FDR Park community meeting draws hundreds, starts off in tense face-off

A community meeting pitched as a progress report on the city’s plans to redesign FDR Park started off on a tense note Thursday night and stayed that way for most of it, as critics of the plan equipped with signs were kept outside.

Some howled, “Save the Meadows!” and lurched into the street, blocking a SEPTA bus. At least two people were ejected once inside the Grand Yesha Ballroom in South Philadelphia, where the meeting was being held, because they had a camera and were trying to record.

The meeting drew more than 400 people, the space’s capacity, according to the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

The evening highlighted just how strongly residents feel about the park’s future use and how desired outcomes vary even among friends.

People like Hermelinda Rodriguez, 32, and Consepcion Perez, 35, are friends and South Philly residents who have different priorities. Rodriguez’s relationship with the park, specifically the former golf course, which grew wild during the pandemic and became a favorite for hiking and dog walking, changed for the better in recent years.

“[The former golf course] turned into family spaces. It was nice to be able to have picnics, run, and play,” said Rodriguez of the space affectionally called “the meadows.”

Thirty-three acres of the former golf course would be used to create a wetland and hill that would mitigate the park’s constant flooding, and additional space would be used for 12 multipurpose athletic fields and four fields dedicated to baseball and softball, which Rodriguez feels is excessive, despite a need for more athletic fields in the city.

Perez, however, favors the current plan. Her son plays in a soccer club and she said good fields are hard to come by. Neither mom left satisfied with the meeting.

Had Rodriguez been able to get into the meeting, she would have liked to pitch a compromise. Instead, she left after waiting for half an hour.

“The kids are too scared,” she said in Spanish as she took her three children home and chanting continued as protesters demanded entry.

State Sen. Nikil Saval, who has said both the need for athletic fields and green space shouldn’t be at odds with each other, and State Rep. Regina Young stepped outside at one point and assured those in the crowd that they would be heard at future meetings.

Young said they should “trust the process” and was booed loudly.

Holding a giant bat cutout, Miranda Johnston bemoaned the kerfuffle outside. The 21-year-old West Philly resident said she was hoping to tell the hosts of the meeting that she felt the plan made the park and green space less accessible to most people.

“I think that was what they promised with this meeting, that they would hear some feedback,” Johnston said.

Inside, the actual meeting got off to an equally tense start with critics chiding the format — different stations where people could get an update on various phases of the redesign — demanding instead that all present officials take questions town-hall style.

Their demands highlighted that while Saval and Young promised people outside they could be heard at future meetings, Parks and Recreation and the Fairmount Park Conservancy, which is leading the plan’s implementation, are focused on getting people on board.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell said that while officials were hoping to answer questions regarding environmental concerns and dispel some myths, one thing is certain about the planned fields and other active recreation space: “We don’t see any of it changing.”

And while critics were loud, plenty of supporters in the crowd and others who simply had questions felt put off by the tone of the evening.

Katrina Staves, 47, came from West Philadelphia with her son who plays peewee football. They both wanted to know if they would be able to access the fields planned for FDR Park because her 12-year-old son, Ahmir Torrence, said his current practice field has “a lot of holes” that make it difficult to play.

“It would be nice to have nicer fields,” said Staves as she tried to make it to the front of the line.

Staff writer David Gambacorta contributed to this article.