Wednesday, January 9, 2013
RDC hosts public meeting on avenue improvements.
Preserving the historical character of Roxborough at large and Lyceum Avenue in particular proved a significant issue throughout 2012. While some properties met the bulldozer, other property owners capitalized on preservation grants to better their home. The Roxborough Development Corporation continues its plans to preserve the character of Lyceum Avenue with a meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. In 2012, the RDC secured a grant for Lyceum Avenue homeowners (living from Ridge to Pechin streets) interested in historic preservation. Additionally, the Preservation Alliance hosted homeowner workshops. A third initiative of that project were plans for street improvements on street, all the way to Manayunk Avenue. Architect Ian Smith is tasked to …
40.033798
-75.215577
Roxborough Development Corporation
6111 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/roxborough-envisions-better-lyceum-avenue
1423725
/locations/8553067
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Civic groups fight for 5901 Ridge Ave. for precedent.
The Bunting House at 5901 Ridge Ave. itself is gone, but local civic associations continue a fight to make sure it didn't go down in vain. An appeal to the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment took place last week, despite the fact that the building in question was demolished, Central Roxborough Civic Association President Ed Hotham said at the group's Jan. 3 meeting. The CRCA—along with the Manayunk Neighborhood Council, Wissahickon Interested Citizens Association, Ridge Park Civic Association and Wissahickon Neighbors Civic Association—fought to preserve the Victorian home throughout the fall. In December, a Court of Common Pleas judge ruled against an injunction, and property owners Giovannone Construction exercised their legally …
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Demolition begins at 5901 Ridge Ave.
A day after a Hail Mary court gambit by local neighborhood groups to preserve a Victorian home failed, construction crews began demolition at 5901 Ridge Ave. The Bunting House met his fate Friday morning when workers took the wrecking ball to the 1880s home formerly owned by Dr. Ross Bunting, a prominent Philadelphia physician in the early 20th century. A Court of Common Pleas judge ruled against an injunction to halt demolition. Property owners Giavannone Construction acquired the home along with neighboring Ridge Avenue buildings and secured city permits to demolish the structures to make way for a vacant lot. The Central Roxborough Civic Association led a charge to preserve the historical—but not historically registed—home, but …
Friday, December 14, 2012
Giovannone Construction may proceed with plans to make a vacant lot at 5901-09 Ridge Ave.
After more than two-month layover, a Roxborough developer can begin demolition at 5901 Ridge Ave. In a ruling Tuesday, Motions Court Judge Idee Fox denied neighborhood civic associations' request to halt demolition at the Bunting House, an historical (but not registered) Victorian home, allowing Giovannone Construction to create a vacant lot at the corner of Ridge and Roxborough Avenues. The Central Roxborough Civic Association led a charge by neighborhood groups to preserve the home formerly owned by Dr. Ross Hunting, a noted physician in the early 20th century, who is buried across the street at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church. In September, property owners Anthony and Frank Giovannone secured permits to demolish the Bunting House, along …
40.03004
-75.21134
5901 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/judge-denies-injunction-against-bunting-house-demo
/locations/8383147
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Judge to rule this week on potential injunction against demolition.
A Motions Court judge will rule within the week on whether or not to issue an injunction against the Bunting House demolition in Roxborough. Attorneys for a coalition of civic associations and property owners at 5901 Ridge Ave. argued Monday before Judge Idee Fox on if a stay of demolition should occur at the stately property. The ruling will come by week's end, she said, and no demolition can occur before then. The legal question before Fox is whether she should order an injunction against demolition while the Department of Licenses and Inspections and Zoning Board of Adjustment can rule on an appeal. If she rules in the neighborhood groups' favor, she may require a bond to be posted—which she indicated Monday she would favor. The …
40.03004
-75.21134
5901 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/bunting-house-demo-decision-due-this-week-arguments-made
/locations/8354087
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Case referred to lower court.
Despite 90 minutes of testimony, a hearing on the Bunting House demolition before a Court of Common Pleas judge was stopped when it was learned the case improperly reached the courtroom. Judge Albert J. Snite, Jr. assigned a request to stay demolition made by the Central Roxborough Civic Association to Motions Court Tuesday, after attorneys for the neighborhood group and property owners Giovannone Construction debated the validity of a demolition permit at 5901 Ridge Ave. The case never went through the lower court, and as Snite warned when the hearing began, it needed to originate there before he could process it. Snite issued an order requesting Motions Court take it up quickly, at a maximum five days, due to the mishap. Both sides …
Monday, December 3, 2012
No progress made on effort to preserve 5901 Ridge Ave.
The historical Bunting Home may face demolition after all, sources said. Developers told neighbors that efforts to find suitable commercial tenants at 5901 Ridge Ave., and plans for demolition at the corner Victorian will proceed, according to multiple sources. In a message to the Manayunk Neighborhood Council, President Kevin Smith shared this update on the Giovannone brother's attempts to find financially viable renters to avert demolition at the former home of Dr. Ross Bunting. "At the meeting, they announced that, over the last two months of calling around, they had no luck with the various chains and local hospitals. Carl Primavera, representing the investors in 5901 Ridge LLC, said that they were prepared to go ahead with their …
40.03004
-75.21134
5901 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/bunting-house-demo-back-on-lawsuit-proceeds
/locations/8280860
Saturday, September 29, 2012
John C. Manton says Roxborough can't afford to lose 5901 Ridge Ave.
The main argument in Roxborough residents' efforts to save 5901 Ridge Ave. lies in the house's historical significance. And one Roxborough historian says the property, also known as the Bunting House, is too important to meet the bulldozer, as city permits allow. Author of both Victorian Roxborough and A Splendid Legacy: St. Timothy's, Roxborough, historian John C. Manton said the Victorian home and work done by Dr. Ross R. Bunting are important to Roxborough's history. And the demolition permit secured by Giovannone Construction Inc. would remove another link to Ridge Avenue's past. "Roxborough is a blue-collar community... We don't have the prominent people that Germantown or Chestnut Hill have. After Dearnley and Langhurst, Bunting is …
40.03004
-75.21134
5901 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/historian-the-bunting-house-s-significance
/locations/7934218
40.03198
-75.21351
Intercommunity Action
6012 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/historian-the-bunting-house-s-significance
1264339
/locations/7934219
40.027217
-75.209569
St Timothy's Episcopal Church
5720 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/historian-the-bunting-house-s-significance
1264596
/locations/7934220
Friday, September 28, 2012
Giovannone Construction approves 30-day discussion period for Bunting House.
Editor's note: An earlier version inaccurately reported the status of the neighborhood's legal appeal. Although they did not drop legal action, they will refrain from acting on it for 30 days. It has since been corrected. After several meetings and back-and-forth exchanges, a developer agreed to stay demolition at 5901 Ridge Ave. for 30 days to pursue options that could both preserve the historical Bunting Home and make economic sense for the property owners. Frank Keel, spokesperson for the property owners Giovannone Construction, Inc., released this statement Friday afternoon. "All parties are working toward an amicable and economically feasible solution which could ultimately save the Bunting house from the wrecking ball. Several viable…
40.03004
-75.21134
5901 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/demolition-officially-delayed-for-5901-ridge-ave
/locations/7935345
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Giovannone Construction, Inc. and local attorney disagree about conditions for 5901 Ridge Ave. demolition reprieve.
Developers conditionally agreed to delay demolition on a historical Roxborough Victorian home if neighbors drop their legal challenge, according to a spokesperson. However, an attorney for residents—who filed an appeal Wednesday—said that aspect was not communicated with him. Frank Keel, spokesperson for Giovannone Construction, Inc., said the company agreed to a "30-day cooling-off period" on the proposed demolition of the Bunting House at 5901 Ridge Ave. and will work with "community officials to come up with a solution that can save the building and provide for a first-class, sustainable redevelopment of the entire site." Hal Schirmer, retained attorney for four civic associations, learned of the delay Wednesday, but, he said, without …
40.03004
-75.21134
5901 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA
/articles/bunting-house-demolition-delayed-developers-agreed-to-30-day-reprieve
/locations/7929870
Mike O'Neill
8:03 am on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Don't be mistaken.It was never a complement !! more ›