Volunteers Beautify West Philadelphia's 52nd Street Corridor Just In Time For Holidays
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An effort is underway to beautify a business district in West Philadelphia just in time for the holidays. The 52nd Street corridor has been in need of revitalization, and on Tuesday, some stepped up to the plate to make it happen.
Volunteers from Wells Fargo, along with local tradespeople, rolled up their sleeves and installed holiday lights along the corridor.
They also replaced windows, painted buildings and did a general cleanup of the area.
It's not just the pandemic that's been tough on the corridor.
Businesses there were damaged last year in protests over racial injustice. Some were the target of looters.
Overall, Tuesday's efforts are seen as a way to inject hope into the neighborhood.
It's seen hard times, and many who call the area home are struggling to make ends meet.
"We have hoped and prayed in this neighborhood, business district, for a long time to attract investment capital that will help restore and transform this community," Della Clark, president of The Enterprise Center, said. "It is about a 100-year old commercial corridor, and it has been impacted by the perception of poverty, racial injustice, the pandemic, the death of George Floyd and then most recently, Walter Wallace's death. We're so pleased that this is not the end, but a beginning of the transformation of 52nd Street."
100% of the workers Tuesday were from minority-owned, small businesses located in West Philadelphia.