Philly Spring Clean Up in Germantown

Bill Donahue and Laurie Stewart of the unit block of West Haines Street took to cleaning up around the Town Hall building Saturday even though it wasn’t an official Philly Spring Clean Up project.

“We saw that today is the day, so we came out here,” Donahue said.

Normally the city, which owns the building, only comes out to trim the grass and weeds around the long vacant building once per year, Donahue said. So he and and Stewart try to keep the place as clean as they can.

A number of official clean up projects came together April 2 across Germantown, like the project organized by the Wister Neighborhood Advisory Council along Germantown Ave., which brought in more than 50 volunteers, and the project organized by the Wayne Avenue Merchant’s Association, which cleaned up the Happy Hollow Playground on Wayne Ave.  

Many of the Eighth District City Council Candidates were out to lend a hand. Among them were Howard Treatman, Greg Paulmier and Robin Tasco. 

But many others were out cleaning the streets as part of their normal routine. Joe Thompson of Nicetown (pictured) usually cleans several blocks of Seymour Street near his church most Saturdays.

Victor Henderson focusses on one small section of Seymour near Wayne Ave. where vacant buildings and neighborhood neglect have taken a toll.

“Out of fifteen houses, thirteen of them are abandoned,” he said. “I figure no one else is going to do it.”

Henderson says if nearby neighbors would lend a hand, it could make a difference to the area.