The Campus Boulevard Corporation (CBC) was formally incorporated in 1981, but the seeds of the idea date to 1978. Originally called the Campus Boulevard Corridor Consortium, later the Campus Boulevard Consortium, and finally the Campus Boulevard Corporation, the CBC was a consortium of eleven educational, health care, and social service institutions in the vicinity of Broad and Olney avenues in Philadelphia. The original partner institutions were Albert Einstein Medical Center, Central High School, Germantown Dispensary and Hospital, Gratz College, La Salle College, Manna Bible Institute, Moss Rehabilitation Hospital, Philadelphia Geriatric Center, Philadelphia High School for Girls, Widener Memorial School, and the Willowcrest Bamberger Nursing Home.

From early on, the CBC was focused on bringing together neighborhood residents, government, businesses, and institutions to develop and implement a comprehensive plan for community development, housing, and economic development in the Campus Boulevard Corridor. The Corridor spanned Olney and Chew Avenues from 10th Street to Chelten Avenue, with Lindley and Godfrey Avenues to the south and north respectively. Five of the CBC’s early goals were:

1. To work with community-based organizations toward the common goal of revitalizing the area. 2. To work with governmental entities— local, state and Federal— to provide more adequate public facilities and services to the area. 3. To work with commercial and industrial interests to stimulate the private sector economy of the area. 4. To encourage policies which will make institutions better neighbors; more responsive to community needs. 5. To foster inter-institutional relationships designed to promote greater efficiency and effectiveness.

By joining together, the Campus Boulevard Corporation institutions committed themselves to remaining in the area and to improving the surrounding neighborhoods (Germantown, Logan, Fern Rock, Ogontz, and Belfield). Their initial work was focused on funding renovations to the transit hub at Broad and Olney, installing a new bus shelter along the corridor, and improving the cleanliness and appearance of Olney. They also worked to increase police coverage of the area and organize Town Watch groups, improve city services such as park maintenance, remove abandoned vehicles, clean and seal vacant properties, and enforce sanitation ordinances. Later activities included developing a Medical Secretarial Job-Training program, a Small Business Incubator and Service Center, a Police Sub-Station, and the Logan Youth Project. They also worked closely with local groups such as the Broad and Olney Sanitation Steering Committee, Gwenita’s Garden, the Security Directors Council, and the Logan CDC, among others.

Though Campus Boulevard Corporation members paid institutional dues, much of the work done by the CBC was grant funded. When several large grants were not awarded in 2003, the CBC disbanded.