Here’s an idea we should float!

Let’s talk about the Delaware River. We’ve all opened our textbooks to pictures of Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas night to attack the British. As the longest free-flowing river in the Eastern United States, the Delaware River is simply majestic.
During the summer months, you can even enjoy ferry rides between Philly and New Jersey, ice cream and strolls beside the river on Spruce Street harbor, as well as fireworks over its shimmering surface on the 4th of July. In fact, some of my fondest memories were sailing the Delaware River with my Father on his sailboat “Peace of Mind.” Heck, we even used to fish in the ol’ Del… no, wait… that was the Schuylkill River. Oh yeah, there’s another river in Philly, isn’t there? The Schuylkill River.
For the longest time, the Schuylkill has kind’ve been the Delaware’s not-so-cool kid sister. Less glamorous and lacking the tales of revered generals crossing it to fight for America’s freedom. But, if you’re from Southwest Philadelphia, you may have known about one of the coolest spots along the Schuylkill, Bartram’s Garden, for some time now.
Bartram’s Garden offers nature trails, historic tours, riverfront activities like free boating, fishing, family educational programs, gardening workshops, art installations, seasonal festivals, and more. And thanks to some very innovative people like Judy Hellman, Director of Special Projects at Mural Arts Philadelphia; Peter Brennan, Associate Vice President at Urban Engineers; Caroline Winchel, Director of Development and Communications at Bartram’s Garden; and J. Meejin Yoon AIA, FAAR, Höweler + Yoon, there will soon be more reasons to spend time on the Schuylkill.
On December 13, 2024, Urban Engineers broke ground in the first step to installing the FloatLab. What is FloatLab, you ask? “So FloatLab is an extraordinary partnership project between Bartram’s Garden and Mural Arts that’s more than 10 years in the making, and we’ve just started on-site construction,” said Judy. “It’s world-class public art right here in Southwest Philadelphia…a place for river recreation and building a relationship with the river,” added Caroline. There will be opportunities for artist residencies as well as classes and workshops. “The residency program will allow artists to create work in response to FloatLab, fostering a deeper connection to the river and community.”
The 75-foot-wide inhabitable green (Go Birds!) circular ring designed by artist J. Meejin Yoon will allow visitors to experience the Schuylkill River from a unique perspective with functionality including recreation, education, art, and performance space. Bringing this to life will be no easy task–but the brilliant minds at Urban Engineers are up to the challenge, “One of the big challenges here is shallow bedrock…but we’ve been testing and refining the process to ensure stability,” said Peter Brennen. “It’s very exciting that it’s finally coming to fruition!” he added. “I told my daughter this morning that I was going to be out at Bartram’s Garden driving piles. She was like, Oh, really!? Can I go see it? I was like, Yeah! You will be able to go see this one!” With special thanks given to the William Penn Foundation, City of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, Councilwoman Jamie Gauthier, Senator Anthony Williams, Speaker Joanna McClinton, Representative Regina Young, Representative Jordan Harris, and Senator Vince Hughes by those I spoke to, FloatLab promises to be yet another great addition to the cultural landscape in Philadelphia, this time on the Schuylkill River. So sorry, Delaware River, score one for the underdog. And we all know one thing about Philly… we love an underdog.