This Saturday will be the annual Love Your Park Fall Service Day, on which hundreds of volunteers across the city will spend time cleaning their community parks, working on special projects, and preparing parks for winter. One highlight of the day will take place at 4th & Manton, where the Mayor, Councilman Squilla, representatives from Parks & Rec, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and neighbors will together celebrate the official opening of Manton Street Park.

The lovely new park

You may recall, this park very nearly wasn’t. Almost two years ago, City agencies had an agreement to sell this land to a private developer. The space had been a pocket park many years ago, but had fallen into a state of blight and vacancy until just a few months before the City decided to sell it off. Neighbors rallied behind an effort to preserve the space, and a compromise was reached when developers US Construction agreed to only construct three homes and leave a section of the land for public green space.

Homes have been built next door

In the fall of 2012, the Friends of Manton Street Park were awarded a grant from the Growing the Neighborhood Program. PHS chipped in design help and additional funding, and the park space has been completely transformed.

Before all the work on the space. Wow.

If you’re in the area on Saturday or any other day, we suggest you check out this newly revitalized public space. And if you don’t have much on your schedule for Saturday and there’s a park near your house that’s near and dear to your heart, might we suggest volunteering for the Service Day? Nothing makes you feel more connected to your city than getting your hands a little dirty, don’t ya think?