Kai Lu and Edward Mendez had expected to spend many years in the spacious Media home, enjoying the easy access to Center City by SEPTA Regional Rail, the good schools for their two-year-old son and the second on the way, and its aura of history.
But in the words of Lu, who is in data analytics for a major communications company, “life intervened.”
Mendez landed his dream job as a data analyst for the Miami Marlins baseball team, and the couple are headed to Florida after two years in the house.
The living room. The home has four working fireplaces.
The five-bedroom, 4½-bathroom home was once the general store of Providence Village, and Lu says she doesn’t know when the changeover came.
The earliest part of the house dates to the 18th century, with some 19th-century additions.
The 4,334-square-foot house has three floors of living space plus an unfinished basement, and four working fireplaces powered by electric inserts.
Front hall
The home has its original hardwood floors and a two-zone thermostat system with central air and forced heat.
The newly renovated kitchen has quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, gas cooking, a separate coffee bar and pantry area, and an adjacent sunroom.
The formal dining room has built-in shelves and a fireplace.
The kitchen, which includes a dining area.
The primary bedroom and another bedroom are on the second floor, along with a laundry room.
The third floor has three additional bedrooms — one of which serves as an office — two full bathrooms, and a full-sized cedar closet.
The formal dining room has built-in shelves.
Updates by the current owners include partial roof replacement, resurfacing and staining the hardwood floors, new flooring in the kitchen, exterior stone repointing, custom window treatments, and a new sewer line.
The house is in the Rose Tree Media School District.
It is listed by Amanda Terranova and Adam Baldwin of Compass Realty for $785,000.
Muhammad Ali plays with his 3-year-old daughter Maryum at his home in Cherry Hill, N.J., on Monday, June 14, 1971.
Sitting on 1.5 acres, the six-bedroom, five-bathroom estate features a kitchen with a large center island and custom cabinetry, a sun-filled greenhouse room, a spacious living area, and an in-ground pool and hot tub, with adjacent basketball and tennis courts. On the lower level of the home is a personal gym and a 12-foot wet bar.
Muhammad Ali, who was defeated by heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, leans back in a reclining chair in his new home in Cherry Hill, N.J., March 10, 1971, as he answered Frazier’s promise to fight Ali again. “Good, we got a rematch, maybe in seven months, might be sooner,” Ali said.
The Champion bought the home for $103,000 in 1971. He moved to Chicago a few years later, according to the New York Times, after his friend, Camden power broker Major Coxson, was shot and killed in his home down the road from Ali’s. A major franchisee of local McDonald’s bought the home from Ali for $175,000.
The backyard and pool area of 1121 Winding Dr. in Cherry Hill, the former home of prizefighter Muhammad Ali from 1970 to 1973. It’s now up for sale for $1.9 million in 2026.
The current owners, who purchased the Cherry Hill homein 2014, traded in the 1970s decor and design for a modern look, converting Ali’s koi pond intoacenterpiece courtyard and fire pit. However, the home retains Ali’s prayer room, which can be found in the lower level, lined with bookshelves.
The main draw is the ample entertainment spaces, includingthe basement bar.
The downstairs bar area at 1121 Winding Dr. in Cherry Hill, the former home of Muhammad Ali from 1970 to 1973. It’s now up for sale for $1.9 million in 2026.
“There’s a spiral staircase from the main level to downstairs and you walk right into this large bar area, with tables, chairs, and a large TV setup,” Nicholas Alvini of Keller Williams said. “It really is a great entertaining house.”
The kitchen, including a large island, at 1121 Winding Dr. in Cherry Hill, the former home of prizefighter Muhammad Ali from 1970 to 1973. It’s now up for sale for $1.9 million.
In recent years, the home has been used for short-term rentals, and“wild parties” led police to visit the home 97 timesbetween 2018 and 2019, according to an Inquirer report. In response, Cherry Hill township councilalmost adopted a ban on Airbnb rentals before eventually tabling the idea after community members spoke against it.
As word spread Friday that upscale grocery Di Bruno Bros. would shutter three of its five grocery stores in the coming weeks, many customers mourned the imminent loss but added they were unsurprised, citing a noticeable change in quality over the last few years.
Xavier Hayden, a lawyer who lives in Narberth, said he stopped shopping at Di Bruno’s a few years ago when he noticed changes in the rolls, the bread, and other items that gave Di Bruno’s its strong reputation. “The quality went down, the taste went down,” Hayden said. “Why am I going to pay upmarket prices for a midmarket product?”
Hayden remembers childhood trips to the Italian Market to visit the original Di Bruno Bros., which will remain open, along with its bottle shop and the store at 18th and Chestnut Streets in Rittenhouse. Its Ardmore store will close Feb. 4, while the location in Wayne as well as the shop at the Franklin Residences at Ninth and Chestnut Streets will close Feb. 11.
Di Bruno’s, established in South Philadelphia in 1939, had become a major player on the Main Line grocery scene since opening at the Ardmore Farmers Market in 2011 and in Wayne’s Strafford Shopping Center in 2021 to complement its two stores in Center City.
Now, the company is pulling back to focus on the Italian Market and Rittenhouse locations and its online business.
The original Di Bruno Bros. location at 930 S. Ninth St. is one of two stores that will remain.
The closings will affect 59 employees, said Sandy Brown, executive vice president of Di Bruno’s parent company, Brown’s Super Stores. She said the workers have been offered new jobs with the other Brown’s stores in the area, including 10 ShopRites and two Fresh Grocer locations.
On social media, some Di Bruno’s patrons attributed a change in the store’s offerings to Brown’s, which bought an ownership stake in the company in early 2024 from the Mignucci family, which had led Di Bruno’s expansion. (It’s a complex arrangement; while Brown’s owns the stores, the Di Bruno’s brand and its packaged-product portfolio were later acquired by Wakefern Food Corp., a New Jersey-based supermarket cooperative that includes the Brown’s stores.)
In an email exchange Friday, Sandy Brown pushed back on the Brown’s company’s role in the closures, saying Di Bruno’s was “very distressed” when her group invested. “We were the only interested party due to the numerous challenges they had,” she said. While many commenters online are blaming her company for the closings, Brown said, “I don’t think they realize the status of the brand at the time of transition.”
Brown said the company had worked to bring back business that was lost prior to the purchase, “but that did not occur.” She added that her company had a plan to sustain Di Bruno’s but declined to share it at this time.
Main Line customers said they were sad to see Di Bruno’s retrenchment from the suburbs, though several said the stores had slipped in recent years.
“It used to be spectacular, delicious … extra special,” said Dana Reisbord, a professor who lives in Ardmore. Reisbord said she used to stop into Di Bruno for a chicken parmesan sandwich and other goodies. Now, she’ll venture into the city if she’s really craving Italian fare. Di Bruno’s fare is too expensive to justify, she said, having “lost that special touch.”
Diane Fanelli, a retiree who lives in Overbrook, visits the Ardmore Farmers Market Di Bruno’s at Suburban Square a few times a month. She said she would be sad to see the store go. Although she did notice a drop-off in quality, she said it wasn’t significant enough to send her shopping elsewhere.
“Their food is expensive. It’s very good, but it’s expensive, and everybody’s watching their budget,” said Mike Manley, a cartoonist from Upper Darby who used to patronize the Ardmore store when he was in town for doctors’ appointments.
It wasn’t necessarily the high-end products that kept Manley coming back. It was the customer service. He liked chatting with the cheesemongers and enjoying samples. Di Bruno’s reminded Manley of his old days in West Philadelphia, when he would regularly patronize Koch’s Deli, known for friendly faces behind the counter.
“That gains you loyal customers, but I don’t know if corporate appreciates that,” he said. (The stores had lost some longtime employees since the Brown’s Super Store purchase.)
Earlier this week, Di Bruno notified two landlords that they would be shutting down, said Douglas Green, a principal at MSC, who handles real estate for Kimco Realty Corp. (owner of Suburban Square) and Korman Communities (owner of the Franklin). A representative of Equity Retail Brokers, which leases at Wayne’s Strafford Shopping Center, declined to comment.
“Operations have not been what they were when the Mignucci family owned the business, and this outcome shouldn’t be a great surprise to most people,” Green said. “It’s a sad day for a very proud Philadelphia brand.”
He suggested that Di Bruno had expanded into too much space at Suburban Square “and affected [Kimco’s] ability to diversely merchandise the farmers market. It felt like they spread themselves too thin, and the quality suffered.”
Speaking specifically of the Franklin and Suburban Square locations, Green said both locations are in areas with “pent-up demand and limited supply, and there should be tremendous interest.” He said Kimco, with MSC, wants to “re-merchandise” the farmers market and Di Bruno’s spaces.
“This gives us a bit of a blank canvas,” Green said. “There are cuisine types not currently represented that we’re excited about bringing to the project. Hopefully, the end of this chapter opens the door to new concepts.”
Three of the five Di Bruno Bros. locations will close in the coming weeks, the specialty grocery chain’s owner confirmed to The Inquirer.
Maureen Gillespie, a spokesperson for Wakefern Food Corp., the New Jersey-based supermarket cooperative that acquired the Di Bruno’s brand in 2024, said closing dates were not available.
Employees at the Ardmore Farmer’s Market location, which opened in 2011 at Suburban Square, said they were told that its last day would be Feb. 4. Staff at the locations in Wayne, which opened in 2021 in Strafford Shopping Center, and at the Franklin Residences on Ninth Street in Center City, which opened in 2013, said they were notified Wednesday that those stores would shut down Feb. 11.
Di Bruno’s original location on Ninth Street in South Philadelphia and the two-level store at 18th and Chestnut Streets will remain.
In a statement, Gillespie said the company was “refocusing” Di Bruno’s market strategy on “the heart of the brand”: its Italian Market and Rittenhouse locations and “growing online business.” Concentrating on the two flagship stores and online business will be “a positive reset that allows us to preserve and elevate the in‑store tradition while growing the brand’s reach in meaningful new ways,” Gillespie said.
Jobs will be offered to every retail employee, said a Sandy Brown, executive vice president of Di Bruno’s parent company, Brown’s Super Stores, the regional grocery chain founded by her husband. The news follows this week’s announcement that Amazon Fresh stores would close, putting about 1,000 people out of work at the six Philadelphia-area stores.
The three affected stores share the same core Di Bruno’s DNA: cheese, charcuterie, and specialty groceries. The Ardmore Farmer’s Market location is the most “grab-and-go”: a compact counter where bagels and schmear, coffee, and quick bites sit alongside the cheese-and-cured-meat staples. Wayne is more of a full-on neighborhood market with the familiar cheese and charcuterie counters plus a cafe, Roman-style pizza, and an on-site bar for wines and small plates. The outpost at the Franklin, 834 Chestnut St., is the most Center City-practical and office-friendly. It has a coffee bar, sandwich shop, and petite bottle shop — suitable for lunch runs, last-minute gifts, and commuter provisions.
The five Di Bruno’s stores were acquired in April 2024 by corporate entities controlled by Brown’s Super Stores. Six months later, Wakefern acquired the Di Bruno’s trademark and branded products.
At the time, Wakefern said it expected to grow the Di Bruno brand and take it “to the next level.” In December 2024, Brown’s Super Stores said it planned to open an additional 12 to 15 Di Bruno stores in the coming decade.
Wine and cheese at Di Bruno Bros. in South Philadelphia.
The 2024 acquisition of Di Bruno Bros. turned heads in the grocery world, as the Brown family supermarkets like ShopRite and the Fresh Grocer operate in a considerably different fashion than Di Bruno’s specialty model.
Italian immigrant brothers Danny and Joe Di Bruno opened the first Di Bruno’s store in Philadelphia’s Italian Market in 1939. The grandsons and nephews of the founders took over in 1990 and grew the brand. In 2005, the cousins opened the first store outside South Philadelphia at 18th and Chestnut Streets.
Clarification:A comment from Sandy Brown, executive vice president of Brown’s Super Stores, was added to this article after publication to explain that affected Di Bruno’s employees would be offered other jobs.
Joe Walsh, 75, of West Chester, member of four athletic Halls of Fame, longtime high school and college football coach, retired health and physical education teacher at West Chester Henderson High School, mentor, and neighbor extraordinaire, died Tuesday, Jan. 27, of cancer at his home.
Mr. Walsh grew up in the Farmbrook section of Levittown, Bucks County, and played football at the old Woodrow Wilson High School and what is now West Chester University. He got a job as a health and physical education teacher and assistant football coach at Henderson in 1972 and spent the next five decades coaching thousands of high school and college athletes, teaching thousands of high school students, and mentoring hundreds of friends and colleagues.
He coached football, wrestling, lacrosse, and tennis at Henderson, and his football teams at Henderson and Sun Valley High School combined to win four league championships. He coached in 13 all-star football games and was named the Chester County area football coach of the year four times, the Ches-Mont League coach of the year three times, and the Del-Val League coach of the year once.
In 1992, an Inquirer reporter asked him to describe himself. “I am an easygoing, volatile kind of coach,” he said with a big chuckle, the reporter wrote. “Actually,” he said, “I think I’m a player’s coach. I think my rapport with my players is my strong point.”
Mr. Walsh (center) had many occasions to celebrate with family and friends on the football field.
Former colleagues, players, and friends said in online tributes that Mr. Walsh was “an inspiration,” “a great coach,” and “a positive example for many, many young people.” On Threads, his brother, Russ, called him a “Hall of Fame human being.”
“He was always there,” said John Lunardi, assistant principal at Henderson, who played quarterback for Mr. Walsh and served later as his assistant coach, “a steady, reliable role model, somebody who could be counted on no matter what.”
In 20 years as head football coach at Henderson, from 1992 to 2011, Mr. Walsh’s teams won 131 games, lost 104, and captured three Ches-Mont League championships. From 1988 to 1991, he went 17-25 as head coach at Sun Valley and won the 1990 Del-Val League championship.
His 2007 team at Henderson went 12-2, won the Ches-Mont title, and made it to the district championship game. “Our motto,” he told The Inquirer in2004, “is no excuses, just results.”
Mr. Walsh and his Henderson football team were featured in The Inquirer’s 1992 preview section.
In 2025, he was inducted into the Chester County Sports Hall of Fame, and colleagues there noted his “remarkable achievements and contributions to local athletics” in a Facebook tribute. He earned a standing ovation after speaking at the ceremony, and Henderson officials recognized his legacy with a moment of silence at a recent basketball game. They said in a tribute: “Joe Walsh was a Hall of Fame person in every possible way.”
Mr. Walsh taught health and physical education at Henderson from 1972 to 2008. He organized offseason clinics to encourage all students to join sports teams and told The Inquirer in 1992: “I’ve always tried my best to get as many people out and make it enjoyable for them so they stay out.”
He served as board president for the Killinger Football Foundation and cofounded W & W Option Football Camps LLC in 2001. “It wasn’t about the wins and losses for him,” said his wife, Pam. “It was all about the kids, and he was that way in all aspects of his life.”
Mr. Walsh and his wife, Pam, had many adventures together and spent countless afternoons at football games.
Joseph Richard Walsh was born Feb. 5, 1950, in Philadelphia. He lettered in football, wrestling, and track in high school, and graduated from Wilson in 1968.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education at West Chester in 1972 and played center on its two-time championship football team.
He married Sharon Clark, and they had a son, Joe, and a daughter, Kelly. After a divorce, he married Pam Connor in 1978, and they had a daughter, Jen, and lived in Downingtown and then West Whiteland Township since 1985.
Mr. Walsh enjoyed all kinds of fishing and golf. In 2023, he and his wife visited half a dozen college football stadiums on a wild cross-country road trip to Yellowstone National Park.
Mr. Walsh enjoyed time with his children.
They entertained often at home, and his gourmet soups were usually the hit of the party. He doted on his children and grandchildren, and never lost his sense of humor, they said.
He was the best neighbor ever, friends said. He cleared miles of sidewalks and driveways with his snowblower every winter, hosted late-into-the-night firepit parties every summer, and could fix practically anything.
“He was gentle but strong,” his wife said. “He was kind and considerate, and he never badmouthed anybody. He truly was a great man.”
In addition to his wife, children, brother, and former wife, Mr. Walsh is survived by seven grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, sisters Eileen and Ruth, and other relatives.
Mr. Walsh rarely let the big ones get away.
Visitation with the family is to be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5, and from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6, at DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home, 410 N. Church St., West Chester, Pa. 19380. A celebration of his life is to follow Friday at 10:30.
A developer wants to increase the size of its proposed data center on a remediated Superfund site in East Whiteland Township, stoking ire from nearby residents who worry about the increased scope stressing the power grid and driving up costs, along with environmental and health risks.
The facility — which would exceed 1.6 million square feet in the amended plan —would sit on roughly 100 acres at 13 S. Bacton Hill Rd., located along the boundary line for East and West Whiteland Townships, and near U.S. Route 202.
The amended plan, brought before the township’s planning commission Wednesday, would increase the size of the two data center buildings by roughly 61% from what was previously approved.
Other changes in the new plan include:
Scrapping two microwave towers, antenna yards, and ground-mounted cooling towers
Relocating office and loading facilities to face Swedesford Road
Redesigning cooling equipment to use waterless chillers instead of water-consuming cooling towers, reducing water use by about 3 million gallons per day
The applicants are asking the planning commission to approve the modifications because the currently approved plan is outdated, in both technology capacity and what occupants of such centers would need, said Josh Rabina, principal for Sentinel Data Centers, who is working with Green Fig Land LLC on the project.
The planning commission had approved the original plan in 2024, but the project has been underway since at least 2018, when the developer sought zoning changes to OK data center use. After the planning commission’s approval in 2024, Sentinel joined the project, and suggested changes to address water and energy consumption, said Lou Colagreco, the attorney for the applicant.
“They just looked at it with a different set of eyes, and they said, ‘First plan works; this plan probably works better,’” Colagreco told the commission. “It addresses certain concerns that we have heard about regarding data centers.”
But nearly an hour and a half of public comment showed that residents’ concerns weren’t assuaged by the proposed new plan.
“My head’s spinning with what’s going on here. I think you guys are way out over your skis here with what you should be asking, and there’s a lot that appears to me that you don’t even know you should be asking,” said one resident, Dean Prescott.
Across the county — and the region — data center projects have been met with scrutiny from the people who will reside near them. Their opposition clashes with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has been championing data center development, promoting a 10-year plan that includes cutting regulatory “red tape” to make it easier to approve them. The governor’s office also recently announced Amazon would spend $20 billion to develop data centers and other artificial-intelligence campuses across Pennsylvania.
Despite the enthusiasm at the state level, 42% of Pennsylvania say they would oppose the centers being built in their area, according to a recent survey.
And it’s creating a bind for local officials, who are limited in what they can do to prohibit development in areas that are zoned for such purposes.
Residents in nearby East Vincent, also in Chester County, are pressing hard on their board of supervisors to reject a proposed data center at the historic Pennhurst State School and Hospital. The board there had sought to impose restrictions on data centers, but last month declined to move forward with an ordinance after the township’s solicitor warned it could lead to a challenge from the developer.
In East Whiteland, as residents called on officials to reject the plan, township solicitor Michael Gill warned it wasn’t that simple.
“This property is zoned to allow a data center use,” Gill said. “From a perspective of sheer outright denial of the use, that is not likely something that the township has the authority to do at this point in time. Nor did the township ever have the opportunity or the legal right to completely say, ‘We do not want data centers at all in East Whiteland Township.’”
The proposed data center would be located at a former limestone mining site that eventually became a lithium ore-processing business called the Foote Mineral Co., which closed in 1991. A Superfund cleanup was completed in 2010.
It is slated to sit across from Malvern Hunt, a neighborhood with about 280 homes and would be intersected by the Chester Valley Trail, a 18.6-mile route popular with walkers, cyclists, and runners.
Residents worried about the noise, the safety of their well water, and whether digging at a remediated site could adversely affect health. They also raised concerns about the stress — and cost — the facility could put on the power grid.
The facility would be adjacent to Peco’sPlanebrook substation, and the developer is paying for the upgrades needed to support the project, they said Wednesday. Peco officials said previously that surrounding customers wouldn’t see any impact.
The developers sidestepped questions about resident utility cost increases. The township’s planning director, Zachary Barner, said they had not seen “any sort of detailed analysis of consumer prices or anything like that.”
Chris Fontana, a Wakefield resident who said he works in software and infrastructure engineering leadership at Zillow, the real estate website, said industrial noise, massive infrastructure, and energy demands make buyers hesitate, affecting home values.
“Any tax benefit does not outweigh the permanent impact on our land, the strain on local utilities infrastructure, and the risk to the value of our homes, the single biggest investment most families here will ever make,” he said.
The developer will submit a revised plan and responses to consultant review letters in the coming days, township officials said. The developer will return to the planning commission next month, seeking a positive recommendation from the planning commission to go forward to the township’s board of supervisors.
A proposal calls for revitalizing Gladwyne’s town center.
Gladwyne residents are mixed on their support for a sweeping revitalization proposal of the town center, plans for which were revealed just a few weeks ago.
Led by design firm Haldon House and backed by billionaire Jeff Yass, the project calls for historic architecture, green spaces, and businesses that “fit the character” of the area, The Inquirer’s Denali Sagner reports.
One resident called the proposed changes an “absolute no-brainer,” but others are skeptical, particularly about one group having so much say over the town center. It’s even prompted a petition.
The $8.5 million property for sale in Gladwyne includes a 9,166-square-foot home.
This Gladwyne estate situated on 12.76 acres on Country Club Road is on the market for $8.5 million. While the lot size is rare for the area, and provides plenty of privacy, a future owner has the option to subdivide it into three parcels.
The property includes a more than 9,000-square-foot main home that was designed for entertaining. It has six bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, two kitchens, an elevator, a sauna, and a pool.
The region saw its largest snowstorm in a decade over the weekend, with many spots recording more than nine inches, including Penn Wynne, which saw 9.4 inches, according to one figure reported to the National Weather Service — and there’s a small chance more is on the way this weekend. Freezing temperatures are expected to remain this week, meaning the snow and ice aren’t going anywhere. Check out a map of where the most snow fell.
Jamal McCullough was sentenced on Friday to three to six years in a state prison after fatally hitting 61-year-old Tracey Cary as she crossed City Avenue in her wheelchair in 2024. While prosecutors said McCullough was not at fault since Cary wasn’t in a posted crosswalk, he fled the scene, which carries criminal penalties. Cary’s sister said the hearing offered a chance to give the public a more complete picture of her sister, who was unhoused and had a love of reading, traveling, and the outdoors.
There’s a public meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Lower Merion Township Building to discuss the Montgomery Avenue Corridor Traffic Calming and Safety Action Plan. The study, which is supported by a Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, focuses on Montgomery Avenue between Spring Mill Road and City Avenue, assessing things like traffic volume and crashes. Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth will use the data and the public’s feedback to help improve safety.
St. Matthias Catholic Church’s former business manager, Sean Michael Sweeney, who is accused of stealing $1.1 million from the Bala Cynwyd institution, has been ordered to stand trial and is scheduled for an arraignment hearing on Feb. 25. (Main Line Times)
The township’s planning commission will discuss a preliminary land development proposal for a portion of 1400 Waverly Rd. in Gladwyne on Monday. Retirement community Waverly Heights is seeking to demolish seven semi-attached single-family villas and put three buildings in their place. Two three-story buildings would be identical and house 12 units each, while the third would add 12 units onto the Blair Apartment Building. Plans also call for additional parking spaces. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Township Administration Building.
Lights are likely coming to Richie Ashburn Field in Gladwyne, after the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners voted to move forward with a memorandum of understanding to allow the Lower Merion Little League to build and operate lights there. The league will pay for the lights and can’t operate them after 10 p.m. (Main Line Times)
Members of the Lower Merion Township Police Department have donated a collective 800 hours of their time off to their colleague Dan Gilbert. The detective’s wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer last year, and in a show of support, the department rallied to give him extra time to spend with his family. His wife, Lauren Gilbert, 42, has undergone surgeries and is currently on trial medications. (CBS News Philadelphia)
🏫 Schools Briefing
Tonight is course selection night for LMHS students and tomorrow is the school choice deadline. Tomorrow is also movie night for Penn Wynne Elementary, and there are middle school conferences Tuesday evening. See the district’s full calendar here.
For families who missed last week’s eighth grade to high school transition meeting, the district posted a video from the event, which you can watch here.
The district is hosting a presentation for parents and guardianswith students receiving special education services that will focusonpositive behavior support. It will be held virtually via Zoom on Wednesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
On Saturday, LMHS is hosting the 12th Annual Hope Classic to benefit the Angelman Syndrome Foundation. Angelman Syndrome is caused by a gene change and can result in developmental delays, speech and balance problems, mental disability, and seizures, according to the Mayo Clinic. The doubleheader will see the boys and girls basketball teams take on Haverford High’s teams at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.
Lark is among the region’s 50 best restaurants, according to a new ranking from Philadelphia Magazine, which put Chef Nick Elmi’s Bala Cynwyd restaurant at No. 41. The outlet noted that “there’s hardly a dish that isn’t simultaneously approachable and elevated,” calling out the cavatelli with escargot and bone marrow and pork cheek agnolotti with Taleggio.
🎳 Things to Do
🌎 Ardmore Passport: World Pours: Take a trip around the world by sampling global cuisine, craft beers, and other sips at this festival-style event, which will also feature live music. ⏰ Saturday, Jan. 31, 12:30 p.m. 💵 $64.17-$124.20 📍 Ardmore Music Hall
🍿 Monday Night Movie: In honor of Groundhog Day, catch a screening of the iconic 1993 film starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. Registration is required. ⏰ Monday, Feb. 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Penn Wynne Library
Built in 1924, this four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom Wynnewood Tudor blends past and present. This home’s first floor features a living room with a gas fireplace, a dining room, a “bonus room,” and a kitchen, with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a separate coffee bar area. There are three bedrooms on the second floor, including the primary suite, which has dual closets, and an additional suite on the third level. The home also has a finished basement, a detached three-car garage, and a heated pool with a spa and waterfall. There’s an open house today from noon to 2 p.m.
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Some local fire companies are weighing a merger. Here’s why. Also this week, we map snowfall totals from last weekend’s storm and take a look at the possibility of more snow to come, plus why our Delco is the one and only true Delco, according to an Inquirer columnist.
The Garden City Fire Department in Nether Providence is among the departments that could merge.
A new report recommends combining several local fire departments to create a larger regional department covering Nether Providence, Swarthmore, and Rose Valley.
The recommendation comes as several departments are facing a decline in volunteers and aging equipment, The Inquirer’s Torin Sweeney reports.
The report, released last month, is just a first step, and a complete merger of South Media and Garden City fire companies in Nether Providence with the Swarthmore Fire & Protective Association could take up to three years.
The region saw its largest snowstorm in a decade over the weekend, with many spots recording over half-a-foot of snow, including Nether Providence Township, which saw 8 inches, according to one figure reported to the National Weather Service. Swarthmore saw 7.3 inches, and Media got 7 inches. Freezing temperatures are expected to remain this week, meaning the snow and ice aren’t going anywhere — and there’s a small chance more is on the way this weekend. Check out a map of where the most snow fell on Sunday.
There is only one true Delco, The Inquirer’s Stephanie Farr recently proclaimed, and it’s right here in Southeastern Pennsylvania. In her latest column, Farr defends this Delco as the original — it was, after all, founded before any other Delaware Counties in the country — and its claim to use the moniker on, well, just about everything. Her defense of the region came after discovering a fashion brand in New York is selling a line of apparel for a Delco there, which might have been fine if it wasn’t trying “to co-opt Delco as a culture,“ she writes.
A Springfield man, Chad Lauletta, 50, has been charged with 56 felonies and misdemeanor invasion of privacy for allegedly possessing multiple pieces of child sexual abuse materials, as well as engaging in a sexual act with a woman and filming it without her consent.
Ice sculptures in varying shapes, including a corn hole set, were on display on Media’s State Street over the weekend for the fourth annual Ice on State. Check out some of the scenes and sculptures in this video from 6abc.
Fox 29’s Bob Kelly recently paid a visit to Hidden Treasures Antique Mall in Gradyville, which has been open at 1176 Middletown Rd. for about 15 years. During his visit, he toured its nine rooms, which contain a wide range of vintage housewares, furniture, decor, jewelry, and instruments. Among the hottest sellers currently? Salt and pepper shakers. See the full segment here.
Former Wallingford resident Helen Cherry died earlier this month at the age of 101. Born in West Philadelphia, Cherry was a lifelong artist who illustrated 30 books and dozens of magazine stories throughout her career. A mother of three, Cherry also helped her husband operate Cherry’s Pharmacy in Ridley Park for years.
🏫 Schools Briefing
Wallingford-Swarthmore School District’s Board of Education is considering a maximum 3.5% tax increase to help slash some of its budget deficit. The hike, discussed during a Facilities and Finance committee meeting last week, would generate about $2.3 million. The district, which is also weighing a $164 million capital improvement plan that calls for renovations to the high school, is facing a $2.6 million budget deficit for the 2027-28 school year. (The Swarthmorean)
Tonight is back-to-school night for Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, and Penncrest is hosting its “Jazz Night” on Saturday. See the district’s full calendar here.
WSSD is also hosting a community conversation on Wednesday about renovations to Strath Haven High School, where students, families, and residents can share ideas on project priorities. The discussion will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the high school’s library.
In the Rose Tree Media School District, tonight is course selection night for high school students. Tomorrow night is bingo night for Indian Lane, and Wednesday is the poetry slam. See the district’s full calendar here.
🍽️ On our Plate
Looking for a sweet spot ahead of Valentine’s Day? Main Line Today recently rounded up nine local shops, including Bevan’s Own Make Candy in Media, noting the decades-old shop offers things like butter creams, chocolate-covered pretzels, mints, nut clusters, and truffles.
🎳 Things to Do
🎭Draw the Circle: It’s your last chance to catch the one-person show that explores various identities. ⏰ Through Sunday, Feb. 1, times vary 💵 $20 for students and children, $35 for adults 📍Hedgerow Theatre Company, Rose Valley
🎵Acoustic Bob Marley Birthday Bash: Hear classic Bob Marley tunes ahead of what would have been his 81st birthday. ⏰ Thursday, Jan. 29, 7-11 p.m. 💵 Free 📍Shere-E-Punjab, Media
😂 Huge Soup: Comedians will take cues from the audience during this improv show. ⏰ Saturday, Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m. 💵 $13.50 📍 PCS Theater, Swarthmore
The kitchen has an island with seating for four and opens onto an open-concept space with living and dining areas.
This mid-century-style home has been fully updated inside and out, giving it a contemporary look befitting its architecture. The home’s first floor features an open-concept kitchen, living, and dining area. The kitchen features an island, quartz countertops, and stainless steel appliances. There’s also a flexible space on the first floor. There are four bedrooms upstairs, including the primary suite, which has a spacious walk-in closet. Other features include a finished basement, a new deck, and new landscaping for privacy.
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This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
On Jan. 8, Andre Golsorkhi, founder and CEO of design firm Haldon House, presented plans for a revitalized town center, complete with historic architecture, green spaces, and businesses that “fit the character” of the area. Golsorkhi told a packed school auditorium that Haldon House plans to bring in boutique shops, open an upscale-yet-approachable restaurant, and create spaces for communal gathering.
At the meeting, Golsorkhi also revealed that the project was backed by Jeff Yass, Pennsylvania’s richest man, and his wife, Janine. Golsorkhi said the Yasses want to revitalize Gladwyne as part of a local “community impact project.” Haldon House and the Yasses, who live near Gladwyne, have spent over $15 million acquiring multiple properties at the intersection of Youngs Ford and Righters Mill Roads.
Renderings of a proposed revitalization project in Gladwyne, Pa. Design firm Haldon House is working with billionaire Jeff Yass to redevelop the Main Line village while preserving its historic architecture, developers told Gladwyne residents at a Jan. 8 meeting.
What is, and isn’t, allowable?
For some residents, one question has lingered: Is one family allowed to redevelop an entire village?
A petition calling on Lower Merion Township to hold a public hearing and pass protections preventing private owners from consolidating control of town centers had gathered nearly four dozen signatures as of Friday.
Around 4,100 people live in the 19035 zip code, which encompasses much of Gladwyne, according to data from the 2020 U.S. Census.
“Residents deserve a say before their town is transformed.No one family, no matter how wealthy, should unilaterally control the civic and commercial core of a historic Pennsylvania community,” the petition reads.
Yet much of Haldon House’s plan is allowable under township zoning code, said Chris Leswing, Lower Merion’s director for building and planning.
Plans to refurbish buildings, clean up landscaping, and bring in new businesses are generally permitted by right, meaning the developers will not need approval from the township to move forward. Gladwyne’s downtown is zoned as “neighborhood center,” a zoning designation put on the books in 2023 that allows for small-scale commercial buildings and local retail and services. The zoning code, which is currently in use in Gladwyne and Penn Wynne, ensures commercial buildings can be no taller than two stories.
The developers’ plans to open a new restaurant in the former Gladwyne Market and renovate buildings with a late-1800s aesthetic, including wraparound porches and greenery, are generally within the bounds of what is allowed, once they obtain a building permit.
The Village Shoppes, including the Gladwyne Pharmacy, at the intersection of Youngs Ford and Righters Mill Roads in Gladwyne on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.
More ambitious plans, however, like converting a residential home into a parking lot or burying the power lines that hang over the village, would require extra levels of approval, Leswing said.
The developers hope to convert a residential property on the 900 block of Youngs Ford Road into a parking lot. Lower Merion generally encourages parking lots to be tucked behind buildings and does not allow street-facing parking, a measure designed to avoid a strip mall feel, Leswing said. In order to turn the lot into parking, the developers would need an amendment to the zoning code, which would have to be approved by the board of commissioners.
Various approvals would also be needed to put Gladwyne’s power lines underground, an ambitious goal set by the Haldon House and Yass team.
Leswing clarified that no official plans have been submitted, making it hard to say how long the process will take. It will be a matter of months, at least, before the ball really gets rolling.
Leswing added the developers have been “so good about being locked into the community” and open to constructive feedback.
Golsorkhi said it will be some time before his team can provide a meaningful update on the development, but expressed gratitude to the hundreds of residents who have reached out with questions, support, and concerns.
Map of properties in Gladwyne bought or leased by the Yass family.
From ‘110% in favor’ to ‘a tough pill to swallow’
Fred Abrams, 65, a real estate developer who has lived in Gladwyne for seven years, said he and his wife are “110% in favor” of the redevelopment, calling it an “absolute no-brainer.”
Many Gladwyne residents live in single-family homes that keep them in their own, sometimes isolating, worlds, his wife, Kassie Monaghan Abrams, 57, said.
“Here’s an opportunity for being outside and meeting your neighbors and, to me, getting back to spending time with people,” she said of the proposal to create communal gathering areas.
“I think it’s a very thoughtful, beautiful design,” Monaghan Abrams added.
Some social media commenters called the proposal “charming” and “a fantastic revitalization.”
Others were more skeptical.
Ryan Werner, 40, moved to Gladwyne in 2012 with his wife, who grew up in the town.
“One of the things I’ve kind of fallen in love with about Gladwyne is the sense of community,” said Werner, who has a background in e-commerce sales and is transitioning to work in the mental health space.
“I’m less opposed to just the commercial side of it and more grossed out by the involvement of certain people in it,” Werner said.
Gladwyne is a Democratic-leaning community that voted overwhelmingly for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
On social media, some griped about the changes.
“The Village will be just like Ardmore and Bryn Mawr. Can’t undo it once they build it,” one commenter wrote in a Gladwyne Facebook group.
Golsorkhi said in an email that the “enthusiasm, excitement and support” from the community have been “overwhelming.”
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Michael Chain Jr.oncehad to exit the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Downingtown and drive a zigzag pattern on State Routes 100, 113, 401, and 29 to reach his hotel.
So did his customers.
But thenthe turnpike built Exit 320, an all E-ZPass interchange thatconnects to Route 29 and brings traffic right to the family-owned Hotel Desmond Malvern, a DoubleTree by Hilton.
“It would easily take 20 minutes,” said Chain, general manager of the property. “Now you cut that in half, if not more.”
When it opened in December 2012, the interchange helped spur billions in new commercial and residential development in Chester County’s Great Valley.
Michael Chain, general manager at a hotel in Great Valley, says the Route 29 ramp has transformed his business.
Corporate office parks expanded and new ones sprouted. Vanguard relentlessly expanded its campus for its 12,000 workers. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies moved there. Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Teva, and other pharmaceutical companies planted offices and research laboratories there.
Thousands of people moved in to take advantage of the new jobs or a suddenly more convenient commute to Philadelphia and its inner-ring suburbs, Berks County, Lancaster, or even Harrisburg.
More than 10 years later, the effects of the turnpike’s project are evident, but the real estate market is evolving to meet a lower post-pandemic demand for traditional office space and a higher demand for more housing.
Through American history, transportation and development have been yoked. Towns and cities have grown around navigable rivers, post roads, national highways, railroads, interstates, turnpikes, and public transit.
“This new interchange was explosive in terms of the economic impact in that particular region in a way I’m not even sure we had anticipated,” said Craig R. Shuey, chief operating officer of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The key to success
Experts caution it would be a mistake to attribute too much of the growth in the Great Valley solely to the turnpike exit.
The area’s transition from agricultural and industrial to commercial mixed-use was already well underway when it opened. Real estate developersRouse & Associates acquired land in 1974 and began building the Great Valley Corporate Center, a 700-acre business park.
As the Pennsylvania 29 interchange was under construction, the U.S. 202 widening project occurred, helping ease the flow of traffic, although it stillgets congested at peak hours.
The Route 29 electronic toll interchange.
The exit “plays well with an improved Route 202,” said Tim Phelps, executive director of the Transportation Management Association of Chester County.
It’s also served by SEPTA Regional Rail Service and Amtrak, and there’s a connection to the 18.6-mile Chester Valley trail for biking, running, and walking.
“The key isall the multimodal access to the area from different points,” Phelps said. “You move goods and freight along corridors and people to jobs; transportation is economic development.”
New rise in residences
Growth hasn’t been linear.
”Since COVID the office market has been struggling everywhere, and a couple of years ago the funding for biotech became harder to get,“ said John McGee, a commercial real estate broker and developer. ”Both of these events had a negative impact on demand for [office] space in Great Valley.”
Other signs of a softer market in commercial space:
Malvern Green, a 111-acre office park owned by Oracle, is up for sale, marketed as a redevelopment opportunity. It has 759,000 square feet in four buildings on Valley Stream Parkway, off Route 29.
A 10.3-acre office property on Swedesford Road is slated to be demolished and turned into a mixed-use campus, with 250 apartments and about 6,700 square feet of retail and dining.
With the pandemic rewriting the rules of work beginning five years ago, residential development has picked up, driven by housing scarcity and lack of affordability.
Deb Abel, president of Abel Brothers Towing & Automotive, has seen the area evolve from her position as chair of the East Whiteland Planning Commission and as a member of the Chamber of Business & Industry.
Deb Abel, chair of the East Whitefield Planning Commission, says workforce development is key to the area’s growth.
“We talk all the time about workforce development,” Abel said. “People don’t want to come to work where they can’t afford to live.”
More — and more affordable — housing is key both for current and future staffing needs. Workers shouldn’t have to commute from other areas with more housing options, Abel said.
‘A tangible asset’
To Chain, the hotelier, travel time saved by the interchange is a tangible asset.
“It improves the quality of life on a personal level, and [in business] I’m a beneficiary of people staying on the turnpike,” he said.
As corporate travel budgets waxed and waned in the Great Recession and pandemic years, the Hotel Desmond beefed up other lines of business. An events space at the resort-like hotel now provides about half the revenues, Chain said.
The interchange has helped him draw conference business from statewide associations, most of them in Harrisburg.
And in recent years, youth sports travel teams from New York and New Jersey attending weekend tournaments in the region have filled rooms while using the interchange for easy access. Hockey teams are big.
‘A natural progression’
A new multifamily project for Greystar Real Estate Partners is rising next to Route 29 on undeveloped land.
IMC Construction is building a five-story, 267-unit apartment building featuring a rooftop lounge, fitness center, coworking space, pool courtyard, grilling stations, and more.
IMC Construction signs and traffic markers along North Morehall Road in Malvern.
A 133-unit “active adult” apartment building for people who are 55 and older is also under construction.
Project manager Bob Liberato grew up in the area when Route 29 was a country road with one traffic light between Phoenixville and Route 30.
It seems ironic now, but he remembers a petition circulating among fellow students at Great Valley High School to oppose the turnpike’s interchange proposal. Pretty much everybody signed.
“We wanted to stop the turnpike because we liked our life,” Liberato said. “It was open, mostly fields and trees. Being able to go outside, have parties in the woods — all of that was great.”
So what he’s doing now is, in a way, part of the circle of life.
“We’re seeing a shift toward more residential projects, and there is a runway for more in the Great Valley,” said Liberato. With a scarcity of new development, ”it’s a natural progression in a lot of Philly suburbs.”
