Opponents to Carl Dranoff's on-again off-again One Ardmore Place project have scheduled a protest for Sat. Nov. 1 in front of the Lower Merion Township building. Hell, they are so against it that they even scheduled a rain date, which would be Nov. 8. So, what the deal? A large mixed-use residential and retail project should be a good thing for the lovely own of Ardmore, especially as Dranoff states it would bring a "$100 million" economic stimulus to the area, right? Nope!
It seems like density and character are the main issues here. According to Philly.com:
"One Ardmore Place, would not jibe with the mom-and-pop character of downtown Ardmore, bringing more density and traffic, and more burden to the schools." A report from the Mainline Media News states that some people were miffed that the funding didn't go to the improvements to the nearby Ardmore Train Station for a parking garage. Governor Corbett recently restored $10.5M in Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funds for the project. "After the grant funding was withdrawn last year, three local civic associations wrote to the Office of the Budget, urging state officials not to restore it for the Cricket Lot project, but to redirect it to the Ardmore Train Station project and construction of a new commuter parking garage there instead."
Dranoff expects to break ground on the project by December. It would include an eight-story structure with 121 apartments and about 10,000 square-feet of retail. A parking facility is also included in the plans and would include 25 more public spots than the current parking setup at the Cricket Ave. lot. The protest will run from 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lower Merion Township building, 75 E. Lancaster Ave.
· Montco protest planned for Ardmore project [Philly.com]
· Gov. Corbett restores $10.5 million for One Ardmore Place, Cricket Lot project [Mainline Media News]
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