Dilworth Plaza on schedule to open in September

The renovation of City Hall's Dilworth Plaza is on schedule for completion next month.

City officials will next week announce an exact date for the September opening of the newly renamed Dilworth Park.

The kickoff will mark the transformation of the patch of land on the west side of City Hall from "an inaccessible, multi-level, hard-surface plaza into a sustainable, well-maintained, green public space without stairs or barriers from the street," according to the website of project developer Center City District.

The renovated park will feature a 21 percent increase in useable area, resulting in a 120,557-square-foot public space with tree groves and space for benches and chairs.

Other upgrades are to include a new café, an ice rink for winter skating and free Wi-Fi.

The park will provide "distinctive entrances" to SEPTA trains and trolleys and enable both the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines to be accessed by elevator, a Center City District spokeswoman said in an email.

The overhaul of the plaza began in January 2012 and cost an estimated $70 million, including the transit-related renovations.