Could Phillys World Cup bid mean an end to FDR Parks beloved wild meadow?
Philadelphia officials are pitching a popular natural area in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park to World Cup officials as a site for the development of a large practice site that would be used during the international soccer tournament. The proposed practice is one detail in the citys highly-anticipated bid to serve as one of 10 host spots for the 2026 World Cup. Competing against other American cities, Phillys host committee has pitched Lincoln Financial Field, the Philadelphia Eagles home stadium, as a potential venue for some of the 60 matches set to be played in the US. But more than one venue is needed for the bid to get support  and FDR Park has emerged as the citys pick for one of the several professional-grade practice facilities sought by FIFA, professional soccers global governing body, said Comcast executive David L Cohen, who chairs Philadelphias bid committee. The soccer-loving Comcast exec said officials offered FIFA six potential sites  including one that would involve the built-to-suit facility to be constructed within FDR, the largest swath of public land in South Philadelphia. Its more than just a park hack-around soccer field, it has to match the standards of the match play venue, he said, referring to Lincoln. At some point, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell said What about FDR Park?  Philadelphia Department of Parks & Recreation officials confirmed that initial discussions with FIFA had involved proposals to construct a facility on a section of the park described in an ambitious master plan as Pattison Fields. Formerly home to a golf course that shuttered in 2019 due to flooding issues, the area has since been maintained as a trail and wildlife area, informally known as the Meadows.  On the site of the Pattison Fields, weve been in conversations with the World Cup bid team about one or more of those fields being built and utilized as a potential training site for inclusion in the citys World Cup bid, said Maita Soukup, a spokesperson for Parks & Recreation.