Liberty lands History
The Liberty Lands site was originally the home of the old Burke Brothers Tannery...
In 1994, the property was donated to the Northern Liberties Action Committee, a group formed by the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association, as part of a plan to create senior housing. When the City of Philadelphia condemned and then demolished the site shortly afterward, the neighborhood was left with a vacant lot burdened by demolition and tax liens totaling more than $1,000,000. However, a small group of neighbors, led by visionary Dennis Haugh, came together with a vision to create a park. With a grant from the Philadelphia Urban Resources Project, a design by Jesse Gardner, plus endless neighborhood donations of money, services, and volunteer labor, the park bloomed in the spring of 1997.
While privately-owned public parks are fairly rare, in Northern Liberties they are the norm. The impetus for Liberty Lands arose from the example of privately owned green space open to the public throughout the neighborhood in the 1980s and 90s, most significantly the green strip of the 800 block of Orkney Street cultivated by neighbors Mike Anderson and Mitch Deighan. The core of this strip is now Orkney Park, permanently preserved through the Neighborhood Gardens Trust (which also preserves Seedy Acres and Spooky Gardens in the community). If Orkney Park is the grandfather of Liberty Lands, its child is Orianna Hill Park, which was preserved by a community Board inspired by the success of Liberty Lands.
The first year of Liberty Lands saw the planting of 60 trees and establishment of the community gardens. These plantings solidified the basic plan of the park that remains to this day: a large central open area bordered by allies of shade trees, with a council circle of flowering crabapples and small public gardens throughout. The next few years brought many more trees and gardens, the mural, and events large and small. Most importantly, a secondary group of park founders led by Liz Reed completed the Playground in the Park project: designing, fundraising for, and building the park's five play structures in a few short years. The playground cemented Liberty Lands as a major asset of our revitalizing community. In 1998, the City of Philadelphia recognized the importance of the park to the neighborhood and city and officially forgave the liens on the property: Liberty Lands is owned free and clear by the neighborhood that built and loves it.
Now the established heart of Northern Liberties, Liberty Lands is a place people come to learn: the park is a nationally recognized demonstration project for reuse of industrial sites, innovative management and reuse of stormwater runoff, and community organizing. Local schools and daycares structure lessons around the park's natural assets and users young and old learn about nature on a daily basis. Liberty Lands is a place neighbors come to work together: regular workdays give residents old and new a chance to be part of building and improving our park, and a community-based management structure gives people the opportunity to participate in the many aspects of running a public space.