PHILADELPHIA – A group of engagement experts hired by the City of Philadelphia will host a virtual event on Thursday, December 8^th at 5:30 P.M. They will share what they learned from six months of studying public sentiment regarding the Roundhouse and its future. This is the final public event of the engagement process.

The Roundhouse, officially called the Philadelphia Police Administration Building, is no longer used by the Philadelphia Police. The City plans to sell it. To prepare for the sale, the City pursued a community engagement process to better understand public sentiment around the site.

The consultant team, co-led by Connect the Dots and Amber Art and Design, asked people across the city about they think should happen to the old police headquarters.

“We needed to ask people, especially communities impacted by the Roundhouse, what this place means to them,” said Martha Cross, AICP, Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning for the Department of Planning and Development. “It’s about how this meaning should inform the future use of this site and we are excited to share back what has been learned so far.”

The team facilitated a multi-layer engagement process that involved months of interviews, focus groups, multimedia, and arts-based engagement. The responses they gathered will help the City guide the terms of sale for the building.

In this webinar, engagement team members and representatives from the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Planning and Development summarize survey results and provide an analysis of the preliminary results of their engagement. There will also be opportunities for attendees of the webinar to give their own feedback.

Part of the event will also introduce the concept of “meaningful placemaking.” The concept of meaningful placemaking strongly informed the engagement process.

Mindy Fullilove, MD, author of Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, And What We Can Do About It (New Village Press, 2016), is a member of the consultant team and will lead the conversation. She will be joined by architect and professor Dan Rothschild, FAIA.

Event Details

Date: Thursday, December 8th

Time: 5:30-6:30 P.M.

Format: Zoom webinar

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c9CyNB0-QHyZegIZ-sZf_Q

Chinese and Spanish Interpretation: To request language support, send an email to planning@phila.gov

About the Department of Planning and Development

The Department of Planning and Development works in collaboration with communities to promote, plan, preserve, and develop successful neighborhoods for all.

Reaching these goals requires city agencies to work together with residents, businesses, developers, advocates, funders, and each other. Planning and Development has a team of agencies that do just that. Among the department’s agencies is the Philadelphia City Planning Commission which bridges the gap between the public and the government.

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission and its staff guide investment and growth in Philadelphia.

About Connect the Dots Insights

Connect the Dots is a stakeholder and community engagement firm based in Philadelphia that brings together community and public sector partners to develop innovative and actionable solutions for our towns and cities.

We work alongside partners to reimagine the future of our cities and towns by crafting creative and iterative engagement processes that foster participation, build trust, and amplify voices historically underrepresented.

About Amber Art

Amber Art and Design cultivates public spaces that advocate for equitable growth by facilitating dynamic interactions between artists, communities, institutions, and movements.

Amber Art’s public projects, exhibitions, and educational activities engage thousands of people, from hundreds of communities, both across the United States and internationally. Art can create a collaborative and inclusive platform for critical conversations by and for community voices.