The Valley Green Inn

Restoration

Restoration certificates no longer available.  A warm thank you to those who participated in the restoration program.  Your donations have greatly assisted our restoration of the Inn.  Thanks!

The major phase of our restoration project began January 2nd, 2002.  We were able to reopen for business on May 31st of 2002.   We were only closed for that short time due to the fine contractors working on the Inn which included Gary Lorenzon & crew,  Tinari Contractors, Edifice Rex Construction, Simplex-Grinnell, BFI, Economy Food & Restaurant Equipment, US Foodservice, Olde City Booths and others.  Many thanks for a job well done! 

At nearly 150 years of age, the Valley Green has had no major work done for over 63 years since the Inn was saved from demolition by the newly formed Friends of the Wissahickon.  After 10 years of planning, fundraising and approvals, the Valley Green has finished a major renovation which accomplished several goals:

The Goals of the Restoration Project

z Maintain the complete character and ambience of this historic facility by limiting work on the original building to work that is structurally necessary.

z Bring the Valley Green into the 21st century by providing a more modern kitchen, and add ADA accessibility to the Inn as well as the bathroom facilities.

z Restore the porch and existing roof structures.

z Expand the walk-up snack bar facilities with an expanded menu, more efficient service and provide greatly improved outdoor seating.

z Provide for a new twenty seat dining room and bar area.

z Develop an environmentally friendly and historically accurate outdoor patio for banquet functions.  This structure will coexist with our normal dining facilities and provide much needed space for private functions which currently displace our normal dining clientele.

Thanks to those whose vision and support has made this historically significant project possible:

The Friends of the Wissahickon

"to preserve the natural beauty and wilderness of the Wissahickon Valley and stimulate public interest therein."

The FOW was established in 1924 to help conserve the trails and natural environment of the Wissahickon Creek and Valley.  73 years later, the Friends have a record of achievements that demonstrate their sustained commitment to one of the most popular areas of Fairmount Park and on the the few remaining "urban wilderness" areas in North America.

In the 1930's, the Friends helped replant the metro forest which Philadelphians and visitors from around the world now enjoy as the largest urban park in the world.

In the last ten years, the Friends of the Wissahickon have organized thousands of volunteers to regularly restore and maintain the hiking, biking and bridle trails of the Wissahickon Valley, as well as plant and cultivate species native to the Valley.  With support from members, The William Penn Foundation, federal, state and private funding, The Pew Foundation, Fairmount Park Commission, and The Garden Club of America, the Friends annually plant over 2000 trees using volunteer labor and support many local historic conservation projects.

Other conservation projects of the Valley include stream quality, stewardship programs to preserve the natural environment.  Most recently, a joint "Conservation Easement Program" began with the Chestnut Hill Historical Society for the purpose of balancing the demand for development and change with the need to conserve dwindling natural areas- to retain a sense of tradition and history.