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In a city of 1.5 million people, where’s our common ground? The most democratic places in cities can be those we share, the civic spaces that create points of interaction and integration, where strangers become neighbors. But so many of the places that should support a healthy public life, from parks to libraries, are aging and worn threadbare, either overused or neglected.
That’s what Mayor Jim Kenney’s ambitious Rebuilding Community Infrastructure (Rebuild) initiative aims to address through a seven-year plan to invest $500 million in these civic assets. It’s a generational chance to remake Philadelphia’s landscape of civic assets, advancing an equity agenda for neighborhoods by improving public spaces, boosting economic opportunity and civic capacity, and creating social connectivity through capital projects.
Rebuild, which PlanPhilly/NewsWorks first reported on in February, has quietly been gathering steam since it was first announced in the mayor’s budget address in early 2016.
At an event Monday, the William Penn Foundation will formally announce its $100 million commitment to Rebuild – the largest grant in the foundation’s history.
In a statement Shawn McCaney, the foundation’s interim executive director said, “A central aim of William Penn’s public spaces grantmaking over the last few years has been to expand access to high quality public space in neighborhoods outside of Center City. Rebuild represents the opportunity to do that citywide. Under the impressive leadership of Mayor Kenney and Managing Director Michael DiBerardinis, we have great confidence in the city’s capacity to execute a transformation of this scale.”
For the William Penn Foundation, the Rebuild grant builds on the millions it has already invested in recent Philadelphia public space projects and its significant support for the 21st Century Libraries and Reimagining the Civic Commons initiatives.
For the city, the grant is more than a vote of confidence in its ability to deliver on Rebuild’s promise. The foundation’s commitment also offers leverage. Of its total grant, the William Penn Foundation will give $20.2 million by offering $1 for every $2 raised in other philanthropic and public dollars, and $75 million is contingent on the city’s successful issuance of $300 million in bonds.
The administration anticipates asking City Council to vote on a funding ordinance for Rebuild’s bonds in early 2017, and the first of three tranches of $100 million could be released in spring 2017. Rebuild will also see an anticipated $48 million from the city’s capital budget, a portion of revenue from the new sweetened beverage tax going into effect in January, and an additional portion coming potentially from state and federal grants. |