Press Release Details

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 15, 2008

For More Information Contact
Mike Silver
Chairman, The Ardmore Initiative
56 E. Lancaster Avenue
Ardmore, PA 19003
610-645-0540

Proud to be Part of Ardmore Renaissance

Ardmore, PA —Thursday, January 10, 2008, was an important day in Ardmore's history, when seven of our township commissioners voted to embrace Ed Lipkin's vision of its future. While the decision was not a unanimous one, the commissioners and the township staff made the process transparent and participatory for all to review and comment upon. As I see it, this was an honest, democratic process from which Ed Lipkin's plan emerged successfully. As responsible members of this community, our job during the selection process was to evaluate the competing plans as carefully as possible, question the developers, and make our opinions known. Now that the selection has been made, we need to continue to provide our input and direction to the township and support the board's decision.While some have expressed a concern that the plan is too ambitious, and that the scope could have a debilitating effect on traffic, I offer this thought. The plan will now undergo review by both the Ad Hoc Committee set up by the township, which has representatives from all the local community groups, as well as the commissioners, before a contract is finalized. Once the contract is obtained, construction plans will be prepared and then reviewed in detail for environmental, traffic and building code issues. Anyone familiar with our township will know that this will be neither a brief nor cursory review. Rather it will take much time, and again will be vetted with input from many sources. The build will likely span five to eight years, as the review process, (just to get Septa and Amtrak on board as a major portion of the construction will occur over their railroad tracks), will be lengthy. And since this process will take so long, development will be completed in several phases. Accordingly, market forces will come into play and only units that can be successfully marketed will be developed. We hope that Mr. Lipkin will begin marshalling his considerable resources and talents immediately, even before construction begins, to ensure the continued survival of the current Business District.

Along with Charlie Ward, I have personally been involved in trying to rehabilitate Ardmore for the last 15 years. As vice chair of the Ardmore Initiative, and now as chairman of the board, I have witnessed our organization's best efforts to make capital improvements in the town's infrastructure, including all-new street lighting, replacement of sidewalks that were in disrepair, planting of trees, and facade improvements. While these efforts have generally been well-received, and I would like to think improved the overall look of the town, they have frankly been insufficient to generate what some have called a "tipping point" that would motivate absentee owners and others to make the improvements necessary to strengthen Ardmore and help it reach its potential. This experience has led me to believe that the commissioners are correct in concluding that a major effort is necessary to finally realize the change that we were all sure would have occurred by now.

While I am hopeful that this project will be tremendously successful, the true outcome will not be known for a number of years. But, as a result of the openness of the selection process and other factors, our town has already realized a remarkable achievement. All the community groups that weighed in on this project did so in a civil and intelligent manner. In fact, for the first time in Ardmore's history, a joint statement of principals was agreed upon by the Ardmore Initiative, The Save Ardmore Coalition, The Ardmore Business Association and First Friday Main Line. I would like to personally thank all the board members who actively participated in the preparation of this document and the community in general for their deliberate and thoughtful response to the proposals before the township. Also, my thanks to President Bruce Reed, Ardmore's Commissioners Phillips, Gelber and Delheim, and the rest of the commissioners, as well as the town-ship's very capable staff, for making this all possible.

As Mayor Nutter might say, "Ladies and Gentleman, Ardmore's Renaissance started last Thursday."

Mike Silver is chairman of the board of directors for The Ardmore Initiative

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