rescinded last year.<\/a> Preliminary funding had already been allocated for the planning process and final construction documents, but the construction cost \u2013 in the range of $150 million according to officials \u2013 is standing in the way of organizers getting the project across the finish line.\u00a0<\/p>\nBut for the Chinatown community \u2013 and organizers who have helped get the preliminary phase off the ground \u2013 the funding uncertainty is just another hurdle they will work through.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in 2016, it was an \u2018If\u2019 question, but we got some significant federal resources,\u201d Chin told City & State. Now, he added, \u201cit\u2019s really \u2018When.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
PCDC \u2013 a key entity in the highway cap project \u2013 held a celebration Thursday evening to commemorate the progress and highlight the plaza\u2019s market stall designs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight, we celebrate our collective work to bring this once-in-a-lifetime project to this point,\u201d Chin said at the event. \u201cAs far as the stitch design, we\u2019re near the finish line.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The highway cap project would not only reconnect parts of Chinatown that were divided by the Vine Street Expressway construction in 1991, but also reduce the air and noise pollution that come from the more than 100,000 vehicles that use the I-676 expressway every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PCDC and community members worked with the city and state, and received two grants together worth over $160 million in 2022 and 2024 to construct the cap and street-level park.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But after the federal funding was pulled, local leaders had to scramble \u2013 looking to the city and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to step up. Both parties did their part, with DVRPC allocating $10 million and the city matching $2.5 million \u2013 the figure needed to fund the rest of the design process and final construction documents, which could take six months to a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chin and officials expect a combination of public and philanthropic sources, such as federal, state or foundation grants, to bridge the gap left by the federal funding rescission.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe designs reflect your desires. You have said that you want a gathering space, celebration space and just a place to be with others,\u201d Chin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The latest design for the capped park between 10th and 12th streets includes landscaped pathways, a playground, plaza and shaded pavilion, and a stream. The market stalls shown Thursday are the first pilot for the project \u2013 and a clear sign to the community that it\u2019s moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kara Medow, the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems\u2019 new senior capital projects manager, said that partnerships and community engagement are \u201call critical to the success of the Chinatown Stitch project.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese market stalls \u2026 show the project\u2019s potential and offer a preview of the new community spaces the stitch will bring,\u201d Medow said Thursday. \u201cTogether, we can reunite Chinatown and give this community a beautiful green space it has long deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Philadelphia highway capping project known as the Chinatown Stitch was celebrated by the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-260733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}