Friends of Fox Chase Farm (FFCF) announced today that the organization dissolved on March 31 after 35 years in existence.

The FFCF was founded “to assist the Fairmount Park Commission in maintaining and preserving this pastoral treasure”, according to their website.

The 112-acre farm’s address is 8500 Pine Road, Philadelphia, though two thirds of its acreage and all permanent buildings are located in Abington Township. It was purchased by the City of Philadelphia in 1975 and is now run as an educational farm by the School District of Philadelphia.

“The goal of FFCF, an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, was to be a voice for Fox Chase Farm … and to provide a farm experience/education for children and the greater Philadelphia area community,” the letter says, noting that its members have provided education, fundraising, protection of the farm’s heritage, help in rebuilding the main barn, and the maintainance of an education garden.

“The members of FFCF have felt increasingly unwelcome and unappreciated by the current Philadelphia School District leadership at Fox Chase Farm,” the letter says. “We have felt unable to maintain any presence in the garden or on the property during events sponsored by Parks and Rec. Our major fundraising activities … were not supported and were in fact taken from us.”

It continues:

We are concerned that potentially negative outcomes will occur after we have dissolved. Development is a constant threat. The community needs to know that limits are in place to prevent any future development on this land.

It is incumbent on all of us to save this valuable property and the history it represents. Because once it is gone, it can never be replaced.

The letter notes that the farm’s Facebook page will be shut down in the near future.

The full letter is below:

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Photos: Hshuvaeva – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia Commons