Many people and organizations, including Hidden City, are dedicated to preserving Philadelphia history through the lens of its built environment. Joel H. Spivak celebrated all the things that went on in those buildings and neighborhoods. “Joel represented the best of Philadelphia culture,” his longtime friend Len Davidson stated. “He was about funky, folksy, blue collar neighborhood people.”

Spivak was born on October 25, 1939. Except for a stint in the Army at age 19, he was a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, residing in neighborhoods that included West Oak Lane, Parkside, and South Street.

He attended Philadelphia College of Art and Drexel University’s Architecture Department. Although he didn’t finish his architectural studies, in the early 1970s he went on to engage in the rehabbing of properties along South Street, after the plans for a cross-town expressway, which caused a widespread abandonment of the corridor, were cancelled. “Joel moved to 4th and South into a place with no plumbing or electricity,” recalled Davidson. “He bought it for around $400.”

As part of the artistic community that revitalized the neighborhood, Spivak lent his woodworking talents to several of the independent shops and restaurants springing up on South Street at that time. Later, he became one of those merchants himself, when he opened Rocketships & Accessories, a shop dedicated to space-themed toys and paraphernalia, ranging from early Flash Gordon to then-current Star Wars.

He also was part of the Dumpster Divers. Along with Davidson and others, they would create artwork, furniture and other items from salvaged materials. “The initial stuff that Joel used to do involved things he found on the street, like headboards. He’d take this stuff and make things out of it,” said Davidson. “The first one I saw, he had made a totem pole around 20 feet high out of wood objects. He also made decorative pieces of furniture out of pieces he’d found.”

Spivak continued plying his woodworking and construction skills long after the renaissance of South Street. In the late 1990s, while working for the non-profit Neighborhood Housing Services, he rehabbed 5735 North Park Avenue, which won a “Best in American Living Platinum Award for Outstanding Home Design in Affordable Housing” from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Spivak was on a mission to increase peoples’ appreciation of hot dogs by creating and promoting National Hot Dog Month. “National Hot Dog Month was a lot of fun,” recalled his wife, Diane Keller. “Joel collected hot dog t-shirts from around the world. For his 75th birthday in 2014, he cooked and gave out hot dogs in front of Hahnemann Hospital where he was born.”

Another crusade began in September 1997, when Spivak and Davidson organized the Philadelphia Rowhouse Sports Day Olympics as part of the first Fringe Festival. They blocked off the 200 block of New Street in Old City, behind the Painted Bride Art Center, and played street games like chink, wireball, half ball, stepball, wall ball, and dead box with around 150 attendees. “All things that kids did in the 50s and 60s,” explained Davidson. “All you needed was chalk, a half of a ball, and a stick. Basically, those things had died, but Joel and I were trying to bring them back.”

After that initial event, they continued to organize games in different neighborhoods, like within the City’s Free Streets program. “People who know it, who played it back in the day, have a visceral reaction when they see us,” said Davidson. “They watch us playing it, but people who are five or ten or forty will try playing it.”

But it wasn’t just whimsical fun and games for Spivak. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of Philadelphia’s trains and trolleys, which resulted in the co-authoring of books on the subject. “He restored the Wanamaker Monorail that’s now at the Please Touch Museum,” noted Keller, combining his fascination with trains with his building and repairing talents.

“These are the things that make a city,” said Davidson. “We weren’t looking at it as nostalgia. That’s what Joel was about, saving what makes Philadelphia what it is.”

His wide-ranging interests also led to civic engagement. “He was involved in so many things,” said Kvn Josef Shapiro, director of community engagement at Congregation Shivtei Yeshuron Ezras Israel, known as the Little Shul. Located at 2015 South 4th Street, it is the last active rowhouse synagogue in South Philadelphia, founded in 1876 at a time when there were more than 100 in the neighborhood.

“Around the year 2000, the congregation got a notice from the City, ordering it to repair the building or tear it down,” explained Shapiro. “Joel was one of a handful of people who got it together to save it, helping with fundraising and architectural designs.” He continued to serve on the board of directors until his passing.

Keller said, “He got more involved in his Jewish heritage later in life,” but still combined some playful creativity with his serious interest in his faith. “He had his second bar mitzvah at the age of 73 at the Little Shul,” added Shapiro. “He made yarmulkes for everyone out of biodegradable paper, with seeds embedded in them, so they could be planted.”

He also served on the board of trustees of the Old Pine Conservancy, the non-profit that supports the preservation of Old Pine Street Church and cemetery, Old Pine Community Center, and the Presbyterian Historical Society.

Further afield from his Bella Vista neighborhood, Spivak maintained three small memorial parks for military veterans at 31st Street and Girard Avenue, 3rd and Bainbridge Streets, and Cochran Triangle at 37th Street and Lancaster Avenue.

Throughout his life he enjoyed mentoring youth, going back to the South Street revival days when he’d teach woodworking to neighborhood kids. “In the 90s he sponsored a youth baseball team, the Buccaneers, at Sacks Playground at 4th and Washington,” added Keller. Adults benefited from encounters with him, too. “One of Joel’s favorite things was to go into a party where he didn’t know anyone, and he could strike up a conversation and hold forth,” Keller said. “I was always so impressed when he talked with people. He made it so personal and fun.”

Over the decades, Spivak engaged in all his interests and lived his life as the ultimate Philadelphia humanist.

Nearly a year ago, Spivak had a stroke that left him mostly incapacitated until his death at age 85 on April 21. His family and friends are planning a celebration of his life on May 22nd from 4-7 p.m. at the TLA, 334 South Street. Another memorial is being planned for the Little Shul in October.

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