Church of the Assumption demo update, look inside | Bike share coming soon | Philly Painting defense | Arab business growth | Walnut water main break

Good morning, Streeters. Here’s your Monday morning Buzz:

When we wake up tomorrow, will the demolition of Church of the Assumption be underway? Developer John Wei told PlanPhilly’s Alan Jaffe that he doesn’t want to demolish the Church of the Assumption, but he doesn’t have the money to deal with the extent of repairs required to save the historic church. Wei told PlanPhilly that his immediate concern is safety and liability. “I like it, too, but no one would pay to fix it. I don’t have the money to fix it,” Wei said. Callowhill Neighborhood Association has filed a stay in Commonwealth Court. Wei paid more than one million dollars for the property, but still says he has no plans for the site.

Take a look inside Church of the Assumption with a photo essay by Chandra Lampreich on Hidden City Daily.

The rumors are true: The Nutter administration is seeking $3 million from City Council to start a bike share program, which could hit the streets in a little over one year, the Inquirer reports. To pay for the start-up costs, the city would need about $6 million more from public or private sources, while the annual operating costs would be supported by riders, sponsors, and advertising. To start the bike share program would extend roughly from the Delaware River west through University City, South Street north to the Temple University area.

Curbed Philly got the Mural Arts Program’s Jane Golden to respond to Inga Saffron’s critique of the newly dedicated Philly Painting project on Germantown Avenue. Saffron casts doubt on the project’s prospects for stimulating economic development along this historic but struggling commercial corridor in North Philly. Golden told Curbed: “We have never suggested that murals could supplant an economic plan. We designed Philly Painting as a focal point for a community process—one that reflected the artists’ intense observation over time of the architecture and cultures of the neighborhood. We hoped it would be a catalyst, and build on the vision of local politicians, organizational leaders, and city government both to remember what Germantown Avenue once meant to North Philadelphia and what it might be in a part of Philadelphia adjacent to the Avenue of the Arts North, Temple University and Medical School.”

Arab businesses have cropped up on Bustleton Avenue in Castor Gardens, a sign of Northeast Philadelphia’s changing population. The Daily News checks in on this Arab business hub, where a collection of restaurants and specialty shops give immigrants a taste of home and a sense of community.

You may have noticed that yet another water main broke this weekend, flooding the 1600 block of Walnut Street Saturday evening. A 12-inch main broke and put the block under about 8 inches of water on a busy shopping day. The block will remain closed to traffic until the gas and electric lines are checked and the street is repaired.

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest. Have a tip? Send it along.