Community groups are the straw that stirs the drink in many neighborhoods, providing services to residents, organizing cleanups, and dealing with all of the aggravation that zoning meetings entail. This and more could certainly be said about the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association, which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary tonight with a special event that's open to the public.

NLNA office

The event will take place tonight from 5:30-8:00pm behind the NLNA office at 3rd & Fairmount and will not only feature free food and booze, but it will also include the unveiling of plans and groundbreaking for a new community pavilion and gathering space designed by Kieran Timberlake. Funding for this space, which we believe will be located on the lot behind the office where the event is happening, comes from the Penn Treaty Special Services District. And here you thought that Sugarhouse would be bad for the community!

To the north of NLNA office

View of yard space from Fairmount Ave.

Northern Liberties has seen tremendous change in the last several years, with an explosion in residential construction and improving commercial corridors, so we'd think that the challenges have evolved since the group's founding. Still, NLNA has done great things in the neighborhood over the last four decades and we're confident they'll continue to effectively represent the community in the decades to come, come what may.

To RSVP to tonight's event, click here.