Let’s fight to keep FDR Park wild | Opinion

Most of the stories on this site are about facts and evidence; this op-ed is about feelings.

It is about the feeling of peace I get when my dog and I are the only ones in the meadows at FDR Park chasing rabbits. It is about the feeling of joy I get when I watch my 2-year-old play in a little stick hut made by other children, which was seemingly constructed just for the thrill of building something that will not last. It is about the pride I feel as I watch my older kids push the 2-year-old on the makeshift swing that someone made out of boards and hung on a tree. This was done without a grant, without a governmental order, and without a ribbon-cutting — and it feels like a miracle.

The city has developed a lovely plan for FDR Park, including turning the decommissioned golf course on the northwestern end of the park — now known as The Meadows — into ball fields. But the pandemic changed a lot of things. For one, the community stepped into the brambles and overgrown trees on that old golf course to clear hiking paths, make art, plant gardens, and build play areas. Around every turn, parkgoers are continuously adding new treasures to surprise and delight kids and grown-ups alike.

“Around every turn, parkgoers are continuously adding new treasures to surprise and delight kids and grown-ups alike.”

It happened so organically, I felt I was in the fantastic children’s story Where the Wild Things Are: The Meadows grew and grew until the walls became the world all around. So many of us in the city live hemmed in by walls, by traffic noises, by neighbors shouting. It is a rare thing to have a place in an inner city where anyone, without needing to drive or pay money, can go and get lost in the woods.

When planning new recreational areas or revitalizing old ones, cities need buy-in from the community. So why would the city want to destroy an area that has already created so much buy-in? Why not build upon what this community has already created for itself? The soccer fields are also important, but I believe we can find some alternative spaces for them; it would be impossible to recreate the natural, artistic, and community environment that has grown magically in The Meadows.

In an era of diversity and equity initiatives, The Meadows draw a variety of backgrounds — all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons. Go on any given day and you might see a wedding, a walking club, teens planting herbs as part of a work-ready program, hipsters playing electronic music, dog walkers, and young families.

One is “nature bathing,” or Nature Rx. Tons of articles and academic research point to the physical and mental health benefits of getting outside. This is not just about getting kids to play in safe, human-constructed outdoor spaces like playgrounds and gardens, but getting into the wild. I do not know of any other space in the city so accessible (you can bike, walk, or take public transit to FDR Park) that can be considered wild. The Wissahickon and John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge are beautiful but hard to access without a car.

» READ MORE: Philly’s plan to build soccer fields and a driving range in FDR Park is sparking opposition

Philly needs a place where our kids and our dogs can get muddy, roll around in stinky things, play hide-and-seek in the tall grasses, get lost in the brambles, chase butterflies, and toss rocks into a creek for the pure joy of hearing them plop. Let’s fight to keep it wild — and let’s work together to find an alternative location for organized sports.

Rachel Howe is a writer and mom of four who has been proud to call South Philly her home for nearly 20 years.