Sites along the Schuylkill, like Grays Ferry Crescent, from the Water Works to Bartram's Garden will host painters working outdoors all weekend.

The three-day Art in the Open (AiO) festival will line the banks of the Schuylkill River with art and family activities this weekend, May 18 – 20.

AiO aims to celebrate artists and their relationship with the urban environment. Friday through Sunday juried artists will work outside along the banks of the Schuylkill River from the Fairmount Park Water Works to Bartram’s Garden. The artists will work with a variety of media and create work on-site along the river.

Guests are welcome to observe the artists work for free, and at some locations, visitors will be invited to make their own art. Friday will feature several events specifically designed for families at the “Skate Park” section of the Schuylkill Banks path, the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center and along the Delaware River. Various partner organizations will offer drawing, sculpting, painting and more to artists of all ages and abilities.

If you cannot make the events this weekend, the art created during AiO will be on display at the Independence Seaport Museum from June 15 through September 9.

For a full schedule of events visit http://www.artintheopenphila.org/

How many miles can you bike between now and August 31? How about biking to work this Friday?

May happens to be bike month and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has a lot of events planned.

May 18 is Bike to Work Day. Of course, you can cycle to work on your own, but you could show your love for bike commuting by riding in a morning road rally alongside alongside Mayor Nutter, and the Bicycle Coalition. The ride will go from Lloyd Hall (1 Boathouse Row) to LOVE Park at 8:30am, rain or shine. Everyone is invited to meet up at Lloyd Hall starting at 7:30am for coffee.

If you can manage bike to work on Friday, you could also take this summer’s I Bike PHL Challenge, by tracking all of the miles you travel by bike until August 31.

As part of the Bicycle Coalition’s first I Bike PHL Challenge last year, city cyclists logged more than 150,000 miles. Can we do better this year? You can register for the challenge at Endomondo to track every mile you pedal as part of the summer-long challenge. [Click through for FAQs about the challenge, and be sure to sign up for Philly-related prizes.]

Earlier this month, I mentioned that I’m learning to be a better city cyclist. I signed up for the I Bike PHL Challenge out of sheer curiosity about how many miles I might travel by bike before September. [team: Spokes on the Street, members: one. Care to join me? ]

Concept plan of Marina View Tower, 230 N. Columbus Blvd | Ensemble Real Estate

The city has thousands of vacant, old industrial properties that are simultaneously keys to neighborhood revitalization and impediments. Today’s Inquirer tours some of these properties in Kensington, Frankford, and Port Richmond, tracing the difficulty even diligent property owners have in keeping buildings sealed and pursuing redevelopment.

The City Parks Alliance has named Hunting Park a “Frontline Park,” in recognition of its community-driven revitalization and its excellence as an urban park, Philebrity reports.

The beautiful Boyd Theater has been closed for ten years now, but its interiors are still fabulous. Hidden City Daily shows a peek inside the Boyd, refreshing our memories about the Art Deco finishes, and how this place is just waiting for a sensitive redevelopment plan.

What happens when L&I issues you violations for a house you don’t own? City Howl has the strange tale of Elizabeth Simmons, a Southwest Philly resident, who had to navigate a maze of city departments trying to clear her name of violations on a property she never owned. Until Simmons involved Councilwoman Blackwell’s office, L&I never bothered to tell her that they fixed the problem. Key complication: A different Elizabeth Simmons owned the house with violations.

The Planning Commission had little love for the conceptual plans of Marina View Towers presented yesterday, reports PlanPhilly’s Kellie Patrick Gates. Commissioners want to see improvements to the building’s materials, large retaining wall, street presence, pedestrian connectivity, height and more.

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

The Lower Lancaster Revitalization Plan is an effort to improve the communities surrounding Lancaster Avenue between 37th and 48th streets. The draft of the plan, produced by Interface Studio, includes initiatives to cultivate civic leadership, support local youth, improve access to fresh food, clean and green the neighborhood, bridge the digital divide and more.

As previously reported on PlanPhilly, the planning process has included various community engagement components including ongoing work with a steering committee, a several month long resident survey, open house events, public meetings and more.

Residents hoping to voice their opinions or concerns may view the drafted plan at http://makeyourmarkplan.wordpress.com/ and email comments by 5 p.m. on May 23.

School District of Philadelphia | Vincent J. Brown via Flickr, Creative Commons License

This week’s news is again dominated by school coverage, so here’s a special roundup:

• Governor Corbett will be in Philly today, and activists plan to welcome the Governor with a human red carpet outside the Prince Theater in protest education cuts. Corbett is in town to address the Chamber of Commerce.
• Grant Calder, a Friends Central teacher, contextualizes today’s school debate with a look to the city’s public school past in an Inquirer opinion piece. Philly never had a public school golden age, Calder contends. In 1912, as in 2012, the city “lacked the will to invest in high-quality education for all its children.” And, he continues, “The populations served by the district over the decades have always lacked the economic and political clout to force the city to provide better schools.” As long as education funding is tied to municipal boundaries, the problem isn’t going anywhere.
• An Inquirer editorial today calls for caution as the radical school-restructuring plan is implemented. The scale of the School District’s problems requires major intervention, but there are very reasonable doubts about the process ahead. As dozens of schools close, will quality charters be ready to absorb the high volume of students? Will there be adequate oversight of the charters and “achievement networks” by the shrunken district?
• Retired teacher Lisa Haver calls the plan the end of public education in Philadelphia, in a Daily News opinion piece peppered with tough questions. How have we arrived at a point where the public-school system can be auctioned off to the lowest bidder? Will our schools be able to remain a unifying force in our society or will they widen the gulf between haves and have-nots? Haver has doubts about the ability people from outside of the education world to privatize the public school system with quality education in mind.
• The It’s Our Money podcast this week features three big-time questions for the School District:  ”Why do the schools need the extra money to come from property taxes? How will the district’s restructuring plan save money? And what is Harrisburg’s role in this?” Listen here.
• Metropolis has a two-part series on making public schools work by Connie Langland. In part one, she makes the case that public schools can be turned around, with a close look at Stetson Middle School. In part two, she zeroes in on strategies being used to boost student learning and ultimately test scores. She concludes, “what matters is the student — not the bureaucracy, not tradition, and not doing things the easy way.”

Don't forget the umbrella: There's an 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms today.

Can music venues actually improve neighborhoods? They often face community opposition but Flying Kite considers the examples of Fishtown’s Johnny Brenda’s, Union Transfer on Spring Garden, and planned rebirth of South Broad’s Boot & Saddle.

Blondell Reynolds Brown: Dancer. Committeewoman. Councilwoman. Mayor? The Daily News profiles Councilwoman Brown, tracing her rise from Mantua Committeewoman to majority whip in Council, and her serious exploration of a run for mayor in 2015.

In Gray’s Ferry part of a decades-old garden tended by Mabel Wilson and the children in her Central Club for Boys and Girls could be lost at a sheriff’s sale this week. The Daily News reports that two of the garden’s eight lots are up sale this Wednesday because of back taxes that predate the Central Club’s official ownership. Wilson’s son will be in Common Pleas Court to try to stop the sale. The IRS granted the Central Club tax-exempt status retroactive to 1947, and they await a ruling from the city.

Ensemble Real Estate has proposed a new mid-rise apartment building just north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge along Delaware Avenue. As PlanPhilly’s Kellie Patrick Gates explains, the project is tricky because its timing falls in a gap between the Master Plan for the Central Delaware and the forthcoming zoning overlay for the waterfront. That means that the proposed building’s 120-foot height is legal but doesn’t conform to the Master Plan.

City Council’s new Economic Opportunity Review Committee will examine the enforcement and effectiveness of the fair hiring and minority participation rules for city contracts. PlanPhilly’s Jared Brey reports from the Committee’s first meeting on Monday.

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

The position could be a great fit for someone who has experience in sales/marketing/fundraising/membership, and knows the city’s planning/development/civic ecosystem. If that sounds like you, check out the job description here.

Applications are due May 21. Join us.

Le Grand Continental Recruitment

Tuesday, May 15 and Wednesday, May 16, 7-9pm. Live Arts Studio, 919 North 5th. Be a part of a Live Arts Festival show this year as one of 200 dancers performing a contemporary line dance outside the Art Museum. Public recruiting for the dance, Le Grand Continental, will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, so put on your dancing shoes and sign up for one of the two sessions this week. Anyone over the age of 10 is welcome, register for one of the recruiting nights online.

 The Next Generation of Urban Manufacturing in Philadelphia

Thursday, May 17, 6:30-8:30. Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. A sustainable urban future means a strong economy, with a green and competitive manufacturing sector. The Academy’s next Urban Sustainability Forum will be a panel discussion about how Philadelphia can marry sustainability goals with urban manufacturing. Panelists will include: Shawn Garvin (EPA Region 3), Adam Friedman (Pratt Center for Community Development), Steve Jurash (Manufacturing Alliance of Philadelphia), Evan Malone (NextFab Studio), Joe Houldin (Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center), and Karen Randal (Philadelphia Commerce Department). $5, free for students and members. Register online.

PAFA After Dark: Real World

Thursday, May 17, 6-9pm. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, 128 North Broad. PAFA’s After Dark series returns with new artwork on display, and lively performances from Spiral Q Puppet Theater, West Philadelphia orchestra. InLiquid artists will do a hands-on yarn art project, and PAFA’s young artists will discuss how they think about exhibiting and pricing their work. $10, free for members. Purchase tickets online.

Logan In Full Bloom

Thursday, May 17, Stenton, 4601 North 18^th Street. Logan CDC’s benefit at Stenton House will feature a silent auction, music from Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble. Congressman Bob Brady, and winners of the Logan Blooming Youth Award and the Logan Blooming Business Leader Award will be honored. $60 per person, $110 for couples, and $50 for Young Friends (under 40). Tickets may be purchased online.

11th & Spring | phillytrax, Eyes on the Street Flickr Group

City Council should confront the School District’s financial crisis and the city’s broken property tax system separately, the Inquirer editorialized on Sunday. Practically speaking the Actual Value Initiative and the budget should not be intertwined because property assessments won’t be finished until after the budget deadline. By separating these issues, AVI could be revenue-neutral (as originally conceived), and school funding could be addressed independently. It is, the editorial argues, a matter of fairness and transparency to taxpayers.

The Central Delaware Advocacy Group has mixed feelings about the draft zoning overlay for the Central Delaware Waterfront, reports PlanPhilly’s Kellie Patrick Gates. Among the sticking points: exceptions to the 100-foot height limit, billboards, and extending 10 streets to the river to provide waterfront access. The push is on, however, to finalize the draft so that Council can approve the overlay prior to August when the new zoning code will go into effect.

The largely non-union workforce working to convert the Goldtex factory at 12^th and Wood should be back on the job today, the Daily News reports. The city has lifted a stop-work order issued because some subcontractors did not have proper licenses and permits. Union workers have been protesting the job site.

Philly’s burgeoning food truck scene is getting noticed. An article in the NY Times travel section this weekend visited with Pitruco Pizza, Lucky Old Souls, and Sweetbox and gave a shout out to the Food Trust’s Night Markets.

Pennsylvania collected $1.5 billion in tax revenue from gambling last year, ranking behind Nevada and New Jersey, the Associated Press reports.

Philadelphia Media Network publisher Greg Osberg stepped down on Friday, one month after the company changed hands, the Daily News reports. Bob Hall, who previously served as publisher of the Inquirer and Daily News from 1990-2003, is replacing Osberg.

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

40^th and Pine:

Penn received permission to demolish the building it owns at 40th and Pine.

The University of Pennsylvania received permission to demolish a historic, but badly altered, Italianate mansion at the corner of 40^th and Pine, with a vote of six to three (with one abstention).

Penn has attempted to find a new use for the building since 2003. The University’s latest market-driven attempt resulted in a proposal for a seven-story residential building to be constructed alongside a restored mansion. The Historical Commission previously approved that plan at its meeting in October 2011, as PlanPhilly reported, but neighbors balked and called for a lower-scale building.

Penn’s subsequent analysis found that alternative scenarios to restore the mansion and construct a new building with fewer than 7 stories were not financially feasible. That determination is in large part, due to the target rental market for the units, as well as the cost of construction and rehabilitation.

At Friday’s meeting a coalition of Spruce Hill neighbors and preservation advocates testified in opposition to Penn’s hardship claim, alleging that Penn did not try to sell the property, explore enough leasing options, and that the developers expect too great a return on their investment.

As Eyes on the Street reported Thursday, Penn’s case for hardship relies on the neighborhood’s desire for a lower scale building, not because a seven-story building is impracticable. The case then relies on the presumption that the University would not be able obtain the necessary zoning variances to build a building at seven stories, therefore creating a hardship.

Commissioner John Mattioni put forward a motion to deny the hardship, which was defeated. Sara Merriman then motioned to accept the hardship, which was approved 6-3 with one abstention. Penn will need to get its zoning permits and finalize project financing before demolition commences.

The hardship finding will allow Penn to raze the site at 40^th and Pine, and they are proposing a new five-story residential building for the site.  The Commission’s Architectural Committee approved this design in concept in late April, and at Friday’s hearing architect Sam Olshin presented Atkins Olshin Schade’s designs for the development. Neighbors again expressed disappointment with the conceptual design’s scale, but members of the Historical Committee found the design to be “compatible” with the neighborhood.

The full Commission approved the five-story proposal in concept by a vote of 8-1 (with one abstention.)

Paul Boni, attorney for a group of Spruce Hill and Woodland Terrace neighbors, said that his clients plan to challenge the Commission’s hardship findings. The next battleground for this property will be at neighborhood zoning meetings and a Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing.

38^th and Chestnut:

The Episcopal Cathedral could get a 25-story tower built on its campus at 38th and Chestnut.

Next the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral presented a hardship application, with the assistance of Neil Sklaroff, an attorney with Ballard Spahr. The Cathedral is applying for permission to demolish two historically designated rowhouses on its campus at 38^th and Chestnut streets in order to build a 25-story residential tower that they say will support its mission, social services, and create a stream of revenue that will enable restoration work to the historic Cathedral building.

The Episcopal Cathedral is seeking permission for this demolition under a different hardship provision called “necessary public interest,” which is a stricter test, but one that is less clearly defined in the preservation ordinance than financial hardship. The Commission’s past positions on this type of hardship have concentrated on whether or not a proposed project will result in a broad public benefit.

After a two hours of testimony about the dire condition of the Cathedral itself and the proposed tower’s design and site plan, the question of public interest came to the fore. The benefits being claimed are the restoration of the Cathedral building, and the religious and social services provided at the Cathedral’s facilities.

Commissioner Dominique Hawkins questioned whether or not the demolition and proposed development would, in reality, lead to the necessary restoration work at the Cathedral. She asked, “If the purpose of the public interest is to save this building, but yet this application doesn’t save the building…then what is it for?” Sklaroff replied that the public benefit is often indirect.

John Gallery, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, strongly questioned the necessity of this public benefit and the indirect outcome of the Cathedral’s potential restoration. Based on the limited evidence presented, Gallery cast doubt on the project’s financial viability as well as the likelihood that the Cathedral building will be restored with the possible funds yielded by the residential development.

“There is no guarantee to you that any of the public interest objectives stated by the church, even if you accept them, can be accomplished by what you’ve been given,” Gallery said.

Of particular concern to Gallery was the concept that sacrificing two historic brownstone rowhouses was acceptable because the Cathedral is a more important historic building. They are equal in designation and to Gallery this kind of relativism “is a terribly, terribly dangerous path for the Commission to go down.”

The Commission’s votes ended in a deadlock at 4-4 with one abstention. The hardship case was tabled, and will be heard in the next six months.