March 13: Immediate SEPTA strike unlikely | Union wants new fire trucks | Salvaging St. Bonaventure | N3RD Street | Development coming to 13th & South

Good morning Streeters! A gust of cold weather is back today, but don’t worry. It won’t last for too long. 

With SEPTA’s biggest labor contract set to expire Friday night, an immediate strike by Philadelphia bus, subway and trolley operators and maintenance crews seems unlikely, The Inquirer reports. SEPTA is still negotiating the contract that expires Friday with union reps from Transport Workers Union Local 234, which covers about 4,700 SEPTA employees. So far, no strike-authorization vote has been taken by the union’s members. 

Dispute over funding for new fire trucks could be the city’s next battle. Mayor Nutter has proposed allotting $12 million in new funding to the Office of Fleet Management. How that money will be spent is unclear, and firefighters’ union officials say they are in dire need of new ladder trucks, which cost between $600,000 and $800,000 a piece. 

When Philadelphia’s countless historic buildings come down, what happens to the minor, detailed elements like stained glass panels and eight-food-wide clock faces that gave the buildings character? PlanPhilly‘s Jared Brey and Hidden City Philadelphia‘s Bradley Maule looked inside St. Bonaventure Church to explore how valuable materials are salvaged. Some say salvaging valuable materials from unsafe buildings should be built into the city’s demolition process. 

City Council passed a resolution that will officially designate North 3rd Street from Market to Poplar streets “N3rd Street.” More than 30 tech companies and more than 45 marketing and design agencies are located on or around N3rd Street, and the resolution states, “A cultural identity like N3RD Street is an important asset for Philadelphia.” An official naming ceremony is scheduled for April 11. 

Two four-story buildings could bring 21 condos, 3,000 square feet of retail and 18 parking spaces to the corner of 13th and South streets. The developer presented the proposal to a mostly approving group of neighbors at a recent Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition meeting. 

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