SAVE THE MEADOWS
Save the Meadows is a grassroots coalition opposing the privatization and destruction of South Philly’s largest urban woodland in FDR Park. STM came together in 2022 to respond to the City’s flawed and unpopular plan to redevelop 175 acres of natural land and install pay-to-play tournament fields made of toxic artificial turf.
STM advocates for environmental justice, public health, community stewardship, and equal access to our public parks and natural lands, and rejects the false choice between youth athletic fields and preserving vital green space.
Philadelphia’s children deserve both.
How you can help save the Meadows!
CONTRIBUTE to the Legal Fund!
Since Commonwealth Court reversed the lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit against the FDR Park Plan, the case will go to trial!
STM has committed to providing financial support for the lawsuit. Please consider a donation. Any amount helps! Donate now!
SIGN the petition!
Sign and share this petition to demand that Mayor Parker and City Council STOP the destruction of the FDR Meadows, South Philadelphia's only public green space with urban meadow and woodlands.
Choose your action!
Join the movement, create an action, contact your councilperson, the Mayor’s office, and your state representatives. Your voice matters! Tell them why you believe the FDR Masterplan must be revised! Phone numbers & emails are available here under action #3.
The development and privatization of our public lands is out of control.
The Parker Administration’s plan for FDR Park ignores the needs and desires of the community. It poses serious risks to the environment and public health, and sets a dangerous precedent of public land being handed over for private use—something we, the public, do not accept.
Philadelphia Parks & Rec, with its partner the Fairmount Park Conservancy, is clear-cutting our parkland to build a $100 million sports complex with 16 toxic artificial turf playing fields to rent to out-of-town tournaments, while neglecting most of the 192 neighborhood playing fields we already have.
The plan was created behind closed doors by the Conservancy, a private entity, in 2018 — before PFAS was found in artificial turf, before the golf course was closed, and before the pandemic, when many members of our community discovered the healing powers of the Meadows.
The plan misrepresents community input. The majority who responded to the Conservancy’s surveys wanted more access to nature in FDR Park, not a jump from 5 to 16 playing fields.
Artificial turf causes more injuries than grass, contains cancer-causing PFAS (hazardous for kids), increases urban temperatures, and harms the environment. Other cities, such as Boston are banning it.
South Philly has only 5% tree canopy cover — lowest in the city. The current FDR Plan will destroy its largest woodland, a crucial green space that protects us from flooding, extreme heat, and air pollution.
Save The Meadows is fighting the misinformation, greenwashing, and suppression of democratic processes by Parks & Rec and the Conservancy.
Support our work with a donation.
What’s happening to the FDR Park Meadows?
As of January 2026, Philadelphia Parks & Rec and the Fairmount Park Conservancy have built nothing in the huge area they cleared in May and June of 2024: the “Pattison Fields” phase of this $256 million plan, west and south of Bellaire Manor. The picnic grove and nearly 50 irreplaceable heritage trees were destroyed, among hundreds of others. The plan shows five artificial turf athletic fields, plus roads and parking lots in this section of the Meadows.
Although at least 75 acres have been clear-cut, there are still 100 acres of habitat and tree canopy left to save from toxic turf and development. The Meadows are magical; the development plan is controversial. Let Parks and Rec and your Council members know that access to wild green space is important to South Philadelphians!
Want to learn more? Visit our FAQ page or read about greenwashing.
Images below show the Phase 1 for Pattison Fields Sports complex and the heritage trees cut down in 2024 by the Fairmount Park “Conservancy” on behalf of the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department.
