Kensington’s Harrowgate community will see beautification improvements and additional events support from the City of Philadelphia as part of America’s 250th birthday celebration in 2026. 

The 3300 and 34500 blocks of Kensington Avenue will get a redesign from a landscape design company called Ground Reconsidered including planters, public art and signage. Impact Services will manage the planters, according to CEO Casey O'Donnell, who will be the point person on the initiative.

There will also be more funding opportunities for events such as block parties and neighborhood festivals. O’Donnell said he did not know what the total funding amount would be, but that he and others are interested in doubling the size of the Harrowgate Summer Fest next year.

The initiative will also involve a “clean up” of the Tioga SEPTA station, he said. The new effort folds into street cleaning work Impact Services is already doing on the 3000 and 3100 block of Kensington Avenue in anticipation of bigger changes in 2026.

“We have guys pressure washing every day, all day,” he said. “We've done 25 storefronts with big new signs. And we're going to keep at it for the next year and keep trying to stabilize those blocks.”

There will be opportunities for community input on the 250th anniversary plans, O’Donnell said, including input on a replica liberty bell. Local artists partnering with Mural Arts will design 20 of these bells to be placed in neighborhoods across the city to “reflect each neighborhood’s unique identity,” according to the city.

O’Donnell also said the 250th celebration events will line up with a series of soccer events that Safe-Hub Philadelphia will be hosting as part of the FIFA World Cup next year.

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Harrowgate Park upgrades

Improvements to Harrowgate Park are already underway. The association received a $100,000 grant to create two arches at Harrowgate Park – a large one on the Tioga Street side and a smaller one on the Schiller Street side according to Sonja Bingham, president of Friends of Harrowgate Park.

The association is also partnering with the Rebuild Initiative to get the sidewalks around the park repaired, add benches, and improve lighting. Bingham specified that the benches are “not the ones you can lay on.”

Police updates

The Philadelphia Police Department announced a change to their uniforms. Officers will now wear midnight-blue instead of powder blue, which the department says “reinforces professionalism, authority, and familiarity” according to a post on PPD’s Facebook page. It’s the first major change to PPD uniforms since the 1970’s. 

The department also announced a QR code to help people find email addresses for 24th Police District lieutenants as well as the Police Service Area’s meeting schedules, crime statistics, and upcoming events.

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