Rush State Park is in for some changes

By John Loftus

Times Staff Writer

What's another 11 or 12 months?

Long-delayed improvements to a state park at the edge of the city are likely to be underway about this time next year.

Plans to fix up Benjamin Rush State Park, which is near Southampton Road and Roosevelt Boulevard, had been stalled for decades by a city-state dispute about the nature of the improvements.

But that disagreement appears to be over.

John W. Norbeck, director of the Bureau of State Parks, last week said he and City Councilman Brian O'Neill (R-10th dist.) reached "an agreement in principle" during a June 30 meeting.

The councilman will ease the way for the state to upgrade the park for passive recreation, Norbeck said.

The state's plans for Rush include a new access road from Southampton Road, walking and biking trails, and a restroom. The community gardens now in the park will be left alone, as will land used by a local model-airplane club.

"He was pretty pleased with the design we came up with," Norbeck said of O'Neill. "Our moons aligned."

"I couldn't be happier," O'Neill said last week. "I'm very happy with the passive park they're putting in . . . it's what I've asked for on behalf of the community."

The parks director said last week that the state will proceed as planned to put out bids early next year and for work to commence by June 2010.

"It's win-win all around," the councilman said.

The design stipulates that Burling Avenue, a beat-up old city road that cuts through the park from Roosevelt Boulevard's outer northbound lanes, will be removed and filled in along with another street that can be seen only on maps.

Striking Burling Avenue and Byberry-Bensalem Road from the city's street map had been a sticking point for years. O'Neill had maintained that city law bars building on a city street unless the street has been "vacated" by ordinance. Later, city zoning matters further complicated things.

The councilman previously said he was reluctant to resolve these issues because he just didn't trust the state. He was worried Rush might become a park for active recreation, which would include ballfields. That isn't what the neighborhood wants, he said.

So, for years, park upgrades were discussed but nothing was done.

But last week, after meeting with Norbeck, the councilman said he was satisfied the state would do nothing more than make Rush a park fit only for passive recreation.

When City Council reconvenes in the fall, the councilman said, he will introduce legislation that would erase the streets from city maps and also change the city's passive recreation ordinance to accommodate the state's plans for Rush.

A 2007 city ordinance introduced by O'Neill set up passive recreation zoning. The councilman had said that Rush is the only park in the city with that zoning.

The state plan calls for some parking within the park, but O'Neill's ordinance specifies that there should be no parking. Last week, the councilman said that the no-parking provision was a mistake and that it will be corrected with an amendment to the ordinance.

Also, the comfort station, or rest rooms, the state wants to build, are not of a size the ordinance allows. That, too, will be changed to accommodate the state's plans, O'Neill said.

The state's design, which Norbeck said will cost under $3 million to construct, includes unpaved loop roads for walking and biking, a bathroom, parking spaces and a new entrance road on Southampton Road that will go through the park.

There will be no ball fields, pools, picnic grounds, barbecue grills or basketball courts. There will be no outside lighting. The park will be closed and gated at sunset each day.

Last month, Norbeck had estimated that park construction would take about a year. That's good news, said a Northeast Philly state senator who has been pushing for work to begin at Rush.

"We've been trying to open this park up for about eight years," said state Sen. Michael Stack (D-5th dist.). "I'm pleased that it's going to be opened in the near future. It's going to be a really wonderful resource for the Northeast and for the city."

Despite the state's budget deficit, the senator last week said he doesn't expect funding problems to stymie the park project.

Norbeck last week said he would draft a letter to the councilman in which he would request that the two roads be stricken from city maps. He said he also would forward the state's suggestions for changing the city's passive recreation ordinance.

Norbeck said O'Neill wants to keep the ordinance on the books but is agreeable to amending it.

Mike Hatala, president of the Parkwood Civic Association, said he was happy work will begin at Rush next year.

"The community will surely benefit as a result of the state and city officials coming to an agreement," he said.

Reporter John Loftus can be reached at 215-354-3110 or jloftus@phillynews.com