FAIRMOUNT PARK’S LEMON HILL MANSION

COMES INTO VIEW

Fairmount Park Executive Director Mark Focht is pleased to announce the beginning of construction on the Lemon Hill Viewshed Restoration project in East Fairmount Park. This project is being managed by the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust with funding from Mr. H.F. Gerry Lenfest, Schuylkill River Heritage Area and Fairmount Park. “This project reestablishes the historic view of beautiful Lemon Hill mansion and improves safety for park visitors” said Executive Director Focht. Lucy Strackhouse, the Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust noted, “The Trust is very excited to begin the viewshed restoration which will revitalize this area of Fairmount Park and encourage pedestrians to venture up the Sedgeley Steps to visit Historic Lemon Hill Mansion”.

WHO: Funding: Mr. H.F. Gerry Lenfest, Schuylkill River Heritage Area, Fairmount Park.

Sponsors: Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust, The Friends of Lemon Hill, The Colonial Dames of America Chapter II

WHAT: Lemon Hill Viewshed Restoration: Project elements include the removal of dead, dangerous and invasive trees, plantings of native shrubs and a meadow on the hillside and restoration of the upper Lemon Hill lawn areas where the former Lemon Hill Greenhouse was located.

WHEN: January – June 2007

WHERE: The hillside between Kelly Drive and Lemon Hill, opposite Boathouse Row.

WHY: Overgrown vegetation has obscured the once grand views of historic Lemon Hill Mansion from Kelly Drive and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Once seen as an attraction resting at the top of the hill by travelers coming from Center City, it is the goal of this project to allow this historic landmark to again be enjoyed from afar.

In the 18th Century, mansions were built above the Schuylkill River to take advantage of the views and breezes. By 1801, the earlier “Hills” mansion was transformed into the Lemon Hill Greenhouse and the Lemon Hill Mansion was established. Throughout the 19^th and well into the 20^th Century, Lemon Hill was a prominent feature of Fairmount Park. In 1926 Fiske Kimball, the first Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, chose to live in Lemon Hill partly due to its visual connection with the Museum.

The viewshed restoration project will enhance tourism by providing a pleasant experience for sightseeing visitors and enhancing safety and access by clearing paths currently obscured by overgrown vegetation.

__________________________________________

www.FairmountPark.org

-END-