Thanks to this Philly tech collabo, we can all play chess outdoors this spring

Here’s where we’ll be this spring: the University City Center’s new Innovation Plaza pocket park at 37th and Chestnut, playing chess on a board made by makerspace NextFab. (You can grab the chess pieces at the nearby International House.) There’s even free WiFi from Comcast, sponsored by Safeguard Scientifics.

The pocket park, which is a public space that beckons, is one way that the Science Center s trying to turn that Market Street corridor into a bustling community where people can live, work and play. (The new public space is a notably urbanist move, but the Science Center has been criticized for its treatment of cyclists and bikes.) Over the past few years, the urban research park has added multiple restaurants and cafes, and most recently, a residential tower. One big remaining piece of the puzzle is what will replace the former Department of Making + Doing makerspace on the ground floor of 3711 Market St.
While we wait to hear that news, we’ll brush up on our chess skills.