It doesn’t take much to turn an uninspired slab of concrete into a community watering hole.
That’s the case, at least, for the Friends of Schauffele Plaza, a community group responsible for the remodeling of a small plaza off of Lancaster Avenue in downtown Ardmore. What was once a mundane square with a few benches and a bus stop is now home to a sidewalk mural inspired by migratory birds, as well as new benches, tables, and native plants.
“We not only can have, but really need, high-quality public spaces in our downtown,” Craig Timberlake, the project lead, said.
Schauffele Plaza was reimagined through the framework of “tactical urbanism,” the idea that low-cost and low-stakes interventions can improve community spaces and serve as trial runs ahead of larger, more expensive projects.
It was a serendipitous collaboration of community groups, including the Lower Merion Conservancy, the Ardwood Civic Association, Ardmore Initiative, Tired Hands Brewing Co., the Ardmore Progressive Civic Association, Bella Italia Pizza, and Lower Merion Township, which voted to approve it last month. Seed money came in the form of a $2,500 grant from the Better Block Foundation, a Dallas-based nonprofit that helps communities build healthier and more vibrant neighborhoods. No taxpayer dollars were used to make it happen.
For Timberlake, Schauffele Plaza, put together over six months with only a few thousand dollars, is proof that “We don’t have to wait five years. We can do this now.”
Timberlake, an Ardmore resident, always knew there was an appetite for communal outdoor spaces in his downtown. Just look at Suburban Square, he says, a place where teens, elderly people, families, workers, and shoppers mix and mingle on the regular.
Yet on the downtown Ardmore side of the road, there was nothing of the like. This spring, he joined Better Block University, a six-month program through the Better Block Foundation that trains leaders on community-powered urban design. As he began to dream up a tactical urbanism project, Timberlake set his sights on Schauffele Plaza.
Polling his community on what they wanted in their public spaces, a few desires shined through: art, plants, places to sit, farmers markets, live music. When the idea for a mural arose, he knew he had to call Deirdre Murphy.
Murphy is a contemporary visual artist and professor at Lehigh University. She’s also Timberlake’s neighbor. Much of her work weaves together themes of nature, scientific exploration, and climate change.
Central to Schauffele Plaza’s redesign is “Birdsong,” a mural by Murphy that visualizes the patterns of migratory songbirds traveling along the Atlantic Flyway. Its striking blues, reds, pinks, and greens stretch across the plaza’s concrete, bringing life to the shady corner.
Kevin Lahoda, Murphy’s colleague at Lehigh, helped her take data from Washington College’s Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory and the global eBird network and turn it into a design that would be both aesthetically appealing and educational. Migratory songbirds “serve as vital ecological indicators,” Murphy describes, “reflecting the resilience of our environment when communities take action,” like planting native pollinator gardens and protecting watersheds.
“I want the mural to have this soft touch of education,” Murphy said. “Then the empowerment of, ‘What can we do?’”
Over the course of two days, Murphy said she “miraculously” put down 18 gallons of paint with the help of lead mural assistant Emma McGillis, Fiona White, Kayleen Dolan, Marshall Guilher, Kate Saltovet, and Liz Paul.
“I just managed the crew and painted like a madwoman,” she joked.
“Birdsong” was developed as part of the Lower Merion Conservancy’s Climate Change Awareness Artist Residency. The conservancy provided the native plants, which were paid for with a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant. Kate Cronin, a Wynnewood resident, native plant expert, and professional gardener, served as Schauffele Plaza‘s planting lead.
While creating a community space is the project’s primary goal, organizers also hope it will build support for a future redesign of Lot 6, a parking lot behind Schauffele Plaza that has been identified by Lower Merion Township as a potential site for a “flexible, open public space” like a park.
Chris Leswing, Lower Merion’s director of building and planning, said the township is reconfiguring its plans for Lot 6 and taking into consideration concerns about the potential loss of its 72 parking spots. Township staff is working on a new, phased approach that would aim to keep some parking while developing other parts of the lot.
For now, organizers say the improved Schauffele Plaza is an opportunity to introduce residents to their new gathering place.
As Garrett Elwood, president of the Ardwood Civic Association, put it: “This is like, ‘Do we like this?’ Let’s see.’”