South Philadelphia Sports Complex

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South Philadelphia Sports Complex
South Philadelphia Sports Complex.jpg
The South Philadelphia Sports Complex as it existed in 2003–2004. Clockwise from top right: Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, Wells Fargo Center (formerly the site of John F. Kennedy Stadium), the Spectrum (razed in 2011), and Veterans Stadium (imploded in 2004). Interstate 95, which passes the complex, can be seen at the bottom right corner of the photo.
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South Philadelphia Sports Complex
Address Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
Coordinates 39°54′4″N75°10′19″W / 39.90111°N 75.17194°W / 39.90111; -75.17194
Facilities Wells Fargo Center
Lincoln Financial Field
Citizens Bank Park
Xfinity Live!

The South Philadelphia Sports Complex is the home of four major Philadelphia professional sports teams. The complex is located in South Philadelphia and is the site of the Wells Fargo Center, home arena for the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, Lincoln Financial Field, home field for the Philadelphia Eagles, Citizens Bank Park, home field for the Philadelphia Phillies, and Xfinity Live!, a sports retail and entertainment center.

Contents

History

The South Philadelphia Sports Complex was also once home to three iconic and since demolished stadiums: John F. Kennedy Stadium (1926–1992), Veterans Stadium (1971–2004), and the Spectrum (1967–2011). Prior to its development, the region that now is the South Philadelphia Sports Complex was a shanty town known as "The Neck" of the undeveloped League Island area, formerly Passyunk Township. Oregon Avenue was the southern border end of the city up to the 1920s.

As early as April 1914, "a plot of ground on Broad Street near the Navy Yard was also considered" as a location on which to erect a stadium for the Army–Navy Game with a capacity greater than Franklin Field and Shibe Park, both of which had not yet been expanded in 1914. [1]

In 1926 the City selected the area south of Oregon Avenue for the 1926 Sesquicentennial International Exposition and developed the large river delta land south of Oregon Avenue. South Broad Street was a grand European-styled boulevard surrounded by massive exhibit buildings and structures that were to be a testament to American science, culture, and progress for the future. Following the close of the celebration of these 150 years of American Independence on the Avenue of the Colonies of South Broad Street came quick total demolition except of the stadium.

Prior to building Veterans Stadium across Packer Avenue north of JFK Stadium was family entertainment of a bowling alley, and a drive-in theater that was a venue created by Camden, New Jersey, chemical company magnate Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr., whose family owned and operated the R.M. Hollingshead Corporation chemical plant in Camden and that peaked in popularity in the 1950s and 1960s.

Current facilities

Citizens Bank Park (2004-present) Fieldatthepark.jpg
Citizens Bank Park (2004–present)
Lincoln Financial Field (2003-present) Philly (45).JPG
Lincoln Financial Field (2003–present)
Wells Fargo Center (1996-present) Philly (35).jpg
Wells Fargo Center (1996–present)

Former facilities

The Spectrum (1967-2011) Spectrum1.jpg
The Spectrum (1967–2011)
Veterans Stadium (1971-2004) Veterans stade.png
Veterans Stadium (1971–2004)
John F. Kennedy Stadium (1926-1992) Municipal Stadium Philadelphia.jpg
John F. Kennedy Stadium (1926–1992)

Transportation

NRG station on SEPTA's Broad Street Line is within walking distance of the three venues in the area. It was once known as Pattison Station until it was renamed AT&T Station under a naming rights agreement in 2010; the naming rights passed to NRG in 2018. NRG station is served by local trains along with special Sports Express trains making limited stops along the line before and after events at the Sports Complex. [2] SEPTA City Bus routes 4 and 17 provide service to the Sports Complex. [3]

Sports Complex Special Services District

Sports Complex Special Services District
Formation2002
Type 501(c)(3)
Headquarters3300 South 7th Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Region served
South Philadelphia Sports Complex
Website http://www.scssd.org/

The Sports Complex Special Services District (SCSSD)is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Philadelphia that was established in the year 2002 to minimize the impact of concentrating major sporting and entertainment facilities in a geographic area adjacent to established Philadelphia residential neighborhoods of South Philadelphia.

The mission is to protect community interests, improve neighborhood quality of life, and promote efficient operation within the neighborhood(s) of adjacent sports venues of the Citizen's Ball Park, Lincoln Financial Field, multi-event Wachovia Center and the former Spectrum Arena(demolished 2010). The mission is fulfilled by providing support and special services to the residential neighborhood(s) in close proximity to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. [4]

Primary areas of supportive improvements include attention to traffic calming, directional signage, and orderly traffic patterns and flows, removal of an abundance of excess curbside street and sidewalk trash and debris with dedicated cleaning teams (other than normal City provided services), street tree care for over a thousand trees, landscape beautification of several public medial areas and walkways, recreational facility upgrades, upgrades to street lighting and traffic light enhancements, public safety initiatives, conducts special community events, attends public and civil meetings, circulates a calendar and newsletters, and provides announcements of high traffic events scheduled at the Complex so neighbors can plan family events and travel with knowledge of conditions in advance.

The boundary of the Special District is bounded by Oregon Avenue to the north, 7th Street to the east, I-95 to the south, and 20th Street to the west. It includes the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Packer Park and Marconi Plaza that are represented on the board by four neighborhood districts.

The Special District does not include the "Xfinity Live!" dining entertainment built on the former site of the Spectrum Arena. The impact of traffic and patrons have raised concerns by the adjacent neighborhood community and the parkland of FDR Park seeking to have a mechanism to deal with it in an organized structure, similar to the SCSSD.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sesquicentennial Exposition</span>

The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926 was a world's fair in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its purpose was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the 50th anniversary of the 1876 Centennial Exposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia)</span> Multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

The Wells Fargo Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia. It serves as the home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The arena lies at the southwest corner of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park, and Xfinity Live!.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy Stadium (Philadelphia)</span> Formerly an open-air stadium in Philadelphia

John F. Kennedy Stadium, formerly Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Sesquicentennial Stadium, was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia that stood from 1926 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was on the east side of the far southern end of Broad Street at a location now part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Designed by the architectural firm of Simon & Simon in a classic 1920s style with a horseshoe seating design that surrounded a track and football field, at its peak the facility seated in excess of 102,000 people. Bleachers were later added at the open (North) end. The shape of the stadium resembles the horseshoe configuration of Harvard Stadium built in 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spectrum (arena)</span> Former indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Spectrum was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Opened in September 1967 as part of what is now known as the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, after several expansions of its seating capacity it accommodated 18,168 for basketball and 17,380 for ice hockey, arena football, indoor soccer, and box lacrosse.

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South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west. A diverse working-class community of many neighborhoods, South Philadelphia is well-known for its large Italian-American population, but it also contains large Asian American, Irish-American, African-American, and Latino populations.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NRG station</span> Rapid transit station in Philadelphia, U.S.

NRG station is the southern terminus of SEPTA's Broad Street Line, located at 3600 South Broad Street, at the intersection with Pattison Avenue in the South Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station's naming rights were sold to NRG Energy in 2018. Previously, naming rights were sold to AT&T for eight years.

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Marconi Plaza is an urban park square located in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The plaza was named to recognize the 20th-century cultural identity in Philadelphia of the surrounding Italian-American enclave neighborhood and became the designation location of the annual Columbus Day Parade.

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Xfinity Live! Philadelphia is a dining and entertainment complex located at the corner of 11th and Pattison Avenue in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex on the former site of the Spectrum. It has become a media hub for various live broadcasts.

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References

  1. "Army-Navy Game Will Be Played Here Or Not At All, Navy Is Quoted". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 1, 1914. p. 14.
  2. "Broad Street Line Sports Express". SEPTA. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  3. SEPTA Official Philadelphia Transit & Street Map (PDF) (Map). SEPTA. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  4. "ABOUT SCSSD". www.scssd.org. Sports Complex Special Services District. 2009.

39°54′12″N75°10′08″W / 39.9033°N 75.1688°W / 39.9033; -75.1688