Residents in Mantua are anxiously awaiting a Registered Community Organization meeting that could determine the fate of a cherished community center.
Since its founding in 1990, the Mantua Haverford Community Center has been a beacon for youths of all ages—offering an array of daycare services, after-school initiatives, and summer programs—in the neighborhood. The community center also supports healthy lifestyles for adults, hosting various community-organized fundraisers, meetings, and recreational classes over the years.
But now, it is at risk of being sold and redeveloped by German Yakubov—President of Haverford Square Properties. Many residents have expressed concerns regarding the proposed plan, which aims to install 196 market-rate housing units on top of the premises.
“The community has galvanized to protest this,” said Lorraine Gomez, Mount Vernon Manor CDC’s Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC) Coordinator.
The building’s potential demolishment reflects a decade-long trend of increased speculation within the neighborhood, which has marginalized residents who fear being displaced.
Of course, the cycles of gentrification are nothing new in Mantua, a majority-Black neighborhood. The 2012 Mantua Transformation Plan notes an unfortunate decline in the neighborhood’s population over the last ten years.
Though Philadelphia experienced a “slight gain” in the population overall, Mantua lost 13.2% of its residents over the same time. The community now has only half of its residents since 1970—less than one-third of the residents in 1950 when the population was at its peak. Consequently, the social fabric of the environment is rapidly changing. Data from the 2010 Census indicates a growing white population—11.4% in 2010, up from 2.1% in 2000.
“There is no way to justify 196 units in the very center of a low-income, predominantly Black community that has been outspoken over the past 10 years about gentrification pressures. Especially from nearby universities who would probably provide a lot of the tenants,” said Emma Kahn, Mount Vernon Manor CDC’s Community Development Coordinator.
Dismantling the community center could come at the cost of the West Philadelphia Promise Zone, which uses federal funding to “address challenges faced by people living in deep and persistent poverty.” Mantua falls within the Promise Zone, and the potential redevelopment of the rec center could hinder an area already lacking in resources. For example, many residents struggling with financial insecurity rely on the center’s food distribution services to obtain fresh goods they cannot easily acquire elsewhere.
The RCO meeting—expected initially to occur on Feb. 2—still has not received a new date. Despite the delay, sizable attendance of community members wishing to voice their disapproval of Mr. Yakubov’s plan is anticipated. Many are determined to showcase their hopes for expanding the community space that has welcomed them for years.
“Even if there is a new community center that comes with this housing on top, that housing is going to have such a negative impact on the community,” Kahn said. “It would negate the benefits of a renovated community center underneath.”
However, the once vibrant property has been run down for a while. According to Kahn, several of its facilities, such as the gym, kitchen, and classrooms, have been closed for years. As a result, many residents wish to see those facilities revived and restored instead of a new redevelopment. Kahn stated that implementing community feedback is the best way to ensure that the plan appropriately benefits those the Mantua Haverford Community Center strives to serve.
Redeveloping the community center risks exacerbating pre-existing issues that alienate Mantua residents from their homes, primarily caused by an influx of wealthier student renters moving into the area.
For instance, a 2017 article by the Drexel News stated that a “record-high freshman enrollment” was projected for that Fall. The university’s administration similarly said in May 2021 that they expected to welcome 2,800 first-year students—a 21% increase from the 2020 incoming class. Such growth was extended into 2022, with an expected 2,900 first-year students—a 2% increase from the following year.
As developers continue encroaching on the community, investors are seeking out residents, persuading them to move out of the area to make way for construction projects that favor newcomers.
“People have been getting door knocks, flyers, and phone calls trying to get them to sell their homes that they’ve lived in for decades so that they can be transformed into rental units for these higher-income buyers,” said Kahn.
For this reason, renovation of the community center without a mass number of market-rate housing is preferred by many community stalwarts. Kahn, for one, believes that the building’s failing infrastructure is an insufficient justification to demolish it.
“It is precisely because it is crumbling that we need and deserve leadership and resources in this space that is going to restore it to what it once was,” Kahn said.
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