A New Face for 36th Street
Construction crews began removing the surface of the small parking lot in front of the Franklin Building entrance (above) to strengthen the drains and repave the lot for heavy-duty entry to the Franklin Building Annex (below) where the loading dock and utility vehicle parking for Penn's Mail Service and physical plant shops are located. The two formerly separate lots will be connected by an angled passageway where once a brick wall divided the two, with a loss of six of the 25 spaces formerly in the Walnut Street lot.
By year's end the chain-link fencing that now encloses the Annex lot will have been replaced with a tall lattice on the Sansom Street side and, on the 36th Street side, with a high fence inset from the street to provide more outdoor café seating to match that in front of Xando across the street.
Meanwhile, Parking & Transportation Director Bob Furniss, said, a new lot just opened on the site of the Charles Addams House (Asbury Church) fire provides 76 new parking spaces in the vicinity (which have been filled by turning to the waitlist). Penn still faces continuation of a "parking crunch," Mr. Furniss siad, as 93 spaces were lost in front of Dental School's Levy Building, and the outdoor lot at 40th and Walnut will have to be closed during construction of a parking garage as part of the Sundance Cinema project.
Elevation: 36th Street Facade
The view at right (looking east from Sansom Common) shows the wall and plantings that will screen the FB Annex's parking and loading area.
Opening in Sansom Common
On Friday, November 27, the newest shop in Sansom Common will open its doors:
Details of the opening of Eastern Mountain Sports are expected to be posted to the store windows, on 36th Street between Xando and Urban Outfitters.
Almanac, Vol. 45, No. 13, November 24, 1998