This year, a
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society pop-up is offering a preview of the upcoming Viaduct Rail Park. Last December,
we reported on PHS' plans for an installation somewhere along the planned promenade in the Callowhill neighborhood (our recent
On the Ground home) and now a
new summer beer garden is open at 10th and Hamilton Streets on the north side of Viaduct.
"What’s exciting about this is it gives you a snapshot of what this will be ultimately," said Mayor Jim Kenney at an opening night party on June 10.
Walter Hood of
Hood Design is behind the new space. A former gravel parking lot in the shadow of the Viaduct, the site "merges the post-industrial overhead structure with the green urban space," explains PHS Associate Director of Landscape Design Leigh Ann Campbell.
The beer garden features large, colorful boxes reminiscent of shipping containers and a performance area with metal framework repurposed from Hood's recent exhibit at the PHS Flower Show. The plants in the garden itself are those that "naturally emerged on the Viaduct after it was decommissioned," explains Campbell; these include Paulownia trees, sumacs, ferns and milkweed.
On Saturday, June 18 at 5 p.m., the pop-up will host a special opening event for a site-specific sound installation from artist Abby Sohn, which will "make use of the iron structure to create a sonic experience that explores the cultural heritage and the rail site’s creative potential," according to PHS.
The food comes from chefs Jason Chichonski (of ELA and Gaslight) and Sylva Senat (of Dos Tacos and Maison). Six taps, canned beer, wine, cocktails, sangria and more will round out the beverage offerings.
There will also be a variety of programming throughout the summer, including special themed dinners, acoustic music performances, garden workshops for containers and window-boxes, and even lessons on mixing drinks made with home-grown herbs.
The Philadelphia Public History Truck will also make appearances thanks to support from the
Mural Arts Program. (Here’s the
full line-up of happenings.)
A variety of funders, partners and supporters made the site possible, including property owner
Arts & Crafts Holdings, the
Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the
Friends of the Rail Park, the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Viaduct owner
Reading International,
Victory Brewing Company, the
Callowhill Neighborhood Association and the
Land Health Institute. All proceeds from the garden will support PHS’s
City Harvest.
Campbell said the pop-up isn’t just a good place to get dinner and drinks and enjoy a new slice of green in the city. The service berry bushes planted all around the park’s perimeter draw all kinds of birds to feast right along with the human city-dwellers.
"If you’ve never heard a catbird sing," she adds, come over and listen.
The Viaduct Rail Park will be open through September 30.
Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Leigh Ann Campbell, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
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