Jewish Girls High School Leaves Wynnewood

Torah Academy is renovating a former Presbyterian church at Montgomery Avenue and Bryn Mawr Avenue. Classes for about 70 students begin Sept. 10.

Torah Academy Girls High School is preparing to open a school year for the first time in a renovated Bala Cynwyd church complex, after a quarter-century in Wynnewood. The school of about 70 Jewish girls in grades 9 through 12 will begin classes Sept. 10 at the southeast corner of Montgomery and Bryn Mawr avenues, in two buildings that used to be home to Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. Until this year, the high school was located on the Wynnewood property that Torah Academy's K-8 students will continue attending this year. The conversion takes place as officials in Lower Merion are grappling with whether and how to ease regulations for property owners seeking to convert former houses of worship to other uses. Though growing enrollment …

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Obituaries from Lower Merion

The following death notices come from residents with connections to Ardmore, Bala Cynwyd, Bryn Mawr, Narberth and Wynnewood.

Ateo Olimpi, of Ardmore, died on July 1. Evelyn Zemlin, member of the Main Line Reform Temple in Wynnewood, dies at 97. Elvia Penrose, formerly of Wynnewood, dies at 86. John DeVitis, a member of the Vandiver-Moylan American Legion post in Bala Cynwyd, dies at 64. Nicholas Pedano, a surgeon based in Bala Cynwyd, dies at 78. Bryce Holton, of Narberth, dies at 44. Mary Anderson-Purcell, former dietician at Bryn Mawr Hospital, dies at 98. Remle Hess Can, formerly of the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, dies at 99. Wilbur Carter Jr., formerly of American College, dies at 90. Dorothy Chidsey, born in Bryn Mawr, dies at 88.

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New City Avenue Zoning Rules Take Effect Monday

Lower Merion officials finished amending the new laws Wednesday night.

Builders of tall buildings can build them taller than ever on Bala Cynwyd's side of City Avenue, starting Monday, April 30. That's just one upshot of new zoning rules—years in the making—taking effect that day in an effort to invigorate commercial development in the busy corridor Lower Merion shares with Philadelphia. The township's Board of Commissioners made a few last-minute adjustments Wednesday night, partly at the behest of neighborhood residents. (Read Patch's account of the rezoning's original approval in December, and browse the township's database of explainer documents and maps.) "I hope the board will keep in mind that Bala Cynwyd is a neighborhood, that St. Asaph's Road, Conshohocken State Road and Belmont Avenue are the most …

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Eric Campbell

1:32 pm on Thursday, April 26, 2012

As for me, I'd love Chipotle to move to the Bala Cynwyd side of the street. It's kind of a hassle to get in and out of there at certain times of day.   more ›

Jewelry Store Opens Wednesday in Suburban Square

Govberg Jewelers closed a Bala Cynwyd location on Friday.

Govberg Jewelers will open a new location Wednesday morning in Suburban Square, next to the Apple store. The company's store at Montgomery Avenue and Old Lancaster Road in Bala Cynwyd shut down Friday evening, company spokeswoman Caroline Kallman Joffe said. The Ardmore location will open at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Owner Danny Govberg told Patch in February that the company opted to find a new retail spot on the Main Line rather than undergo needed renovations at the Bala Cynwyd store, which opened in 1991. Govberg is keeping offices on the second floor in Bala Cynwyd, but the 3,000-square-foot retail floor is available for rent, Kallman Joffe said.

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Police: Delivery Man for Five Guys Burgers Nabbed for Bala Theft

Reginald Lance Rothwell was seen on surveillance cameras, police said.

A bread delivery man for the Five Guys Burgers and Fries shop on City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd was arrested Wednesday and charged with the theft of an employee’s property totaling about $3,200 in value, Lower Merion Township police said. The Jan. 17 crime was observed on videotape, police said. The man charged with multiple counts of theft is Reginald Lance Rothwell, 43, of the 700 block of Jeffrey Street in Chester. Rothwell is an independent contractor with his own delivery vehicle, police said, and Five Guys was a client. He is alleged to have stolen a handbag worth about $900 from a woman who works at the restaurant, along with an iPhone worth about $600, and $1,700 in cash. Police said the employee had withdrawn cash that day to pay her …

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Govberg Jewelers Leaving Merion-Cynwyd for Suburban Square

The departure will leave retail space vacant at a busy intersection.

Govberg Jewelers is preparing to depart its Merion-Cynwyd home of two decades for a prime location about three miles away in Suburban Square. Since 2009, the company had been searching for another Main Line location, owner Danny Govberg told Patch. "Govberg Jewelers’ Bala Cynwyd location had been in need of a renovation for some time, and rather than invest in modernizing and enhancing the current space, an ideal retail location became available at an opportune time," Govberg said via email. "We anticipate an influx in the number of customers due to the high level of traffic at the Suburban Square shopping center, and recognize a terrific synergy between the center’s existing clientele and Govberg Jewelers’ expansive product offerings." …

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News Next Door

Ludington Library Won't Open Until at Least April

The township's flagship library closed in 2010.

Ludington Library will now not reopen until at least April, according to township officials. Lower Merion Township’s flagship library and the busiest library in Montgomery County, Ludington closed in 2010 for a $9.1 million renovation. Issues with construction first delayed the project to fall of 2011, then to early 2012 and now to “the second quarter of 2012,” said Township Manager Doug Cleland. After construction is completed in the first quarter, it will take between six and 10 weeks to move in shelving, computers, books and reopen, he added. (For the full story, click here for the Bryn Mawr-Gladwyne Patch.) Meanwhile, with the Bala Cynwyd Library closed since Dec. 31 for renovations, the Ardmore Library has expanded its hours and is …

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News Next Door

Armed Robbers Hit 2 City Ave. Stores

Employees at a CVS were forced into an office at gunpoint Tuesday.

Two armed people robbed the CVS pharmacy on City Avenue Tuesday morning, Lower Merion Police Superintendent Michael J. McGrath told Patch. Employees and the lone customer in the store at 7:20 a.m. were forced into the manager's office, where the manager was told to open the safe and remove cash, McGrath said. Click here to read the full story on the Narberth-Bala Cynwyd Patch.  The incident came a little more than a week after two men armed with handguns robbed the Radio Shack on City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd. On Dec. 19 at about 9 p.m.. the men kept three employees at bay while they stole a television, Apple iPhones and other merchandise, police said Tuesday.  Click here for the full story of that incident.  On the same day, the Bryn Mawr …

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News Next Door

Students Tell Principal White Van Followed Them to Cynwyd Elementary

It's the second complaint in three days about a white van around the school.

Cynwyd Elementary School students told their principal a white van followed them as they walked to school Tuesday morning, the second similar complaint in that area in three days, another school district official announced in an email Wednesday afternoon. Read the full story here on the Narberth-Bala Cynwyd Patch.

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Police: 3 Cars Stolen in 1 Week in Bala Cynwyd

Police warn against leaving keys unattended in ignitions.

Three cars—two BMWs and a Honda—were stolen in Bala Cynwyd from Tuesday, Nov. 29 through Sunday, Dec. 4, Lower Merion police said at a weekly briefing for media Monday afternoon. All were stolen in a manner similar to the 2011 Mercedes swiped from Wark's Liberty gas station  in Merion Station on Nov. 21st. Read the full story here on the Narberth-Bala Cynwyd Patch. 

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