Tony Sorrentino CEO of the Fairmount Park Conservancy

Tony Sorrentino, CEO of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, discussed Philadelphia’ s great park system and the role his agency plays in maintaining it. He gave the history of Fairmount Parks and the city’s bold move to own the properties along the Schuylkill River to promote the health and well-being of the neighborhoods, continuing the plan of William Penn when he first designed the city. He notes that we are all within 10 minutes of green space and the parks offer boating, birding, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and even salsa dancing.   He explained the ways they are celebrating Earth Month including launching a major tree planting initiative which will add 845 trees to the canopy, reducing heat, improving quality of life and increasing property values. We moved on to the May Love Your Park week – May 9 – 17 – which is already accepting volunteers to help clean and maintain the parks and the river.  He reviewed the many opportunities offered by the parks, from birding and planting to the 6 week FIFA fan fest at Lemon Hill,  all listed at MyPhillyPark.org. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.