The place
Penn Treaty Park is a historic riverfront park in Fishtown, on the banks of the Delaware. It’s cared for by the Friends of Penn Treaty Park (FPTP) — a volunteer group that runs events, cleanups, and improvements while keeping the park free and open to everyone — in coordination with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.
We started the way we like to: by listening. Sitting down with the Friends, walking the site, and turning their long list of hopes into a set of clear, buildable projects. Here’s what we’re working on together.
What we’re working on together
The Pollinator Garden
One of the park’s real success stories. We’re helping the Friends build on it — adding playful, kid-friendly learning signs (“this is a bee — can you spot one?”), widening the mulched paths to keep the beds healthy, and studying it as a home for an outdoor classroom.
An Outdoor Classroom
A natural gathering and learning space for workshops and school groups. We’re exploring a spot beside the pollinator garden that can double as a teaching tool, with simple, low-cost seating made from stone and reclaimed driftwood.
The Rose Circle & Trellis
Roses are already planted in the raised bed at the lower roundabout. We’re detailing a trellis — including the foundation it needs to stand up to the elements — so it can be approved and built to last.
The Triangle Lot
Reactivating an underused corner of the park: clearing dead trees, gently defining the space with boulders and plantings so people feel invited in, and drawing the eye back to the park’s statue.
The Riverfront Edge
Helping manage invasive species along the Delaware waterline and reintroduce native plants — reclaiming one of the park’s most striking, and most neglected, edges.
An Interactive Park Map
Building on the illustrative map we made for the park, we’re developing an interactive map of Penn Treaty and its ongoing projects — paired with simple “help us with this” signs and QR codes, so neighbors can see what’s happening and pitch in, whether with time or support.
How RoTaCo helps
Across all of it, we do three things:
- Design Translation — turning the Friends’ priorities and on-site observations into clear, prioritized concepts.
- Design Visualization — sketching and rendering each idea so the whole community can picture it.
- Design Bridging — drafting the plans and details the Friends can take to Parks & Rec, funders, and volunteers to make them real.
Our goal: real, incremental progress the neighborhood can see year by year — not a someday plan that sits on a shelf.
Want to follow along or pitch in? Get in touch.
