Holmesburg Methadone Clinic

Whats happening in Tacony

NEWS

There will be a blood drive on Saturday 1/18/14 at the Masonic Lodge - 4400 Magee Street  from 10:00 to 3:00  go to REDCROSSBLOOD.ORG and go to donor signup.  We need the support and its for a good cause.

NE Quality of Life Coalitions next general meeting is 1/23/14 at 7:00 pm at Our Lady of Consolation school hall - Edmund Street entrance.  They will be reviewing to zoning issues on Torresdale Ave.

Disston Advisory Council and Dorsey Advisory Council are sponsoring a National Day of Service Community Clean up on 1/20/14 - 10:00 am at Dorsey- 6501 Hegerman and Disston- 4510 Disston.
Call to register 215-685-8750 or 215-685-8734.  Lets work together to keep our neighborhood looking good.

There is a new coffee shop opening soon @ Princeton & Hegerman-  Cafe' Express.  When we have an opening date we will inform you.

The Tacony Civic will be holding Nominations for President, Treasurer and Secretary at the next general meeting in March, elections will be held in May.

The War Monument located in Keystone park has been undergoing renovations.  The NEQOL Coalition has had it cleaned, painted and the bricks replaced.  They are currently working with the Oxely Post on replacing the plaque naming the 18 soldiers from Tacony that gave their lives fighting in World War I.  A rededication ceremony is planned tentatively for April 19.  It would be a tribute to those boys, our neighborhood and the people who worked on bringing this monument back to have a good turnout, so mark your calendars.

The Tacony Civic Association, is looking for volunteers to help out on their different committees.



EVENTS

St. Leos is having FREE BINGO on Wednesday 1/22/14 in the convent.  Come out and have some fun.  All are welcome

Line Dance Party Ta­cony/May­fair Sons of Italy, 4741 Friend­ship St. Johnny Tocco line dance party presen­ted by Miss Susan’s En­ter­tain­ment and Dance. Fri­days. $5. 7 to 11 p.m. 215-335-3232.

Bingo St. Jos­aphat, Dis­ston and Dit­man streets. Modays and Fri­days. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Games be­gin at 7 p.m. Kit­chen on premises. 215-338-1125.

St Mary Magdalen Community Service-  Holy Innocents Church  7001 Tulip Street  214-624-1144 2nd & 4th Sundays 10:30 am

Holy Innocents Church- Concert of Dedication  Sunday  1/19/14  4:00 pm  7001 Torresdale Ave  215-624-1144

Holy Innocents Church-  Mid Winter Cabaret-  FREE (Donations Welcome)  Sunday 2/16/14 
4:00 pm    7001 Torresdale Ave  215-624-1144

Theo­logy on Tap Grey Lodge Pub, 6235 Frank­ford Ave. Join Pas­tor Dana for dis­cus­sion in­clud­ing the Bible, Beer, and what’s on your mind. Mondays. 7 p.m.


CLASSES & ORGANIZATIONS

Arts and Crafts Class for Chil­dren Vo­gt Re­cre­ation Cen­ter, 6700 Cot­tage St. Sat­urdays. First month and re­gis­tra­tion is $25, then $20 per month. 11 a.m. to noon. 215-685-8753

Brownies Dorsey Play­ground, 6501 He­ger­man St. Suit­able for girls in first and second grades. Sat­urdays. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 215-685-8734.

Gym­nastics Dorsey Play­ground, 6501 He­ger­man St. Suit­able for ages 5 to 8. Sat­urdays. $5. 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. 215-685-8734.

Melvina’s Dance Class Dorsey Play­ground, 6501 He­ger­man St. Sat­urdays. Ages 10 to 16 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.; adults and seni­ors from 3 to 4 p.m. 215-685-8734

Be­gin­ner Bridge Game/Tu­tori­al St. Leo Church rect­ory, Key­stone Street and Un­ruh Av­en­ue. Free. Mondays. 7 p.m. 215-333-0340

Adult Mar­tial Arts Classes Max My­ers Re­cre­ation Cen­ter, 1601 Heller­man St. Classes held Tues­day and Fri­day even­ings and Sat­urday af­ter­noons. $45 per month. Call for time and inf.: 215-685-1242

Ceram­ic Classes Dis­ston Re­cre­ation Cen­ter, 4423 Long­shore Ave. Tues­days and Thursdays. 7 to 9 p.m. 215-335-1163

Zumba Max My­ers Re­cre­ation Cen­ter, 1601 Heller­man St. Taught by a li­censed Zumba in­struct­or. Tues­days and Wed­nes­days. 7:30 p.m. Re­gister. 215-685-1242. Also at: Jun­od Play­ground, 3301 Mech­an­ic­sville Road. $5. Tues­days and Thursdays. 7 p.m. 215-685-9396.

YOGA- Holy Innocents Church  7001 Torresdale Ave  Mondays & Thursdays 7:30 & Saturday 8:00 am   $ 7 per class   215-624-1144

Reiki Healing  FREE  Wed Jan, 22 7:30 to 9:00-  Normally held the 4th Wed of each month


TACONYS ORGANIZATIONS Need new members and Donations to keep up the work we are doing in our community. 
Tacony Civic Association- taconycivic.org
Tacony Historical Society- historictacony.org
Tacony Town Watch-  tactw.org
Tacony CDC-  historictaconyrevitalization.com
NE Quality of Life Coalition- neastphilly.com

You can also follow the above organizations on Facebook

Proposed Renovations of Tacony Library

 

 

A massive renovation of the Tacony Library is in the works, and there are some serious issues that need to be addressed before it runs ahead of everyone and the community finds itself with a library     that it had no hand in envisioning.  Below you will find the proposed floor plan of the renovation, a list of concerns with the plans as they currently exist, along with a study that was conducted about how much shelving space will be lost as a result of the project.

 

The Tacony library is currently the second busiest library in Philadelphia.  The extent of these renovations mean the library closing down for an undetermined amount of time. The plans proposed also leave no where for the Book Sales currently held in the basement.

 

No one opposes renovating the building per se.  As a matter of fact, the building could use more computers and updated infrastructure, improved sightlines, and an overall facelift.  The issues we share are contained in the attachments.  If it would please you, please express your concerns to the appropriate authorities, because it is our hope that the renovations will not be scuttled but rather amended to better reflect the true needs and desires of the library’s real owners, the residents of the Tacony community.  You can contact Siobhan Reardon she is the President of the Free Library of Philadelphia.  215-686-5322   Free Library of Philadelphia  1901 Vine Street  Philadelphia PA  19103. 

 

Floor Plans:

Concerns Regarding Proposed Tacony Library Renovations

The following are concerns that the staff at Tacony Library shares concerning the proposed branch renovations:

1. The organizations consulted in the planning stages do not adequately represent the actual residents of the Tacony community.  The Tacony Community Development Corporation was barely involved.  The Tacony Civic Association, the Tacony Business Association, the Tacony Historical Society, and the Friends of Tacony Library were not consulted.  The only meeting for the general public was poorly advertised and very poorly attended.  Therefore, the plans as they currently stand, most likely do not represent the needs or desires of the community.
2. The staff of the Tacony Library was not consulted at all.  Therefore, the plans do not include any input from people who actually have worked in and with the building as it exists today.  Therefore, known strengths of the building most likely have not been considered, nor have known deficiencies in functionality and workflow.  Furthermore, the new configuration was not designed by experienced library workers; it was designed as a theoretical construct.
3. There are both safety and functionality concerns with moving the staff workroom into a far corner of the basement.  Functionality: if the branch becomes very busy and extra staff support is needed on the main public floor, staff will have to be paged and then the public will have to wait for someone to come up from downstairs.  Safety: distance is also an issue here as staff cannot readily come to anyone’s assistance when they are working away from the public in the basement.
4. The proposed renovations call for a drastic reduction in shelving space for both adult and children’s materials.  Tacony is one of the busiest libraries in the City, with high circulation of materials and a collection of approximately 34,000 items.  The reconfigured library will have room for 57% fewer items for the community to borrow.  This does not enhance family literacy, encourage curiosity, engage the public, or provide necessary information for all citizens of the community.  This detracts from it.
5. The new shelving for the library does not seem to be user friendly.  It is established that library users prefer to access books from shelves that are between thigh and shoulder height, because this does not require excessive bending or reaching.  Much of the new shelving appears to be low, which will have books near the floor and require considerable bending to reach.
6. The target group for the reimagined Tacony Library is the entrepreneur or small business owner.  While this is a segment of the Tacony community, it is not a large enough segment to be regarded as the library’s target group.  Tacony Library also serves, and must continue to serve, the needs of preschoolers, school-age, New Americans, job seekers, senior adults, adult learners, and teens.  Some of these demographic groups, like New Americans, are a growing population and need to be factored into the future constituencies of the library.

 

Loss of Shelving Space in Tacony Library’s Proposed Renovations

Genre/Format	Current Shelving	Proposed Shelving	Change
Adult Non-fiction	205	52	-153
Adult Large Print Adult Hardback Fiction	16 106	18 40	+2 -66
Adult Paperback Fiction	114	68	-46
Adult Magazines	23	12	-11
Adult DVDs	31	12	-19
Adult Audiobooks	15	15	0
Adult Music CDs	23	0	-23
Teen Hardback Fiction &           Non-fiction	28	32	+4
Teen Paperback Fiction	21	16	-5
Children Non-fiction	68	24	-44
Children Paperback Fiction	74	15	-59
Children Hardback Fiction Children Picture Books Children Audiobooks Children DVDs Children Magazines Children Music CDs	48 30 1 22 3 4	30     8     3     6     6     0	-18 -22 +2 -16 +3 -4
Total	832	357	-475

Adult Non-fiction includes: Self-help, Religion, Personal Finance, Law, Languages, Science, Math, Health, Gardening, Pet Care, Home Improvement, True Crime, Career Guides, Test Prep, Computers, Cooking, Crafts, Art, Sports, Literature, Poetry, History, Local History, Biographies,

 

There will be a Zoning Board hearing on 2/4/14 to convert a single family residence to a duplex.  There will be a public meeting with concerned neighbors on 1/23/14 with the NE Quality of Life Coalition- Our Lady Of Consolation School Edmund Street Entrance 7:00 pm


 

Here is a list of upcoming meetings:
Tacony Civic Association General Meeting 1/15/14 7:00 @ The Tacony Firehouse on Keystone & Magee
Town Watch 1/9/14 7:00 @ The Tacony Baptist Church 
NE Quality of Life Coalition 1/23/14 7:00- location to be determined

Everyone come out and get involved in our community. If we all work together we can do great things with our neighborhood!

Also if you want information on the Historical Revitalization Project go to taconycdc.org or call 215-501-7799