In a former church turned 2,700-square-foot factory building in Kensington, 3rd Ward Philadelphia has been rebuilt to provide the old factory walls with a workshop atmosphere once again. With reconstruction beginning in 2009, 3rd Ward is now finally ready to open its doors at the end of the month.
3rd Ward is a Brooklyn-based multi-disciplinary workspace and education center which provides community members with the opportunity to learn or develop new hobbies.
Even though a lot of 3rd Ward Philadelphia’s curriculum will come from the established center in New York, the Kensington location will cater to the local community and focus on residents’ interests.
“[The focus is on] people from this community teaching their skills to other people in this community,” Jason Goodman, CEO of 3rd Ward Philadelphia, said in Philadelphia Magazine.
Located at 1227 N. Fourth St., 3rd Ward has three floors including a deck and a green roof. The first room, after entering through the main door, will be a restaurant and bar. The rest of the building will be classrooms and studios for culinary arts, media, printing, jewelry making, metal work and woodworking, to name a few.
“We focus on making something,” Jestis Deuerlein, 3rd Ward Philadelphia director of events, said. “It’s about coming here and walking out with something that you make.”
In addition, the center will contain co-working spaces for local self-employed workers. These office environments will help creative professionals communicate with one another and share ideas.
“Let’s say you work for yourself, you do your work in a coffee shop because you don’t need an office. Coworking is a way to get you out of your house, where it’s focused on work and you can meet a lot of people who have interesting ideas,” Deuerlein said.
The prices of classes at the center range from course to course, but if students pay an annual membership of $8 a month they receive discounts on all classes.
The first event will be Make and Toss on April 27 in which participants will make LED magnets and toss them onto ferromagnetic surfaces around the city. Following this event will be the grand opening of the coworking space on April 30 in celebration of Philadelphia Tech Week.
To find more information about 3rd Ward Philadelphia and to sign up for their newsletter, click here to go to their website.
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