. The remodeling project will increase the amount of library shelf space by 40 percent, cut back on noise and give children and parents a place to read together.

Laurel Springs officials have given Harry McMichael permission to continue operating McMichael's Bodybuilding and Nautilus Fitness Center on the White Horse Pike as long as all activities are limited to the first floor. The karate classes, baseball pitching machine and a sporting goods store that have been operated on the second floor of the building must cease until a fire escape from the second floor is installed. Officials also instructed borough police to conduct random inspections of the gym to make sure that McMichael is complying with the new directives, issued by the Borough Council at a May 23 caucus meeting.

The Black Horse Pike Regional school board is hoping that educated consumers will make eager customers when the next bond referendum comes around. Taxpayers will vote in September on a $47 million bond issue that would get them a third high school for the overcrowded district, which serves Runnemede, Bellmawr and Gloucester Township. The bond would also pay for computer upgrades and new athletic fields at the two existing schools - Triton and Highland High Schools. Last month, voters were invited to see the architectural plans for the as-yet theoretical school.

Rowan University has received a $25,800 state grant to determine whether the region can sustain and benefit from a technology-business incubator, a program that helps launch start-up businesses. The grant, provided by the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, will pay for Innovative Partners of Westfield, Union County, to complete a review of the region by December. The consulting firm will study the region's economic potential and resources when creating a business plan for the incubator, which would be located at or near Rowan University.

The Pennsauken Board of Education last night approved an expansion and improvement plan for six of the district's schools, at a cost of about $17 million. The plans call for $10 million in additions to the Carson, Franklin and Fine Elementary Schools. The work would add 10 classrooms, an art room, an all-purpose room and offices to each of the schools, which cover pre- kindergarten to fifth grade. Pennsauken High School would get $5 million in additions and renovations. The work would add a wing for a vocational-technical program and add 10 classrooms.

There were groans from the audience Tuesday night as the Abington Zoning Hearing Board announced a delay in a hearing. "Let us be heard now," one man yelled. "This is America?" another man shouted. The Zoning Hearing Board, however, voted unanimously to grant a 14-day extension requested by auto dealer Victor Hajj, who said he needed more time to submit architectural plans requested by the township. Residents said Hajj was stalling in the hope that they would go away.

The Franklin Institute is planning a $28 million expansion project that will include four new exhibit halls, a 350-seat movie theater and a 350-space parking garage. The proposed addition to the institute's main building at 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway would be known as the Futures Center and would focus on exhibits dealing with "such issues as man's future in space, health issues of the future and robotics," according to Joel N. Bloom, president of the Franklin Institute Science Center.

A story Tuesday about the Live Arts Festival/Philly Fringe misstated the name of choreographer Brian Sanders' festival production, Sanctuary. It also gave an incorrect age for choreographer Nichole Canuso, who is 37. A story June 27 incorrectly described a 2009 e-mail sent by a lawyer to city Court Administrator David Lawrence about a potential ownership dispute involving the architectural plans for a new Family Court building. In the e-mail, the lawyer said an agreement negotiated by the Obermayer law firm potentially gave ownership of the plans to the architectural firm EwingCole.

In the latest salvo in the legal war over construction of a Family Court building, a developer says the Philadelphia Parking Authority and city courts are working together to unfairly dump him from the project. Lawyers for Conshohocken developer Donald Pulver say he also is still owed a $1.6 million development fee from the courts. Pulver was booted from the $200 million project after The Inquirer reported that he had a side deal to share development fees with lawyer Jeffrey B. Rotwitt, who was also being paid to represent the courts.

The Curtis Institute of Music's proposed demolition of all or part of several Locust Street buildings - including the interiors of two historic townhouses - won the approval yesterday of the Philadelphia Historical Commission's architectural committee. In reviewing Curtis' planned expansion onto the 1600 block of Locust Street, the committee took a pass on requiring Curtis to rework its architectural plans to preserve the interiors of two significant 19th-century buildings. The committee also brushed aside an objection from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, whose executive director, John Andrew Gallery, said that Curtis failed to consider an alternate site at 17th and Pine Streets that would accommodate the school's plans without any loss of the city's historic fabric.

Rowan University has received a $25,800 state grant to determine whether the region can sustain and benefit from a technology-business incubator, a program that helps launch start-up businesses. The grant, provided by the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, will pay for Innovative Partners of Westfield, Union County, to complete a review of the region by December. The consulting firm will study the region's economic potential and resources when creating a business plan for the incubator, which would be located at or near Rowan University.

Give Mel Simon credit. Despite many naysayers, it seems the $174 million retail-entertainment-restaurant-movie complex promised for Penn's Landing may actually be built. Mr. Simon is co-chairman of the Simon Property Group Inc., the largest publicly held real estate company in the nation. On Sept. 1, it is scheduled to submit architectural plans for its Penn's Landing "urban entertainment center" to the city Arts Commission. If the submission occurs as promised, that will be a significant public confirmation that the $174 million project is real, even though it is two years behind schedule and the city subsidy has grown to $62 million, double the original estimate.

Neighborhood residents gathered in force Wednesday night to debate the school board's plans for a new high school stadium. About 100 people packed a board committee meeting to discuss the $2.7 million stadium proposed for the playing fields at the south end of the Abington High School campus, below the parking lot on Ghost Road. Opponents said the proposed location would cause numerous problems for homeowners living down the hill from Ghost Road on Abington Avenue, Crescent Avenue and Charles Street.

The Black Horse Pike Regional school board is hoping that educated consumers will make eager customers when the next bond referendum comes around. Taxpayers will vote in September on a $47 million bond issue that would get them a third high school for the overcrowded district, which serves Runnemede, Bellmawr and Gloucester Township. The bond would also pay for computer upgrades and new athletic fields at the two existing schools - Triton and Highland High Schools. Last month, voters were invited to see the architectural plans for the as-yet theoretical school.

The National Park Service held its first public hearing last night on its proposal for a major makeover of Independence Mall, and the public let the feds hear it: Not enough to bring people to Philadelphia, said a hotel-industry official. Too much for the people visiting Philadelphia, said a tour guide. Why put a maintenance shed on Independence Mall, asked the head of the local architects' association. How can a group celebrating the Constitution violate its guarantee of free speech?

An elaborate visitors center funded largely by the Pew Charitable Trusts is the centerpiece of a proposed new master plan, unveiled yesterday by the National Park Service, for the future of Independence National Historical Park. The visitors center, characterized by park officials as "a gateway" to the historic and other attractions of the city, as well as to the park, would be constructed at the center of Independence Mall. The mall, a three-block expanse stretching north of Independence Hall at Fifth and Chestnut Streets, is the area that would change the most if the Park Service's plan is adopted.

OUTLYING AREAS MUST BE LINKED TO AVE. OF THE ARTS Like most major changes in Philadelphia, the long-heralded Avenue of the Arts is slow in coming. But when the pieces finally do fall into place, its significance for the reputation of the city and its economic repercussions will be tremendous. Few would question the effect a corridor of culture will have in attracting tourists and their recreational dollars. Nor would anyone doubt the refreshed sense of identity and pride to be had by the residents as a result of his new cultural focal point.