News

Michael Van Valkenburgh’s Penn Park offers new open space for the Penn community

“The newest 14 acres of the University of Pennsylvania used to be a parking lot for a fleet of mail trucks.
Two years and more than $46 million later, Penn has transformed that wedge of land into a green welcome mat that extends all the way to the Schuylkill.
On Thursday, the university will open Penn Park, the centerpiece of a long-term effort to grow the 283-acre campus from its historic core near 34th and Walnut Streets.
“It’s the first time that, by design, we’ve set aside open space for the use of the Penn community and beyond,” said Amy Gutmann, Penn’s president. “It’s an open, accessible, green, people-friendly connection between Center City and West Philadelphia.”
Philadephia Inquirer, Sept. 13, 2011