Save Fairmount in The Philadelphia City Paper's The Clog
Think Fairmount Park should in no way be developed?
Neither does Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. (Sigh. How we love you, gallery/venue/exhibit space/now activist site.) As I’m sure y’all already know, Councilwoman Joan Krajewski introduced a bill back in May that would open up the Park to real estate developers. Thankfully, it was withdrawn, but just like Art in the Age, we suspect that City Council was just testing the waters and that won’t be the last time they try to pull this shiz. As they wrote in their blog:
Even more worrisome than Krajewski’s bill, however, is a fact that appeared in Stephan Salisbury’s front-page article last Thursday (May 21st): “The advisory parks and recreation commission will have no power to block sales or development.” This doesn’t just put the Park at risk. It puts the majority of real power directly in the hands of the Mayor and City Council, neither of whom should have, or were ever meant to have, so much control over the Park. The Park Commission was established to avoid just this type of situation, and has a 142-year record of protecting the Park. But City Council seems to have waited for just the right time — during a global economic crisis — and used just the right tactics — cleverly packaging the dissolution of the Park Commission as a way to improve Fairmount Park and wrest control from a secretive body of white elitists. Unfortunately, the people were bamboozled.
So, in an effort to keep this from happening ever again, Art in the Age set up a petition that asks City Council to sign a bill that “would forever ban any development in the Park,” among other things. If you’re feeling this, provide your (electronic) John Hancock here.
