Current church

Gather the People Sanctuary, run by Pastor Yvonne Yates, is building a new church at at the corner of 15th and Clearfield Sts. in North Philly, close to Temple University Hospital. According to the zoning application, the church will be relocating lot lines to assemble one lot from nine existing lots on the corner to construct what will likely be the nicest building in the area not associated with the hospital. The design for the building comes from Zimmers Associates, a Center City architecture firm which has done many commercial and residential projects over the years and coincidentally, did work for the Ninteenth Street Baptist Church in 1975. Might be time for another effort over there.

Site of the future church

Rendering from the sign on the lot

As for the the church itself, it will be four stories high with a steeple that won’t be taller than 62′. The house of worship will also serve as a community center. The project has been in the works for a few years, and since it went to zoning last month, we’re guessing it will be moving forward in short order. This is an interesting project for us to look at, since it seems we’re usually looking at churches being torn down- it’s kind of a change of pace to see a new one actually being built. Not only are we are happy to see an empty lot being used in a positive way, but we are also enthusiastic about something going up that could really be a positive addition to the community.