Expanding the playing field

The Neumann-Goretti athletic squads are among many that will have access to a redesigned 'super site' at 12th and Bigler streets.

By Bill Gelman South Philadelphia Review
January 13, 2005

The Neumann-Goretti girls' soccer team needs a field for games and practices.

The boys' soccer squad needs one too.

So does the football team.

In their first year as a consolidated school, the three squads shared facilities at Palumbo Recreation Center, 10th and Fitzwater streets, and at the old St. John Neumann High, 26th and Moore streets.

The athletes will have a more permanent outdoor home once the South Philadelphia High/Bok Tech athletic field renovations are completed in the fall.

The South Philadelphia Communities Civic Association set up the arrangement with the School District of Philadelphia over the last month. Stella Maris athletic teams also will share the fields at 12th and Bigler along with year-round tenants Southern and Bok.

The Rev. Michael Olivere, president of Ss. John Neumann and Maria Goretti High, expressed his gratitude during Monday night's SPCCA meeting at Stella Maris School Hall, 814 Bigler St.

"On behalf of the school, I would like to say we are very grateful for this facility and our teams being able to use it," the president said.

The project is one of four "super sites" being renovated by the school district, which has budgeted $2.5 million toward the project. The others are in Northeast Philadelphia and Germantown and at Simon Gratz High School. The South Philadelphia project is the most expensive.

This month, the district is obtaining permits and next month will begin taking bids for the work.

When completed, the complex will include one synthetic football field with a rubber track instead of the two that were part of the original design and two full-sized baseball fields that will overlap two practice football fields. The super site also will include goal posts and a soccer field, along with a new grandstand and scoreboard.

The main entrance for football will be on 10th Street, while the entrance for baseball, soccer and the offices will be on Bigler Street. There will be two parking facilities within the complex.

Residents continued to express concerns about traffic and parking during Monday's meeting.

SPCCA president Tony Greco has maintained that the school district has responded to such concerns by eliminating an entrance across the street from Stella Maria and including the two lots.

The renovations also are expected to end the site's attraction as a hangout and target for vandalism.

Gates will be locked after scheduled activities, and security lights will be installed to assist security and police surveillance. Greco said no game will start after 6 p.m. and lights will be out by 9. A committee made up of neighborhood residents, the SPCCA, the Sports Complex Special Services District, the school district and representatives from the offices of Council President Anna Verna, state Rep. Bill Keller and state Sen. Vincent Fumo will approve permits for all groups using the facility.

"You can't use the field unless you are permitted," Greco said.