What’s happening to the FDR Park Meadows?
Philadelphia Parks & Rec, with its partner the Fairmount Park Conservancy, is clear-cutting South Philadelphia’s only urban woodland park to build a $100 million sports complex with 16 artificial turf playing fields, as part of the $256 million FDR Park master plan.
But as of August 2026, the Conservancy doesn’t have permit, let alone the money, to complete the job. There’s still almost 100 acres of tree canopy and wildlife habitat left to save from toxic turf and development — and to visit and enjoy!
So far, they’ve clear-cut 75 acres, including a huge area west and south of Bellaire Manor, bulldozed in May and June of 2024 for the “Pattison Fields” phase of the plan. Hundreds of trees were destroyed, including 48 irreplaceable heritage trees, leaving a vast expanse of dirt and scrub.
At its eastern edge, where the Picnic Grove once stood, the first of the 16 planned turf fields is nearing completion.
The first field under construction. What kind of “conservancy” would do this?
The Pattison Fields phase, showing the heritage trees cut down in 2024 for turf fields and parking lots.
Development and privatization of public land is out of control
The FDR Park Plan is a handover of public property to a private organization. It ignores the needs and desires of the community. It poses serious risks to the environment and public health.
The plan was created behind closed doors by a private entity, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, in 2018 — before the golf course was closed, before community members discovered the healing powers of the Meadows during the pandemic, and before PFAS was found in artificial turf.
South Philly has only 5% tree canopy cover — the lowest in the city. The plan will destroy a crucial green space that protects us from flooding, extreme heat, and air pollution, and replace over 30 acres of it with artificial turf, which increases urban temperatures, harms the environment, causes more injuries than grass, and contains cancer-causing PFAS.
The plan misrepresents community input. The majority who responded to the Conservancy’s surveys asked for more access to nature in FDR Park — not more athletic fields.
The Conservancy will be in charge of nearly all operations. Its stated objective is to make the park pay for itself by renting out the fields and other facilities. Even the newly renovated Welcome Center is to be an expensive catering hall.
The park belongs to the people!
Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania’s Ceremony for the Trees, March 10, 2024
You can help save 100 acres of natural land
Sign and share this petition
Demand that Mayor Parker and City Council STOP the destruction of the FDR Meadows, South Philadelphia's only urban meadow and woodlands.
Make your voice heard
Contact the Mayor, your Councilmember, and your state legislators, and tell them why the FDR Park Plan must be revised (how to contact them).
Contribute
Save The Meadows has committed to providing financial support for South Philly neighbors who are suing the City to stop the FDR Park Plan. Any amount helps! Donate to the legal fund here — or donate to STM’s operating expenses here.
Choose your action
Join the movement, hold an event, create an action, spread the word! If you have an idea, email us!
The Inquirer confirms: The Phillies rebuilt Ashburn Field in FDR Park without getting the proper permit from the state Dept. of Environmental Protection — just to be done in time for All-Star week. Worse, they say the city “authorized” the work to proceed without the permit. That’s a power the city doesn’t have.
Read more in our latest email update.