New restaurant at 20th & Sansom
A new restaurant is opening up at 20th & Sansom Streets. This new place is called the Shake Shack, and is a chain of upscale burger and milkshake shops based in New York City. The spot was the home of several businesses that have relocated. Shake Shack specializes in gourmet burgers, hot dogs, and milkshakes with outdoor seating in busy urban neighborhoods. They, also, like to use locally and sustainably grown ingredients. The restaurant should be open by summer. You can see more about Shake Shack on their website, here. While the site is under construction, the builders have put an interesting “green” wall around the site, with plantings hanging off the plywood walls. Check out the cool picture below.
Construction of Shake Shack, with “green” walls
Chestnut Park, @ 17th & Chestnut Streets, is renovated and renamed for its designer, John F. Collins
Chestnut Park, a pocket park at 17th and Chestnut Streets, has recently been renamed for its designer, famed landscape architect John F. Collins. Collins who was a native of Conshohocken and studied landscape architecture at Penn State and Harvard, helped found the landscape architecture firm, The Delta Group. He designed several Center City parks, including Chestnut Park in 1978. Chestnut Park was once a parking lot, that was bought by The William Penn Foundation in 1978, and officially opened in 1979. The Delta Group won a design competition with their design, with the theme of celebrating indigenous plants and the Native-American cultures of the Delaware Valley. The three totems represent the three tribes of the Lenni Lenape people. There are native plants and gneiss mica schist, often called Wissahickon schist, because it is common in the Wissahickon Valley and was commonly used in the construction of northwest Philadelphia homes. There is, also, a waterfall, benches, and a wrought iron gate depicting local wildlife designed by artist Christopher Ray. The park was renovated last year by the Center City District and renamed for Mr. Collins, shortly after his death. The Center City District maintains the park and has a small vending kiosk there, as well as concerts, during the warm weather.
- Front gate of John F. Collins Park
- Interior of John F. Collins Park
LISTINGS:
Riverwest #1123, studio, all utilities included, currently rented for $975 per month, but could be owner-occupied $139,000
Riverwest #1414, studio, all utilities included, furniture included $150,000
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