Mayor Kenney and City Officials Celebrate Ribbon Cutting at Glavin Playground
Rebuild and City invested $3M into the Port Richmond site providing modernized playground equipment and updated safety features
PHILADELPHIA (March 16, 2023) – Today, Mayor Kenney, City Officials and community members celebrated the opening of the newly renovated Glavin Recreation Center and Playground in Port Richmond. The improvements were made possible by the city’s Rebuild program, Philadelphia’s historic investment in public spaces.
With more than $3 million in investments by Rebuild, this site is now ready for community members of all ages to utilize the recreation center, basketball courts, spray ground, and playground. Glavin has also received extensive security updates, both inside the recreation center and on the playground so parents can feel confident sending their children off for activities.
Rebuild focuses on partnering with local minority businesses and vendors, as well as women, to complete all projects, and Glavin is no different. Rebuild is proud to announce that the contract participation rate and dollars spent on the project at Glavin was 52% towards Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and 15% to Women Business Enterprises (WBE). The overall diverse participation was 67%.
“Rebuild’s main priority is to provide safe and modern spaces for our communities where they can learn, grow and play. The youth is our city’s future, and they need to be invested in. Sites like Glavin should be the norm, not an exception, and that’s what Rebuild is striving towards with the help of our community members,” said Kira Strong, Rebuild Executive Director.
“The work that Rebuild is doing is critical to our city. Renovations at sites like Glavin instill trust in community members that the city truly does want the best for them. We’re very excited to see the community utilize these improvements that they deserve.” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, Parks & Recreation Commissioner.
Totaling $3 million in investment, the project updates include:
- Renovated recreation center with new flooring
- New HVAC system
- New fire alarms and safety systems
- New windows with security screens
- New curtainwall systems
- New bathrooms
- Updated lighting and new doors
- Modernized furniture
- Spray Playground
- Freshly paved sidewalks
- Outdoor site lighting
- New basketball court benches
- New Park benches
- New exterior seating
Glavin Playground is known to the northeast community as “A&W.” This site was named after Frank Glavin, who worked with the Department of Recreation. He helped create programs for children and adults with special needs. The updates to this site are designed to help continue Glavin’s work by providing an inviting community space for children and adults to prosper.
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Rebuild is a historic investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in neighborhood parks, recreation centers and libraries across Philadelphia. Proposed in Mayor Jim Kenney’s first budget as a part of his vision for a more equitable Philadelphia, Rebuild’s promise to acknowledge history, engage the community and invest intentionally seeks to uplift pivotal community spaces, empower neighborhoods, and promote economic opportunity through diversity and inclusion.
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR) advances the prosperity of the city and the progress of its people through stewardship of nearly 10,200 acres of public land and waterways, and management of 500 recreation buildings, 166 miles of trail, and 250 playgrounds. PPR offers safe, enjoyable recreation, environmental and cultural programs and events throughout Philadelphia’s parks and recreation system. PPR promotes the well-being and growth of the city’s residents by connecting them to the natural world, to each other and to fun, physical and social opportunities. In 2017, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell, set about implementing the park system’s first strategic plan: Our Path to 2020 and Beyond. As a result, PPR is undertaking a period of historic change, setting the department on a course to become a modern, equitable and exceptional parks and recreation system. Visit us at www.phila.gov/parksandrec, and follow @philaparkandrec on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
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