The new Lowes home improvement store, and the soon-to-be opened Sonic and Chick-fil-A restaurants are all new additions to Aramingo Avenue between Fishtown and Port Richmond. But this already ultrabusy shopping corridor is going to get something besides more traffic, more people and more noise as a result of more business.

Beginning Oct. 19, the Aramingo Avenue corridor from Lehigh Avenue (south) to Wheatsheaf (north), will be staffed by a cleaning crew as well as "safety ambassadors," much like those encountered in Center City or around the University of Pennsylvania campus.

The idea is to make the shopping experience more pleasant for patrons, and to increase the desirability of the area for storeowners.

Last September, a city ordinance designated the Aramingo shopping district from the 3900 block down to the 2600 block was designated a "business improvement district."

The journey to that point started three years earlier, when Impact Services, a Kensington community development corporation, began to lobby business owners to support such a designation.

"We've been working with the major stores to promote the shopping corridor," said Randy Hofer, director of marketing for Impact Services. "The idea is to make the Aramingo district clean and safe for customers."

Impact, which also aids members of the community in various ways, including job placement, economic development and housing, also maintains the task of managing business improvement districts such as the Aramingo corridor as well as the Kensington Business Corridor. Impact raised funds from the businesses along the avenue to help pay for the cleaning crew as well to help support the idea of a security detail along the avenue, much like the bike patrols on the Penn campus, which have been successful in partnering with local police to improve safety in the area.

"There will be four full-time employees, continuously cleaning, Monday through Friday," said Hofer. "We will also be using one of those heavy duty 'green machines' for street cleaning, like the ones you see used by the Center City District crew."

The companion piece to this plan is the hiring of three full-time "Safety Ambassadors" - security officers recruited by Allied Barton Security Services, the same company that provides the University City bike patrol as well as safety staff for hospitals and schools around the city. Former police inspector and academy instructor Mike Banach, who also served as captain of the 24th Police District from 2000 to 2002 and maintains a good working relationship with the 24th's current commander, Capt. Daniel Castro, has been with Allied since 2007 and is heading this effort.

"We recruited good people who could keep up with the rigors of bike patrol," he explained. "It was important that they were physically fit."

Their training has been conducted along the Aramingo corridor.

"We were originally going to train the ambassadors in University City with our existing bike patrol," Banach said. "But we decided they should be trained in the geography where they are going to be working."

Safety Ambassadors will serve as the "eyes and ears" of the corridor, assisting police and communicating with them via walkie-talkies and cell phones whenever they identify a safety risk or a need for assistance. They will not be armed and they do not have arrest powers. However, their presence is designed to enhance security amid the strip malls, parking lots, ATM areas and various other places on Aramingo Avenue.

"They will work in tandem with the beat officers," Banach added. "The idea is for the Ambassadors to observe and report as well as to serve as goodwill ambassadors for patrons who visit the shopping district."

Three ambassadors - including one supervisor - will work 8-hour shifts throughout the day. They will wear yellow uniforms similar to those of the cleaning crew so that patrons can easily identify them as the business improvement district staff.

Residents and visitors who frequent Aramingo Avenue should see this as an improvement and a possible sign that the customer experience is due to become a more pleasant one. Traffic, trash, and the risk of petty crime persistently threaten to diminish the economic possibilities that can result from a vibrant and profitable destination for vendors and a convenient and pleasurable shopping trip for customers.

"Every place has its own needs and personalities," said Randy Hofer. "The environment at the Home Depot (on nearby Castor Avenue) is different than in some of the strip malls. But this is a viable business community and it is continuing to grow. And this effort is good for the local economy. Economic growth in the neighborhood means jobs and stability. And in turn, our operation will grow and develop." ¥¥