New organizational leadership to ensure park’s long-term success with highly-anticipated opening of the first section on June 14.
(PHILADELPHIA, May 10, 2018) Philadelphia nonprofit Friends of the Rail Park is pleased to announce the selection of Kevin Dow as its first Executive Director. In this new role, Dow will create and implement a community-focused comprehensive strategic plan to fulfill the organization’s mission to bring Philadelphia’s Rail Park to life.
The Rail Park is a vision for a three-mile linear park and recreational pathway connecting 10 distinct Philadelphia neighborhoods along the site of two abandoned historic Reading Railroad lines. The above and below grade site threads through several of Philadelphia’s most important cultural institutions and offers an opportunity to create a world class public space driven by engaging communities from every corner of the city, through programming around arts and culture, health and wellness, education, and preservation of the built and natural environment.
Opening to the public on June 14, Phase I of the Rail Park is a multi-million dollar project transforming a quarter-mile section of the former Reading Railroad into a welcoming community greenspace, with pathways, low-maintenance perennial plantings, trees, ample seating, bench-style swings, local art, and elevated city views. The design preserves and restores much of the existing steel structure, while introducing materials of a similar industrial scale and character.
Read more: PHILADELPHIA’S FRIENDS OF THE RAIL PARK SELECTS KEVIN DOW AS FIRST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR