First birthdays are a time of great reflection and planning, and the initial anniversary of a revival effort for North Broad Street, realized this past June, was met with the expected looking back and planning forward.

North Broad Renaissance (NBR) released its report “The State of North Broad 2016” on December 15th at a presentation for approximately 200 of NBR’s supporters at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

A celebration as much as a release party, all who entered the hall were greeted like arriving celebrities with cheers and applause from two dozen volunteers in orange North Broad Renaissance T-shirts.

Shalimar Thomas, NBR’s executive director, said City Council President Darrell Clarke helped get the organization started out of his concern for development within the North Broad corridor and to make sure the surrounding community were aware of planned improvements and initiatives.

According to NBR’s website, the organization is a Pennsylvania non-profit incorporated exclusively for the charitable and educational purposes. The organization aims to promote community economic development, historic preservation, and arts and culture along the North Broad corridor of Philadelphia, and its surrounding community. NBR’s focus is to revitalize real estate, create opportunities, and improve the economic power and overall quality of life along North Broad Street from City Hall to Germantown Avenue.

Right now, Thomas said, NBR’s main efforts are marketing the ideas to those affected by the plan and gathering and responding to feedback with the communities affected by the project. Those developments include active and proposed construction and rehabilitation projects, and efforts, such as a greening initiative, to improve the quality of life from City Hall to Germantown Ave.

The 27-page report, which is also NBR’s Five-year Strategic Plan for 2020, details current status and plans for the corridor in four areas of strategic focus: Cleanliness and Safety, Maintenance and Landscaping, Marketing and Communications and Economic Development. They paint a picture of the strip that holds promise and highlights current and proposed developments and initiatives that point to an even brighter future.

Those developments include adaptations of historic properties to modern uses with the double benefit of decreasing the number of abandoned buildings while conserving neighborhood resources.

Notable examples are the recent conversion of the Divine Lorraine Hotel at Fairmount Ave into luxury apartments and the Mumford Building, just south and across the street from the Lorraine, into 256 apartments.

Another development, a 17-story, 180-unit apartment building, has been proposed near the Freedom Theater, just south of Master Street. Just north of Erie Avenue, a proposed renovation of the Beury Building will include seven floors of senior housing and four floors of non-profit office space.

Kenneth Scott, Chairman of NBR’s board of directors, said the path of any steps to highlight North Broad Street should lead not only to bringing new development to the area, but to preserving and highlighting the good that is already there as well and, ultimately, bringing them together. For, while new commercial growth is vital , the theaters and concert halls that once drew people to the corridor were too.

“North Broad is about business, but it is also about entertainment,” Scott said.

Addressing the group, Councilman Clarke lamented that people talk about North Broad Street in negative terms.

“They don’t know the real history of North Broad,” he said. “It was a happening place.” He pointed to bygone North Broad attractions such as the Blue Horizon boxing venue at Master Street and the Uptown Theater near Dauphin Street. “We’re gonna be strong, we’re gonna be vigilant and make sure Broad Street comes back.”

“We have a long way to go,” he also cautioned. “We have challenges, we have work to do… North Broad will look like what it was back in the day.”

Clarke said public monies would become available for NBR’s efforts. “The reality is the Avenue of the Arts [and new development in West Philadelphia] didn’t happen without a lot of support,” he said. “It was organization that pulled it all together.”

He said the city would help with start-up money to make sure the project gets off the ground. “I look forward to working with you to take this to the next level,” Clarke said. “I am excited about…the level of commitment and participation I m seeing here tonight.”

But the evening was about more than reflection and planning. Donations to help reach the goal of $7.5 million needed by 2020 were both accepted and pledged. Doug Smith of Verizon presented a check from the company for $1,000.

“We’re very thrilled to be a sponsor,” he said. “We look forward to partnering with you this year, next year and [beyond]. We can create a cleaner, safer North Broad Street.”

Shalimar Thomas asked those in attendance ext a pledge amount on their cell phones to a number she provided. Their responses were received by a computer in the room and were nearly immediately projected on a screen. A graphic resembling fluid rising in a thermometer’s tube crept up steadily as pledges came in. At the end of the night, $1,450 had been pledged.