Good evening. My name is Yvonne Downey, D-O-W-N-E-Y. With me, I have Joann Henry, H-E-N-R-Y, and Ken Knight, K-N-I-G-H-T. 194 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687
We are part of a family here today, representing the Family of the Dell East. The Dell East is an ampitheater located in East Fairmount Park, which seats approximately 10,000 constituents. Those of us here today are only a small are presentation of the 450 family members who serve as advocates for the Dell East. Our group represents various ethnic groups, professions, age groups, from young adults to elders, and constituents from all over Philadelphia. The Dell East not only brings Philadelphians from all over the City out to enjoy concerts under the stars and various other forms of entertainment, but it's also a tourist attraction. It brings people to our fair city and to this institution. To us, that's important. One of the charges of our mission is to serve as advocates for long-term improvements, maintenance, modernization of the entire Dell East facility. Thus the reason for our appearance here before you today. We are very appreciative of the support 195 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 rendered to the Dell East by the City of Philadelphia and by the Department of Recreation for the past 27 years. And, as you are surely aware, anything aging requires upkeep and maintenance to maintain its healthy appearance. Our purpose today is to enlist your support. We are concerned about the Dell East entering the new millennium. We have some major safety issues which must be addressed and resolved. The Dell East is suffering from an undermining conditions due to a continued drainage problem. Almost one fifth of the seating area is involved. The Dell East deserves to be preserved and maintained, and the people deserve a safe environment in every sense of the word. Now, this situation is not new. It surfaced its ugly head about ten years ago and was to have been remedied some eight years ago. A budget allocation was made by City Council. But in the early nineties, when the City of Philadelphia experienced a financial crunch and a fiscal crisis, the $2 million in funds allocated for this project redirected and never restored. 196 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687
We would like to see those funds restored in the new capital budget and have these much-needed renovations completed. We are asking that you consider a three-year capital program for the Dell East. This would enable to us resolve the immediate problem and assist in preserving an institution that is part of Philadelphia's pride and history. Architectural and structural plans have been completed and readied for the resolution of this problem and are available for your perusal. If I may summarize, we need your financial support to provide structural support for the seats and stage, improved lighting, and improvement upon other issues pertinent to the safety and well-being of the public, which consists of your fellow constituents, visitors to our city, and family and friends of the Dell East. We would ask that you consider this request, focus your attention to this matter when budget preparations are made and know that the money allocated to this project will be an investment in an institution which is a part of the City of Philadelphia's rich history, past and 197 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 present. MS. DOWNEY, MS. HENRY,
(In unison.) We need to make these repairs, we need $5 million, we need your support, and the City of Philadelphia needs the Dell East. (Applause.)
My only question is: Did you practice this over at the Dell East? (Laughter.)
Actually, a couple quick questions. How much -- you said that eight to ten years ago, money had been programmed for the Dell East to do a wide variety of things, and then I know about the '90-'91 crisis. The $5 million that you're now talking about, what was the original figure?
Okay, 2 now to 5. The things that you want to do with the 5, are they the things that have been planned for with the $2 million eight to ten years ago.
And have you had 198 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 discussions directly with the Recreation Department about these issues?
I'm Ken Knight, and I'm the President of the Family of the Dell East..
Yes, the Department is aware of our circumstance, because our circumstance is their circumstance. The problem is the lack of money. And as the $2 million goes, as you know, it was $2 million then, and it's $5 million now. Next year, the figure just climbs. But I don't think enough can be said about the Dell East because the Dell East is the -- is a Philadelphia institution. It's on a par with the Philadelphia Zoo. I came by the Zoo recently, you know, when they had that great fire and the citizens responded to that fire, and they responded to the Zoo situation. We're asking that same kind of response. I mean, I was there, I seen RDA doing some infrastructure things to their 199 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 pavement just the other day. And I'm saying, we're asking for that same type of support. When you look at the Dell East, it serves as a hub for the community development in that neighborhood.
And as the Dell East goes, there goes the community, there goes the neighborhood.
Why don't I do this. I planned to ask the Commissioner to come back up for some request items, and I still would like to do that, but I did notice one person who was on the list who was not here earlier is here. John Boyce, do you still wish to testify? Okay. What I'd like to have what I now to be the last citizen to testify, and then I'm going to discuss with the Commissioner on the record the Dell East situation, and then make my information request as we wrap up the hearing. Do you have other information that you want to share?
I would just like to add this. The Dell East is embarking on a new 200 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 millennium and going places where it's never been before, going to attract conventioneers and other promoters, and we're doing everything that we can possibly do to be self-supportive, and we just think that at this point, we need our leaders to respond in kind to our situation and just fix this thing that's been broken for sometime now. Thank you.
And as I think about it, the Dell has always been a benefit, suffering, I believe, to some extent with the closure of the Strawberry Mansion Bridge, which originally was scheduled to reopen to one lane of traffic in each direction in September. But a funny thing happened on the way to rehabilitation, and we find out other things are wrong. So now it probably won't open until the tail-end effort, winter into spring. But I have every reason to believe that there will be traffic back on the Strawberry Mansion Bridge by the time the season starts up. And it will be a beautiful bridge and then we'll have the Dell which is essentially the first thing you're going to see when you come over the bridge when you go into the North 201 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 Philadelphia, and it not been up to par.
Okay. Let me get the other citizen on and the Commissioner on, and we'll talk about the Dell. Thank you. (Applause.)
My name is John Boyce, how do I identify myself? Just say where I'm from?
Well, however you want, unless you're being looked for by the police. (Laughter.)
Okay, I'm a resident of Roxborough, in Philadelphia, the northwest section 18 of Philadelphia. I'm President of the Friends of Gorgus Park, which is a recreation park located in Roxborough.
I just came here to relate my experience in the last few years with two sites in Roxborough -- one is the Kendrick Recreation Center, and the other is Gorgus Park, which I am 202 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 now involved with, have been involved with for about a year and a half.
My experience has been that we have been able to, from a community effort -- through community efforts, to restore both the Kendrick Recreation Center and to bring back Gorgus Park. And we've had a willing partner with the Recreation Department Commissioner DiBerardinis and, of course, yourself, Michael, you've been very helpful. You're our Councilman. There's been a lot of money invested in capital. The Kendrick Recreation Center has gotten a new ball field; it used to be cinders. " And this is in a recreation center. Right at the bottom of the list is tot equipment, a tot area. It was very hazardous. The Rec Department appropriated a lot of money, the City of Philadelphia did. There was new ball fields, the hill was cleared. One of the biggest -- it's an A site in Philadelphia, it's one of the biggest recreation centers. It's an 203 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 old building. It got all new windows, a new roof, new lighting, just a tremendous amount of capital investment in getting it in the shape it should be in. Recently, Gorgus Park, our group was selected for a partnership which partners our group with William Penn Foundation money, by the way. It partners the Friends of Gorgus Park with the Recreation Department and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The Commissioner and you have seen to it that money has been put into the park. The grant from the William Penn Foundation, by the way, was $30,000. We've used about 13,000 of it already, and we've earmarked the other $17,000 for improvements in the park. " It's a really attractive building, a useful building. And thanks to the Commissioner, he gave it the go-ahead for the Recreation Department's maintenance crew to go in there and rehab it. That was a building could have been demolished, it was in such bad shape. 204 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 Now it's been completely restored, and it's a great asset to the community. The equipment that we've purchased through our grant from the William Pennsylvania Foundation, we store now in that Park House, and we use the equipment to mow the grass, cut down weeds, prune trees. We do a lot of things that really the Recreation Department, if they had the staffing and they had the resources, they could do themselves. The danger is that we have put in thousands of community service hours in the park -- literally thousands over the last year and a half to two years. We only formed the group a year and a half ago, but people were working in the park before then. We pruned literally every tree in the park. This was strictly a volunteer effort. And what we found out was the reason why the trees weren't pruned in the park and the reason why the park had a danger, forbidding kind of feel to it was because the Rec Department only has one pruning crew. So over 30 years, they probably did a little bit of damage control in the park. But 205 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 we have all these huge Norway maples and oak trees, and these things just got so overgrown, that you couldn't see into the park. At that time also, where the Rec Department would come into the park, being short-staffed, throughout the summer, we might get our grass cut three times. And when it was cut, it was cut down so short that it would kill the grass in the summer, and we would have a dust bowl. I should say that Gorgus Park is a 20-acre. It was bequeathed to the City of Philadelphia in 1893. It was dedicated as a park in 1895. It's just a beautiful space, and it's on one of the highest elevations in the City of Philadelphia, and it was completely neglected. It's right in the heart of the neighborhood, and the neighborhood was embarrassed by it. Over these last two years, we have brought the park back. We have events in the park. We had a fine arts festival, we have a harvest festival. We're going to have a Christmas celebration in the park.
We're brought the park back and we've gotten all the help, I think, that 206 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 the Rec Department can give us. What we're afraid of is that all the gains that we've made and that the community has made, that we're going to lose it if, you know, our volunteers, for some reason, if we disband over time or somebody gets sick. You know, we have a seasonal worker. " He cuts the grass in the park with the equipment William Penn Foundation money. And he is out there, he cuts the grass, he cuts the leaves. We used to have big piles of leaves that blew down through the business district. We blow them into piles. We have a leaf blower, so we blow them into piles and spread 'em out and then we cut them with our mowers. What we really need, I think, is a full-time person, a caretaker in the park, which was what was provided for by the City probably a good 30 or 40 years ago. And people in Roxborough say, Well, the park hasn't looked as good as it does now in 40 years and probably has never looked 207 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 better. But all these gains that have been made at Gorgus Park, at Kendrick, they could really go by the wayside if they're not maintained. And that's our fear. I'm a firm believer in taking care of public spaces. I think that, you know, if you've got wealth, that you need to provide for public spaces, the common areas that everyone uses and everyone takes pride in but that everyone is embarrassed by if they're neglected. And not just embarrassed, but it sends a message to children that nobody cares. These are areas that children can use, where there are tot lots, where there should be activities. Kids don't have places to play; they need the parks, they need the rec centers. So our belief is -- Our friends of Gorgus Park group and I think the volunteers and the people that have been involved with Kendrick is that the Recreation Department needs resources. They need maintenance people, they need seasonal workers, they need people to take care of these assets in our community, that if 208 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 they're neglected, are going to be really just very damaging to the neighborhood and to the quality of life in our neighborhood.
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. And on the one hand certainly acknowledging the gains that have been made. When there is cooperation, things actually do happen areas come back. And at the same time, expressing your concern about sustainability and the ongoing maintenance and upkeep. And it would truly be tragic there were any slippage back to where you came from. So that's, again, a part of the hearing process, why we're here today. But it helps to have, you know, the true life stories of bad situation/good situation and now you want to, you know, keep it at a certain level so. . . . Thank you. Thanks for coming in, and I'm glad you were able to may go it.
Are there any other citizens, people who are not in the government who wish to testify on Resolution 980687. 209 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 (No response.)
Seeing none, let me ask Commissioner DiBerardinis and a couple of his folks to come up. We now have the real questions that we'd like to ask you, so come prepared. (Commissioner DiBerardinis et al return to witness table.)
As the Commissioner is coming up, I'd like to get on the record that there was -- I'm not sure whether this was entered -- testimony by Leonard Wearing, Executive Director of Grays Ferry West Community Action Committee. That testimony will be added to the record as if read. There are support letters from Friends of Elmwood Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks, Barrett Playground Advisory Council, and the Project for Public spaces. I don't know if testimony was left. I know that Vivien Hansbury, President of the Wynnefield Residents Association was here to testify. And also Dr. Robin Foster Drane (ph.), Charmain Sudler, and Linda Marie Grenich (ph.) and Pastor Frank Willy, all on behalf of the 210 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 Haddington Community Health Project and To Our Children's Future with Health. Commissioner, first let's talk about the Robin Hood Dell East. First, I guess, tell me what you know of some of the issues with the Dell East. And then tell me of our plans for the Dell East. COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: Well, I can speak programmatically with some authority on the capital -- infrastructure questions. If you don't mind, I would ask Warren Haskins, who is the Facility Director to speak to that.
Sure. COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: Just quickly on the programmatic side, the folks from the Friends group testified correctly that the Dell is growing in its program offerings in addition to the City-funded events, which involve the ethnic festivals as well as our concert series. Over the last few years, we have been working with private promoters to add a whole 'nother layer of concerts at the facility. We've also been using it increasingly for special 211 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 events, and we've hosted a second America's Promise -- now Philadelphia's Promise -- there. We've just hosted this fall a sort of "Stop-the- Violence" youth concert there. And we are being approached by other outside interests. And one of them that we're currently talking about, a boxing program there, with some pretty high-caliber matches. So that part of it's going well. I think our goal is to make the Dell. . . to use it to its -- again, it's sort of like William Penn.
Right. COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: How do we use the facility beyond our City program dollars? We're moving forward on that, and I think we've made some gains in the last few years and are poised to move it forward. The other question, though, around the infrastructure questions.
Right. Do we have a good assessment of what it's infrastructure -- COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: Issues are? 212 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687
-- needs are and any handle on cost estimates? And are there any dollars in the capital program directed toward the Dell? If there are, how much is it, and when do we anticipate an appropriate level of work being done there? COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: Well, Warren can talk -- well, Eric -- Warren can about it, I think, and Eric can talk about whatever the issues are, the infrastructure issues. And then Eric can give you a more detailed status of the capital work.
Basically, we're looking at the long-term health of the Dell that has resulted basically from a past-history problem that needs to be corrected at this point.
Right. 213 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687
Twelve or fifteen years ago, we had found that the Dell had undergone a series of undermining.
Correct. And City Council, as they stated, had allocated the funds for that, and it was zapped for the crisis. We have some immediate repairs that need to be done now and season '99, opening of May of '99, which we are on the capital budget for that for $225,000.
Those are immediate repairs. We have a speaker tower which is ready to come down.
So you're trying to deal with immediate safety issues right now.
Correct, correct. COMMISSIONER RICE: Right. 214 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687
And those immediate things will be done. I met with the architect this morning.
And you expect to have those taken care of prior to the new season?
What are the larger and longer-term -- what was the --
Yeah, the undermining, the original purpose of the dollars that were allocated and then things that have happened since.
We're in the process of being here now, asking you for those larger dollars.
You're actually not 215 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 here to ask me for any additional dollars; you're here to tell me about the problems and respond to the direct questions that I've asked you about the problems, but I know that you're not here to ask me for any money, correct? (Laughter.)
I'm trying to help you, I'm trying to help you help yourself.
Just answer the question I've asked. What are the longer-term problems, and how much does it cost to fix them?
Beyond is 225. And overhead lighting. As a matter of fact, we're facing a couple lawsuits because they determined that we've had inadequate lighting in the venue and in the parking area. So the $5 million would accommodate the lighting and the undermining. 216 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 The stage and the shell will be done between now and June in the 225.
What I would like to ask you to do is to get me -- get to the Chair and get to myself -- this starts again into kind of to District Council issues. The Dell's located in the 4th District. If you can get me a detailed analysis of all the various problems and the current price tag that goes along with them. Put them in a priority order that makes sense regarding the structural safety, security, and then I'm sure you're going get into upgrade, cosmetics, how do you make it a better place. But certain things have to be done, I'm sure, in a certain order that, you know, different people may agree or disagree about the order, but it has to be done in a way similar to if a rec center had problems, say you've got a roof problem and a floor problem, you're always going to fix the roof problem first to ensure the structural integrity of the place before you go and fix the floor. So with that in mind, give me a list 217 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 telling me, These are the ten things we need done, this is the order we need them down in, and this is the price tag goes along with those things, okay?
Eric, do you have any additional information on the capital side? I mean beyond the 225 that's in -- if you're saying in the current FY '99 budget, tell me about anything that's in the capital program.
And it's with that money that we sent an architect out to begin the programming for some of these repairs.
The extent of the undermining is probably going to be more than could have been handled with the first appropriation. 218 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 The other issues that Warren has mentioned are significant: security lighting, a sound power source for the lighting. We are not on an energy backup system there, and the stage towers are critical too. We also need lighting in a recently-added parking lot, which is unlit.
A recently-added parking lot, which had not been lit. These items, these immediate items alone will easily take up the budget that's already been appropriated in the two fiscal years.
All right. Well, along with the list that Warren is going to provide, if you can get me a project schedule for the FY '98 dollars and the FY '99 dollars, and let me know what's going to be done, when's it going to be start, and when's it going to be completed. And then I'd like to have a separate discussion with you about FY 2000, as you are now in or about to be in the capital budget call with the Planning Commission for the upcoming fiscal year.
Yes. 219 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687
And see what we can do with the larger list and get pieces of it into this upcoming year's capital budget. All right?
Okay, thank you. Commissioner, based on the testimony from the citizens and some of our questions and answers when you were up earlier, and I do greatly appreciate your staying through this. Sometimes -- I don't think we've ever had this problem with recreation, but there have been occasions in the past where we've had difficulty keeping some of our departments to listen to citizens and to try to understand their frustrations. But what I'd like to ask you to do is to get to the committee, through the Chair proposed, the budgets and operational use of funds that indicate what you would do with a half a million dollars, a million dollars, a million and a half, and two million; what your priorities would be for the use of any of those four different budgets; the areas that you're trying to address, the number of staff, and the increases in 220 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 equipment or supplies; and what particular goal you would seek to pursue on a priority basis if you had those dollars available to you. The second is, if we can begin even in a draft fashion, the putting together of the other thing we talked about, which was standards. And some form of recreation inspection performance and accountability program that develops certain standards of cleanliness, safety, appearance, structural issues, and there could be a number of other components that you would add to that. What the inspection would be, who's going to do the inspections, whether there would be current people in the Department or possibly new staff to conduct such inspections, and how the reporting process would work to ensure follow-up and accountability. COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: Would you be interested in both program and maintenance, or --
And not to add any further burden to you, but with both of these, given where we are in our schedule, one, naturally 221 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 the budget items, both the larger ones and certainly the Dell East issue that we raised, I would ask for a priority on those because we're in the middle of the budget season. But in relatively short order, again, just even a draft of a proposal of what you would put together in terms of an accountability and performance program. COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: If it's a draft and it's looked on as a piece for discussion, I wouldn't have any problem working with my staff and various level of the Department to try to get something down.
Sure, sure. Okay, that's fine. COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: Okay.
Anything for us? COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: I just want to thank you for --
You just want to be able to go, right? (Laughter.) COMMISSIONER DIBERARDINIS: Actually, this hasn't been too, I didn't mind this too 222 PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURAL AFFAIRS - Res. No. 980687 much. I learned some stuff today. But I appreciate your willingness to do this and to take an interest in the Department.
Sure, no problem. Thank you for help and your cooperation. This public hearing is adjourned -- or recessed to the call of the Chair. Thank you. (Adjourned at 6:37 p.m.) - - - 223 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Thursday, November 12, 1998, were reported and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: SPECIAL COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PARKS, RECREATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS RESOLUTION NO. 980687 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter