OVERVIEW OF THE CONCOURSE LAKE RESTORATION PROJECT
Concourse Lake is a stormwater reservoir in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. It
is located off Belmont Avenue, within a five minute drive from either the
Schuylkill Expressway or the West River Drive, and a fifteen minute drive from
center city. It lies midway between the Please Touch Museum and the Mann Center
for the Performing Arts on the Avenue of the Republic, .3 of a mile from each,
and 1.4 miles from the Philadelphia Zoo.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The lake is part of the Park’s Centennial District, the 236 acres where ten million
people celebrated the nation’s hundredth anniversary in 1876. The Centennial landscape
was dotted with pavilions and exhibition halls touting the accomplishments of the nation,
the skills of its artisans and scientists, the unique character and resources of the various
states, and the lure of foreign nations. Housing the double Corliss engine which brought
steam energy to the area, the mammoth Machinery Hall, 1402 feet long, rested on
the seven and half acres now occupied by the Concourse Lake reservoir.
HELPING PHILADELPHIA ACHIEVE ITS GOALS:
Philadelphia has embarked on a multi-year, multi-million dollar plan to restore the
Centennial District, converting this underused park asset into a varied educational,
cultural, and recreational attraction for visitors and citizens alike. The refurbishment
of Memorial Hall, the lone remaining large exhibit hall, and the subsequent move of the
Please Touch Museum to this glorious building, signaled the beginning of these restoration
efforts. In 2009, the City invested in the creation of a 5 K recreational loop trail, unifying
the area, and in the dredging of the Concourse Lake, creating a native wetland to better
filter water on its way to the Schuylkill River.
After reviewing proposals from Fairmount Park, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council,
and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Philadelphia Committee of the Garden Club of America selected the area surrounding Concourse Lake as the focus of its four-year commitment to produce a horticultural gift for the City in honor of the hundredth anniversary of GCA which will be celebrated in Philadelphia in April of 2013. Support for this effort has since expanded to include all the GCA clubs in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
The planned horticultural and environmental renovation project seeked to continue the environmental improvements initiated by Fairmount Park and to provide continued momentum for the successful completion of the overall Centennial District master plan. The project proposed the removal of dangerous paving adjacent to the lake, the installation of a new educational walk, and the planting of native plant material selected for sustainability and stormwater management and, is supportive of Mayor Nutter’s goal of creating the “Greenest City in America.”
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