Our History
The NLNA is a civic association and 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. Founded in 1978, the NLNA has been in operation for more than 30 years. The NLNA represents approximately 6,000 men, women and children, and more than 100 businesses, who call the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia home.
The Community Center’s Evolution
In 2007, the NLNA acquired a derelict building located at 700 N. Third St, with the intention of renovating it into a community center, with two rental apartments above.
The renovation of the existing three-story corner building was completed in 2008. In 2012, the renovation of a one-story garage to the north into a commercial space was completed. The community center yard was completed in 2016.
Liberty Lands
Liberty Lands park is a nationally recognized demonstration project for reuse of industrial sites, innovative management and reuse of stormwater runoff, and community organizing.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.