Police investigate vandalism of equipment at FDR Park as work begins on wetlands project

Philadelphia Police are investigating the vandalism of construction equipment at FDR Park, where crews broke ground this week on a controversial project to create a 33-acre wetland.

Police responded to the incident, which involved damage to a Bobcat and digging excavator, Thursday morning. In addition to graffiti and broken wires, police said sugar was poured into a tank. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

The incident comes as some park users are mobilizing to oppose the project and raise questions about the excavation process that is to remove debris and invasive plants, called grubbing, to create Parks and Recreation’s reimagined wetland. Crews are currently clearing what will become the wetland and a soil hill, which includes 9.5 acres of a former golf course and will act as a soil repository to raise other areas of the park above sea level.

South Philly residents like Caryn Kunkle say that since the golf course closed, people use “the meadows” to hike or walk their dogs on a daily basis. They’d like to keep the space as is.

Kunkle said that during her hike Wednesday morning, trees were being cut down along a trail people were walking on.

“No barriers for the public, no signs, nothing warning people that if they’re hiking back here that they are falling hundred-year-old trees,” said Kunkle in a video she shared with The Inquirer.

The Philadelphia International Airport is funding the project to offset any wetlands and waterways affected by its air cargo facilities expansion. Airport spokesperson Heather Redfern said signage was posted last week and this week but had been repeatedly stolen or vandalized. Workers have been installing fencing along and near walking trails to mark areas of construction, said Redfern.

Residents also questioned why trees that appear to be healthy and mature were being cut down. If nature is already taking over parts of the park, opponents of the wetlands project say, cutting down trees to make a wetland doesn’t make sense.

Parks and Rec has framed the wetland project as a way to protect the space, which was carved out of tidal marshes, and return it to its natural state. The addition of two tidal gates and the creation of the wetland is to mitigate flooding that is expected to worsen due to climate change.

“If we just left it the way it was, the park would not be there in a generation,” said Cari Feiler Bender, a spokesperson for the Fairmount Park Conservancy.

Bender said hydrology, environmental, and landscape experts consulted for the project found the current plan to create a wetland and raise the park’s former golf course above sea level the best way to improve drainage.

Bender could not speak to whether the canopy being cut down was invasive or how healthy trees and shrubbery were. Instead, she pointed to the 7,000 trees and 1,700 bushes and shrubs — suited specifically for wetlands — that will be planted.

Parks and Rec spokesperson Maita Soukup said only six heritage trees — defined as high-quality native trees of a certain age — would be felled to make room for the wetlands.

The plan to revamp the park kicked off in May as the city broke ground on a new welcome center, with 11 more nature-focused projects in the pipeline through 2026. The projects will cost close to $45.5 million and will include a plant nursery, a nature playground, Shedbrook Creek restoration, and a five-mile soft-surface trail network across 100 acres of the park’s ecological core.

Still, opposition is mounting, with elected officials State Sen. Nikil Saval and Councilmember Helen Gym speaking out against the construction — and a Change.org petition has garnered 5,300 signatures demanding the park be left alone.

For residents like Kat Kending, an environmental advocate involved in the Save the Meadows campaign, Parks and Rec has failed to be transparent when communicating changes to the park. Ultimately, opponents of the plan are looking for a pause in construction.

“COVID happened and it changed people’s relationship to the outdoors,” said Kendon. “We feel that it’s reasonable to revisit a plan that was written in pre-pandemic and understand users’ needs today.”