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.
Trampled by Turtles are from Duluth, Minnesota, where frontman Dave Simonett initially formed the group as a side project in 2003. At the time, Simonett had lost most of his music gear, thanks to a group of enterprising car thieves who’d ransacked his vehicle while he played a show with his previous band. Left with nothing more than an acoustic guitar, he began piecing together a new band, this time taking inspiration from bluegrass, folk, and other genres that didn’t rely on amplification. Simonett hadn’t played any bluegrass music before, and he filled his lineup with other newcomers to the genre, including fiddler Ryan Young (who’d previously played drums in a speed metal act) and bassist Tim Saxhaug. Along with mandolinist Erik Berry and banjo player Dave Carroll, the group began carving out a fast, frenetic sound that owed as much to rock & roll as bluegrass.
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