June 2- 8, 2005

cityspace

Honor Before Action

by Mike Newall

When 39-year-old Nigerian immigrant Ola Solanke and his wife Lisa ran an arts gallery in Germantown, selling African sculptures, paintings, and garments, they dreamed of expanding the operation to include a restaurant and performance space for authentic African cuisine. But, they didn't own the building so the expansion remained a dream.

Then, in 2002, Solanke heard about Mayor Street's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI), the $300 million effort to reduce blight. The city, Solanke learned, would make abandoned properties available to citizens with plans to redevelop them. Solanke drove around the city searching for a location for the Arts Garage, as they called it ["Open the Garage," Cory Frolik, March 24, 2005]. Four months later, he came across several crumbling properties on the 1500 block of Parrish Street in Francisville. He felt that he'd found a home for the vibrant cultural space he imagined could help revitalize Ridge Avenue, a once-vibrant thoroughfare that boasted Philadelphia's first farmer's market and the jazz hotspot the Blue Note.

Solanke says he and other Arts Garage investors have since spent $500,000 refurbishing the properties. They've successfully lobbied for the demolition of eight dilapidated properties and the removal of abandoned tires and cars. Most importantly, says Solanke, is the economic impact: "Our business model for the Arts Garage creates 26 opportunties for employment with an annual $670,000 payroll."

Two weeks ago, at a World Café Live ceremony commemorating the four-year anniversary of NTI, Mayor Street honored Solanka for his efforts as one of more than 80 "NTI Ambassadors" — the neighborhood foot soldiers slugging it out in the front lines of blight. For Solanke, however, it was a "bittersweet moment." The Arts Garage is stalled in the bureaucratic mazes that many small-time developers say characterize NTI. Solanke says the Redevelopment Authority (RDA) is dragging its feet in selling him six vacant Parrish Street lots he needs for parking. Without them, the Zoning Board of Adjustment will not let the Arts Garage open.

"The RDA told me the city plans to build houses on the lots," says Solanke. "They held a housing design competition in 1995 and since then they have done nothing."

The RDA has since referred Solanke to the office of his City Councilman Darrell Clarke, who has helped Solanke acquire one adjacent property. (Clarke did not return calls for comment).

Honored by the Mayor's praise but still nowhere closer to opening the Arts Garage, Solanke remains stubbornly determined. "As an NTI amabassador doing the work out here on the streets," he says, "it's still very disappointing to have no idea when the Arts Garage may open."