There's been so much talk about development up near the 5000 block of Baltimore Ave. in West Philly the past six months, one could almost forget about numerous plans for redevelopment down near the other side of Baltimore, before Clark Park, closer to the 40th Street Portal.

There are plans for the portal itself to be renovated from a 16K sqft concrete trolley station into a green space engineered with green infrastructure, like green roofs, an estimated $3M project, according to numbers reported in the Daily Pennsylvanian, plus there was another public meeting yesterday, hosted by developers U3 Ventures regarding the 92-unit proposal at a long-vacant 43rd & Baltimore lot.

Now, it appears more improvements are on the horizon on this side of Baltimore Ave., as representatives of The City School Spruce Hill campus presented plans to renovate portions of the facade of their structure, an old church at 4115 Baltimore Ave., as well as build a small, very modern looking addition to an older building, to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee at its February meeting.

The building

As it's now designed, the current exterior has multiple entrances, and school officials want to improve the way the school, formerly known as Spruce Hill Christian School, one of three campuses citywide, welcomes its students and others, according to the West Philly Local. By creating one new entrance, officials envision reducing past confusion visitors have experienced. The renovations and build out, designed by , are projected to be begin this summer and to finish by the start of next school year, according to the WPL.

This project points to consistent continued improvement along both ends of Baltimore Avenue. If the proposed 92-unit project at 42nd & Baltimore goes through, it would mark one of the early large-scale residential build outs along Baltimore in this area. Who knows, it might even be the boost that gets the seemingly dead IronStone Apple Lofts project at 51st & Baltimore, rising out of the earth.