Crumbling wall on Midvale Ave. continues to worry residents

East Falls residents are growing anxious as a deteriorating wall on Midvale Avenue near the East Falls SEPTA train station has yet to be fixed. 

Back in April, when NewsWorks first reported the story, calls made about the crumbling wall on the Thomas Mifflin Elementary School property prompted the School District to install a fence to prevent large rocks from falling onto pedestrians.

Now entering October, the wall still hasn’t been fixed but the fence that was blocking the pedestrian sidewalk for almost seven months has been moved back for pedestrian access to the sidewalk. 

Tom Sauerman, president of the East Falls Community Council, posted the initial online complaint that the wall was a “safety hazard” on SeeClickFix.com, a website in which residents can report and track neighborhood issues.

“I think the school district is having funding difficulty,” said Sauerman when asked why he thought the wall hasn’t yet been addressed. “It’s either funding or priorities. Those stones are large – I mean like boulders – they would absolutely kill someone.”

Sauerman said he hopes an outside entity can come in to fix the wall if the school district can’t do it. He also says that Michelle Wilson, of Fourth District Councilman Curtis Jones’ office, has been consistently making phone calls and following up on the issue over the last several months.

NewsWorks calls to the School District were not returned. In an April interview, Chanice Savage, executive assistant for the School District of Philadelphia, informed NewsWorks that crews would begin rebuilding the wall soon.

“There are hundreds of people who use that train station every day,” said Sauerman, “and with the school right there, it’s unsafe for the students.”

NewsWorks will continue to follow up on this repair effort as it develops.