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Brownfield Redevelopment

The Overbrook Environmental Education Center’s success in redeveloping a Brownfield eyesore and blight on the Overbrook community into a neighborhood-based environmental hub dedicated to improving public health, promoting personal enrichment, and preserving urban green spaces allows us to use this experience to educate the community and others about the potential to revitalize such a degraded space. The OEEC campus is recognized as one of Philadelphia’s highlight “Lotscapes”, has been awarded the 2026 Keystone Award by the PADEP, and is nationally recognized by the USEPA.

Overhead view of a car lot containing several cars behind a building
OEEC Brownfield Redevelopment History

By 2006, OEEC took a major step forward by purchasing and transforming a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated brownfield on the 6100 block of Lancaster Avenue. What was once an abandoned auto storage facility, supermarket-turned building supply store, and retail property was reimagined into an urban green oasis along the historic Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30), one of Philadelphia’s key commercial corridors.

 

Today, OEEC is home to one of the city’s first commercially installed passive stormwater collection systems, featuring rain gardens, a green roof, bioretention basins, flow-through planters, pervious asphalt, and swales. These systems collectively manage the first 1 to 1.5 inches of rainfall, with a total storage capacity of up to 30,000 gallons per rain event. The center also boasts indoor and outdoor classrooms, an orchard, high-tunnel greenhouses, and an urban forest, creating a dynamic space for learning and engagement.

A Black man wearing a tan Kangol cap, khaki coat and brown pants standing inside a greenhouse. He is pointing one hand down to a garden bed full of plants.

In 2025, OEEC installed a resilience center on the former supermarket-turned building supply store premises. And in 2026, will be building out the NatureWorks / Farmacy portions of the campus.

 

Now a nationally recognized institution, the Overbrook Environmental Education Center stands at the forefront of climate and environmental justice, workforce development, and community resilience. As Philadelphia’s only ultra-urban environmental center, OEEC remains deeply rooted in its mission—providing accessible green infrastructure, improving climate literacy, reducing pollution, and empowering communities to build a more sustainable future where they live, work, and play.