A Disaster Affecting Not Only for the Economy but Also the Community
A devastating fire in Jenkintown at SPS Technologies not only devastated one of the region’s top manufacturing plants for aerospace fasteners not only in the region but was also acknowledged worldwide last month.
PHOTO: Willow Grove Now/Website
It was also a tremendous loss for the community.
The company has existed since 1903, has been at the Jenkintown location since 1920, and has been a key economic cornerstone for the Philadelphia suburbs for over a century.
Over the years, the manufacturing company that once employed upwards of 3,000 people, now only 475, has organized an important leisure activity for its workforce.
Abington’s Hallowell Park is behind the concrete lot that borders the extended parking area for employees.
On the surface, Hallowell Park isn’t much to look at. A few soccer fields and a baseball diamond are all that the Park comprises south of the barrier fence before the residential Glenside neighborhood. But for years, Glenside hosted one of the best fast-pitch softball leagues in the Philadelphia suburbs.
For decades, Hallowell Park (one of Abington’s official Recreation and Leisure destinations) played host to packed stands during the fast-pitch softball league playoffs. The legend of the family fun across from the concrete extended parking lot of SPS Technologies spanned the region.
Amid the cleanup at the site and community support, it is not yet clear whether SPS Technologies can or will be able to rebuild at the Jenkintown location. If they do not, the loss won’t just be economic or the safety of environmental security.
It will lose some of the best family leisure for the Abington community.
PHOTO: Willow Grove Now/Website
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