The Philadelphia Tribune Friday, March 16, 2001

Rev. C. L. Pryor, pastor of the Corinthian Baptist Church, has extended his ministries well into neighborhoods of West Oak Lane. The results include this 61-unit apartment complex for senior citizens. Future development plans include a super market. 

Saving West Oak Lane

By Elaine Welles

Tribune Staff Writer

  West Oak Lane is a community that long seemed able to defy the gravity of ills pulling other city neighborhoods down. It is mix of middle- and working-class residents, and its well-kept homes have held up even when those in other neighborhoods did not in recent years, however, say some longtime residents, even West Oak Lane has gone through a change, and not all for the better. Homes have deteriorated and vacant lots have appeared.

The area, like others in the city, is suffering from what has become a common neighborhood malady, blight. But West Oak Lane is fighting back. Area residents, community associations, political representatives and church leaders have joined together to rescue their section of the city, with major initiatives to buy and rebuild old housing stock and to tear down that which cannot be restored.

These efforts began in the early 1980s, with initiatives by State Rep. Dwight Evans, the West Oak Lane Community Development Association, and the Rev. C. L. Pryor, Among others. Their efforts have brought major overhauls to sections of West Oak Lane that once were spiraling into hopelessness, and they have launched several new ventures that are testimony to what can be accomplished through hard work and commitment.

Breakdowns from the 2000 Census are not yet available, but figures from the 1990 Census of Population and Housing say West Oak Lane is 98 percent African American. Out of a total population of 24,337, the Black population is 23,473 and the White population is 624.

The data indicate that there are 8,654 housing units in the 1.26 square mile area bound by Cedarbrook on the north, Erlen on the east, and East Oak Lane to the southeast. Of those units, 6,483 are owner-occupied, and 1,624 are renter-occupied. Remaining are 547 vacant housing units, 68 of which are boarded up.

The 1990 census information gives an indication of today's housing situation in the West Oak Lane neighborhood, long considered to be a prime area in which to live because of its well maintained housing stock and the generally middle-class status of its residents. The mean value of houses in the area is $45,429.

Maintaining a Community Rev. C. L. Pryor, senior pastor of the Corinthian Baptist Church, for the past 25 years, has long been active in rebuilding and maintaining West Oak Lane. He has taken the ministries of the church well beyond its doors, to reach out, as he says, in the way that "spirit" dictates. He has worked with the West Oak Lane Community Development Corporation as well as his own organization, established through the church. The Corinthian Baptist Church Real Estate Corporation, founded by the church, has bought and rehabilitated several homes, 15 of which it now owns and/or rents out. The corporation has also developed one senior-citizen apartment complex in the 6200 block of Wister St., with a total of 61 apartments. It has opened two schools, the Corinthian Christian Academy and the Imhotep Charter School.

The plan now is to build a supermarket for the area. West Oak Lane does not currently have one. Residents now must travel to Cheltenham, four or five miles away, for shopping and, says Rev. Pryor, the big supermarket chains will not come into the area because they fear they will not make money.

"We have to do it ourselves," said Rev. Pryor. "It may not be a grand supermarket, but we will have one.”

The supermarket will be more than a place to buy food. According to Rev. Pryor, it also will be a place where young people can learn marketing and sales.

Other future Corinthian endeavors will include more housing and a day care center that will be governed by the Imhotep School. There also are plans for overnight care for persons who may need such I assistance with their children.

  More Money

Rev. Pryor says building and rebuilding have not been easy. While he has had assistance from the city to complete some of his projects, the municipal bureaucracy has been difficult. He jokingly says that "it took declaration from Congress" to get two houses torn down. That effort drew the support of 8th District City Council member Donna Reed Miller.

Otherwise, says Rev. Pryor getting help in the form of,  money from the city has not been easy. He applauds Mayor Street's news emphasis on blight removal but says the city's larger interests sometimes make it difficult for smaller neighborhood concerns such as the Corinthian realty' corporation. to operate easily. His largest concern is finding money to rehabilitate and build homes.

Proposal writers, he says, want to be paid before any money is received and such requirements do not fit easily into his operating plans or budget.

  It has, therefore, been incumbent on residents and a network of others Involved in neighborhood projects to see that work is done.

Rev: Pryor has made it the business of his church to do what has to be done to preserve a section of the city. He says if the church is going to do anything positive for its community, aggressive outreach is absolutely necessary. Community building, he says, has its "ups and downs," but he can certainly point to a number of successes.

Rev Prior directs two more abandon houses to comes down

Return to Corinthian's Home page