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It’s early afternoon in Kensington’s McPherson Square, a public park behind the McPherson public library at 601 E. Indiana Ave.
The square has long been known as “Needle Park” — an unfortunate moniker for a place infamous for the hypodermic needles that litter the grounds long after their users have wandered off in a druggy haze.
On this particular afternoon, a Friday, the grass is again scattered with objects; people are shouting. The neighbors that surround the park have opened their doors to investigate.
But the lawn is not dotted with needles, but with hammers, plywood planks and playground equipment. The shouts aren’t violent or drug-fueled, they are encouraging, excited. This time, the neighbors look on with smiles.
McPherson Square is filled with volunteers building a brand new playground.
The construction is a combined effort of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, the Impact Service Corporation, Wells Fargo, Philadelphia Flyers Charities and KaBOOM!, a nonprofit that builds playgrounds in just a day.
It’s a colorful sight, with Flyers volunteers in orange, Wells Fargo folks in red, and KaBOOM! volunteers in everything from bright purple shirts to glittery oversized hats. Impact Service Corporation representatives wore shirts reading “K&A, The Heart of Kensington.”
Construction kicked off at 8:30 a.m., and continued for about six hours. Some 200 volunteers came together to haul beams, posts and poles and erect swings and slides. Last Wednesday, community kids gathered at the McPherson Square Library to draw their ideas for a dream park — the final construction incorporated some of those little minds’ visions.
Volunteers young and old — one 87-year-old neighborhood woman was working inside the library to help prepare lunch for the volunteers — broke a sweat while pop music blasted from speakers.
Kathryn Ott Lovell of the Fairmount Park Conservancy said the park construction could bring about great change for the troubled area.
“There are great issues at McPherson Square Park, but also great opportunities,” she said.
Asked if neighbors will now consider the park a safe place for their children to play, Ott Lovell said the park can only help.
“We’re not going to solve it [the park’s drug problem] today, but I think parks can be a catalyst for change,” she said.
Phillis Martino of Impact Service Corporation — a local development and jobs organization — agreed that the new playground won’t solve everything; it’s not, as she said, a “one and done” solution.
She said that at least that day, there was not a single needle in the park. Volunteers had picked them all up.
“This will create momentum, encourage momentum,” she said, adding that the construction efforts seek to boot out drug users in the park.
“You fight it until you displace them,” she said, “And then you displace them permanently.”
Kimberly Allen of Wells Fargo said the bank has invested over $1 million in the neighborhood in the past few years to various efforts. The reason is simple.
“It’s a community in need,” Allen said. “The greatest in the city.”
Awilda Ocasio, Impact Services’ community outreach volunteer, also a neighbor of the park, knows the needs of the community first hand. Leading up to building day, she went door-to-door in Kensington telling neighbors the news and asking for helping hands.
“They said, ‘Oh, I’ll believe it when I see it,’” Ocasio said. “[Now] they are amazed, they cannot believe that this is happening. They are happy to take the park back.”
Martino said it’s an uphill battle to bring the park back from its “Needle Park” reputation, but its one to which the community must dedicate itself.
No one that day seemed to be working under the impression that the park would solve everything, or that every neighbor would feel confident sending a child into a space that’s been considered a lion’s den for so long.
They did, however, seem to believe that efforts like the construction of an new park help take back MacPherson Square, even one square foot at a time.
“If anyone has a magic wand, we’d like to borrow it,” Martino said. “But until then, it takes persistence and hard work.”
Managing Editor Mikala Jamison can be reached at 215–354–3113 or at mjamison@bsmphilly.com.
