Morning Headlines: Site of the Historic Bunting House Will Now Be a Wendy’s

Naturally, advocates of historic preservation can’t control what happens to land once a historic building is demolished and the land waits for development, but the latest news reported by Matthew Grady for NewsWorks must seem like an especial affront to all those Roxborough residents who fought so hard to keep the Bunting House from being torn down.

The owners of the former Bunting House had already tussled with the neighborhood association  plenty. An online petition against a Wendy’s on that site–5901-5909 Ridge Avenue–was launched, and a meeting in March was contentious.

But as Grady writes, there may be more opinions than those represented at the meeting:

While the crowd who came out to the March meeting was unanimous in opposition to a fast-food drive through on the site, many expressed support for it on internet forums. As of Thursday morning, more than 250 people had “liked” theRoxborough Wendy’s Facebook page. (The Roxborough Residents Against Wendy’s page on Facebook has more than 350 likes.)

In other news…

• The Seahorses fountain is no longer a dingy mess, the Inquirer reports. In fact, this week, for the first time since 2006, water started to flow and “the fountain was returned to its former glory.”
• A memorial park to a murder victim has turned into one of Philly’s crummy vacant lots, which is not exactly respectful. In fact, of the empty lots in one North Philly neighborhood, it’s “the one in the roughest shape,” writes the Daily News’ Helen Ubiñas.
• The verdict is in: “A natural-gas leak inside 428 Daly St. was ignited when a contractor attempted to light a cigarette, Fire Department Executive Chief William Dell said yesterday.”
• Philadelphia is a great city for startups, which Technically Media’s Chris Wink could’ve told you years ago but is now official because it was in the Wall Street Journal.