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Learn more about Ardmore in these pages:
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The Ardmore Initiative
56 E. Lancaster Avenue
Ardmore, Pennsylvania 19003
Phone: 610-645-0540
Fax: 610-645-0662
E-mail Us Now
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What year was Ardmore founded?
1873
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 Community Blog
3/19/2008
Supporting Carl Dranoff
I’m Mike Silver, Chair of the Ardmore Initiative – The Business District Authority representing over 200 businesses and building owners in Ardmore.
On behalf of our organization, I would like to thank Carl Dranoff, BET & Strategic Realty for their willingness to re-engage in this Revitalization project & for their responsiveness to the input from the Board of Commissioners, Township staff & our community. While we believe that all 3 of the developers have offered exciting & feasible proposals, we encourage you to select Carl Dranoff’s firm. And we make this recommendation after our board met for more than four hours over the last few days, listened to presentations from several of the developers, and voted unanimously to lend our support to this organization. We believe Mr. Dranoff to be a man of his word, who has the experience, skills & staff necessary to bring this project to successful completion in a timely manner. While he has thoughtfully modified his plans in scale & architecture in response to community input, he has always been quite clear about what it will take to deliver a project that is “doable”, that will revitalize all of Ardmore, and that will provide the necessary connections with Suburban Square, while improving the downtown commercial district.
We hope and anticipate that Carl will bring ALL of his resources, not only to new construction, new retail and new residences, but also assist the existing businesses & building owners in the commercial district, in order to remain competitive & viable. We trust that he will support new & existing retail in Ardmore in the same creative manner with which he has supported entrepreneurs in his other projects. We also hope that he will remain open to, & continue to explore, the idea of a community/performing arts center, as he has done with the World Café Live & the Suzanne Roberts Theatres. We’re asking a lot of you, Carl, and are optimistic that you will deliver as promised. We look forward to partnering with you in the creation of One, revitalized Ardmore.
Thank you.
2/13/2008
OpEd Piece by Christine Vilardo
Christine Vilardo
Executive Director
The Ardmore Initiative
610-645-0540
Christine@theardmoreinitiative.org
Someone once said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” While to some it may appear that Ardmore’s Revitalization is still a thousand miles away, we here at The Ardmore Initiative believe it has already begun, and we’d like to recognize the many single steps that have already been taken by so many to move Ardmore forward.
We acknowledge and welcome the many new businesses which have moved in or signed leases and credit must go to these entrepreneurs, both large & small for their faith in Ardmore.
In 2007, Ardmore welcomed Styche (contemporary women’s clothing), Matus Windows, Auspicious (Chinese & Asian cuisine), Foot Solutions, Main Line Smoothie, Cookie Cutters (haircuts for kids), Philadelphia Eyeglass Labs, CoCo Blu Salon, Salon True, Blooming Nails & Princess Nails. These new businesses are all contributing to the many steps needed to bring Ardmore closer to its tipping point. Equally exciting, 2008 will see the arrival of Nurture (a children’s accessory store), Gould’s (custom framing & eclectic gifts), Denim House Blues, Susquehanna Bank, and a new restaurant by the owner of Brownie’s. Credit must go to Lower Merion Township’s Retail Recruiter, Heidi Tirjan, and to those forward thinking realtors and property owners who work hard to place appropriate tenants in their buildings.
We also applaud those property and business owners who invested over $1,400,000 in property improvements in 2007. Credit must go to Eric Persson, Lower Merion Township’s Economic Development Specialist, for his efforts in securing $120,000 in County funds for facade improvements. Credit and congratulations go to Pennywise Thrift Shop, Jr. League Thrift Shop, Human Zoom, and Merrick Apothecary for taking advantage of these grant funds to redo their facades. Additionally, The Ardmore Initiative administers a façade grant fund of $50,000 from Pa. Department of Community & Economic Development and has so far awarded grants to Orion Construction, Vito Cilluffo, Ardmore Eye Care, Janice Martin, and Giannini Jewelers. We thank those business owners who participated in Ardmore Bright, our holiday building lights project, in Ardmore Swings!, our annual golf outing, and in Ardmore Blossoms, our downtown beautification project.
Kudos must go to Sherry Tillman and the merchants & volunteers who work in “wind & snow & sleet & hail” to deliver arts & culture monthly via First Friday Main Line.
Praise to the business and community groups who have learned to respect each other’s differences and to disagree respectfully and who are committed to finding points not of contention but of consensus. Thanks go to Ardmore Commissioner Cheryl Gelber for the creation of a forum where members of the business & residential communities can meet to learn & understand each other’s needs & concerns. Thanks go to the many intelligent, thoughtful and open-minded members of the Township’s AdHoc Revitalization committee who are, to a person, committed to effective change in Ardmore.
It is an exciting time in Ardmore, and renewal is in the air. The Ardmore Initiative is committed to positive change. Check out our new web site, www.theardmoreinitiative.org to see what’s coming up in 2008 and please feel free to contact us for ways you can get involved.
We invite all Ardmore stakeholders to dust off their walking shoes and keep on steppin!
12/1/2007
Welcome to Ardmore, Pennsylvania!
We are a community of approximately 13,000 residents, located on the Main Line, west of Philadelphia. Our historic downtown, one of the largest business districts in our area, contains a delightful mix of restaurants and small specialty shops, including antique and gift shops. Historic Ardmore is adjacent to Suburban Square, one of America's oldest shopping centers.
The Ardmore Initiative is a business district authority responsible for physical improvements and economic development in downtown Ardmore. Over the years, the Ardmore Initiative has worked with Lower Merion Township and local community organizations to improve the appearance of downtown Ardmore and ensure a vibrant mix of businesses in its historic district.
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