Civic Initiatives

Through Pew’s civic initiatives, we partner with local institutions on projects that will improve Philadelphia’s economic prospects and quality of life, placing emphasis on preserving and highlighting the city’s unique history and civic treasures.

Pew’s funding for major projects has included the revitalization of Independence Mall; enhancements to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a major cultural corridor; the creation and extension of the Schuylkill River Trail and boardwalk system, which offers over 30 miles of outdoor recreational paths; support for a variety of museums and other attractions; and helping to establish Visit Philadelphia as one of our many efforts to help build the region’s tourist economy.

A Look at Some of Pew’s Civic Initiatives in Philadelphia

Over the years, Pew has partnered with city and state officials, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Center City District, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and the Knight and William Penn foundations to support projects that have transformed public spaces and institutions along the parkway, also known as Museum Mile. These initiatives have included extensive landscape and roadway enhancements, the renovation of Sister Cities Park, and funding for a number of key institutions, such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, The Franklin Institute, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

B. Krist Visit Philadelphia

Over the past three decades, Pew has supported the Free Library of Philadelphia—most recently, in June 2016, the Parkway Central Library branch’s $35 million capital campaign, its first major renovation since it opened in 1927. Completed in spring 2019, the project included the construction of an 8,000-square-foot flexible community space that can host a wide range of programs and exhibits; a new business resource and innovation center designed to support Philadelphia’s entrepreneurs, small-business owners, nonprofits, and job seekers; and a 4,000-square-foot teen center with study areas, casual seating, and a creative studio. Pew previously provided a grant to the Free Library in 2013 toward its merger with the Rosenbach Museum and Library, a partnership that has created one of the world’s greatest collections of rare books and manuscripts.

Jeffrey Totaro Free Library of Philadelphia

Pew was an early supporter of the Schuylkill River Trail’s development, including helping to establish the Schuylkill River Development Corp. in 1992. The trail has since become a major amenity for both city residents and visitors, thousands of whom run, walk, and bike on the trail daily. In 2015, it was named the Best Urban Trail in America in USA Today’s “10 Best Readers’ Choice” poll. Most recently, in June 2014, Pew awarded funding to extend the trail from South to Christian streets and to create a new segment on the western bank of the Schuylkill known as Bartram’s Mile.

The Pew Charitable Trusts

For more than a decade, beginning in the mid-1990s, Pew collaborated with the city, the state, and other partners on the $300 million project to redevelop Independence Mall, the focal point of Philadelphia’s historic district. Pew invested to help establish and construct the Independence Visitor Center, a new Liberty Bell Pavilion (pictured), the National Constitution Center, and the public green space that connects them all, giving the mall its campuslike feel. Additional Pew investments in the district have included grants to help renovate the Benjamin Franklin Museum in 2007, to renovate the Independence Visitor Center in 2017, and to establish a permanent exhibit at the Constitution Center, also in 2017, on the Civil War and Reconstruction era’s impact on the U.S. Constitution.

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Pew partnered with the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia in 1996 to create Visit Philadelphia, originally called the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., to help the region become a successful tourist destination by marketing its unique history, culture, and location. Since then, visits to the city have increased from 27 million to 45 million in 2018.

Peter Tobia