The Canoe Club has been enclosed by a chain link fence and Temple, La Salle HS, Fr. Judge and North Catholic told to remove their equipment by February 15. Each of the 4 schools received this letter from Fairmount Park via email around 6 pm Friday:
Please be advised that following an inspection this morning of the East Park Canoe House located on Kelly Drive at the Strawberry Mansion Bridge, the City's Department of Licenses and Inspections (L & I) has verbally notified Fairmount Park that significant building code violations have been identified. Accordingly, today L & I erected a perimeter gated fence and prohibited access to the building.
Effective immediately, and until further notice, the building will only be accessible for removal of stored equipment. In order to enter the premises to remove your equipment you must contact Fairmount Park staff at least 24 hours in advance of entry and you must be escorted by Fairmount Park personnel. Entry times are limited to 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Monday thru Friday. For safety reasons, L & I has ordered that no students be permitted to enter the building. Therefore, only school employees will be permitted in the building and only for the purpose of removing equipment.
All equipment that you wish to retain must be removed from the premises by Friday, February 15, 2008. Based upon the magnitude and nature of the violations identified by L & I it is reasonable to assume the Canoe House will not be accessible for all least two years.
Please contact Douglas Kubinski, Director of Property Management at 215-683-0207 or Nathan Bobian, Executive Assistant at 215-683-0208 to schedule a time to enter the Canoe House to remove the equipment you wish to retain. Any property left in the building after February 15, 2008 will become the property of the City of Philadelphia.
Fairmount Park staff understands that this notice will create an inconvenience. However, our paramount concerns are to restore this historic park asset and to ensure the safety of all park users. I thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Focht, ASLA
Executive Director, Fairmount Park
Inquiries are under way toward accommodating the affected programs in the short and long terms.
see also link in Access/Politics below