State Rep. Mary Isaacson and state Sen. Nikil Saval joined forces to help secure a state grant for the Fishtown-Kensington Business Improvement District Vision Plan Initiative.
The $72,750 award represents the final funding required to complete the initiative.
“I am committed to bringing funding home to the district that will enhance the safety and quality of life of my constituents,” Isaacson said. “This award will go a long way to improve a vital transportation hub while also creating spaces for art and connection, highlighting local artists and vendors.”
A part of the Keystone Communities Program, the funding is designed to encourage partnerships between public and private sectors. The KCP helps local initiatives promote growth and stability in neighborhoods throughout Pennsylvania.
The vision plan focuses on the area’s public transportation sector as an anchor for revitalizing the area.
“Public transit and spaces that are safe, accessible and beautiful are core to upholding Philadelphians’ right to freedom of movement,” Saval said. “This grant is an investment in the lives and livelihoods of the thousands of neighbors who pass through this space every day. I’m proud to add my efforts with those of the community.”
The upgrades will utilize the space under the Market-Frankford Line, which will be a combined space that merges art with community services.
The legislators’ aid seeks to rejuvenate Front Street and Girard Avenue by activating and beautifying a transportation hub to illuminate, connect and make this busy intersection safer and more accessible to the thousands who pass by daily.
“We will be utilizing open spaces under the El Stop to merge art and constituent service,” said Marc Collazzo, executive director of the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District. “This, coupled with our previously funded pedestrian plaza project at Front Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, highlights our district’s goal to bring about the change we want to see in our commercial corridor.”
The funding will facilitate the completion of the project and continue improvements for the Fishtown and Kensington neighborhoods.
“We thank Sen. Nikil Saval and Rep. Mary Isaacson as well as their dedicated staffs for the zealous advocacy for us to obtain this generous award, as well as for continued support of the Fishtown/Kensington neighborhoods,” Collazzo said.
