Mayor Kenney and others show power in rebuilding city playgrounds

Mayor Kenney and others show power in rebuilding city playgrounds

By Jim Brown

“When a light shine, everyone should see a ray of hope.” It shined on Mantua.

With social distancing measures in place and the wearing of masks in the fight against COVID-19, Mayor Jim Kenney and other City officials converged on the Miles Mack Playground at 732 N. 36 th Street for its first Rebuild Ground Breaking Ceremony since the city closed down in March 2020. There were over 50 residents and officials in attendance.

On Tuesday, October 13, in the Mantua section of West Philadelphia, passionately known as “The Bottom,” Mayor Jim Kenney and his staff, along with City Councilperson, Jamie Gauthier, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Katherine Ott-Lovell, Rebuild Executive, Director Kira Strong, Philadelphia Mural Arts Executive Director Jane Golden, Supervisor of Miles Mack Play- ground, Ms. Khadijah Muhammad, Marques Brown, and I, were honored to give Mantua residents the big picture and a future makeover for its oldest playground as part of the city’s Rebuild Initiative Program.

Neighborhoods across Philadelphia with playgrounds have been blighted and outdated with minimal repairs to their facilities over time. But Mayor Jim Kenney found a creative way to give city playgrounds the great makeover for Philly’s children and their families.

Mayor Jim Kenney and other City officials, and Marques Brown, the son of the late Miles Mack whose name the playground bears.

“Well it was chosen (Miles Mack Playground) because it desperately needs the love,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Katherine Ott-Lovell. “I mean improvements are needed but it has a lot of love. But it definitely needed the capital investments and it’s a neighborhood that had waited a really long time for an investment like this.”

“It was beyond time and I couldn’t be more excited,” adds Mrs. Ott- Lovell. “Because, you know it means so much to this community with an incredible Rec. leader here (Ms. Khadijah Muhammad), a great system and staff. But not nearly the type of amenities that they need to meet this community appropriately, so, I’m really excited to see this and I did not expect to see such an active construction site. This is really happening and it’s a little scary, but it’s gonna be a tremendous center when it’s completed and a total game changer for this community.”

The Soda Beverage Tax has generated over $260 million dollars since the Soda tax was in place in 2017 and as the Mayor has said, the revenue from the tax has helped give improvements to Playgrounds, Parks, PHLpre-K and Community Schools. “You can look at the center (Miles Mack) and see that it’s seen better days,” said Mayor Kenney. “The equipment needs to be upgraded, the spray paint needed to be done and the building needs to be improved. I think the kids in this neighborhood deserve to have a facility that we’re all proud of and that they can go to and be safe and just be good kids and good citizens.”

The Miles Mack Playground was selected for rebuild enhancements as part of the City’s first phase to it rebuild initiative for the Department of Parks and Recreation. The playground’s supervisor Ms. Khadijah Muhammad was excited to get the call that her playground was part of a great future makeover.

Councilperson Jamie Gauthier was on hand and showed her excitement for the project. “I think it’s truly amazing,” said Gauthier. “I think it’s an investment, not just in this center and facility, but in this neighborhood, which has been crying out for investment for a long time. And I also think that this is a time when we need “safe spaces” in our neighborhoods for families to be able to play and to enjoy. So, I’m just thrilled that this is happening for this community.”

The original thoughts in 2019 for a budget was between $600 to $800 million dollars but Executive Director Kira Strong of the Rebuild Initiative brings Mantua exciting news of the improvements that it takes to make a great city playground that the community will love when it’s rebuilt. The value of its rebuild project is now a $2.2 million dollar renovation project that will be completed within the next 9-12 months in 2021.

“This rebuild means a lot,” said Strong. “The City has been invested in West Philadelphia and the Mantua area particularly for a long time. I think there’s a recognition that there is such a strong community fabric here and real advocates, who really, really care about their neighborhood.”

“So, to see this facility get the polish on it, it deserves,” added Ms. Strong. “This is a facility that these residents deserve, and it was well deserved. It’s really important.”

The Miles Mack Playground is Mantua’s oldest playground and its only playground with a multipurpose field. Also, the construction of the rebuild project is created by a minority-women owned construction company and 50% of the workers on the project will be minorities.

“I think it was a good thing,” said DeWayne Drummond, President of Mantua Civic Associa- tion. “It’s a good thing for Mantua. It’s a good thing for this playground. And I think it’s empowering and enriching.”

Marques Brown, son of Miles Mack for whom the playground bears his name, showed lot of emotion and passion for re-energizing his father’s vision and received great applause for his speech from those in attendance.

“It feels surreal,” says Marques Brown. “That I’m standing here right now talking about my dad’s legacy and the legacy of Mantuans from his generation and my generation, because he was an extension from the YGS era as well. And I know how much this playground meant to him as a child and as an adult, because he had his league here (called the X-Tra Miles Basketball League) and that was no accident.”

“So, I’m very interested in seeing what we can do next to take on the Dr. Herman C. Wrice legacy and the Miles Mack legacy,” adds Mr. Brown. “And that kids have these things, they should know about these people forever.”

After the ceremony, we talked to the late Miles Mack’s grandson Marques Brown, Jr. about what he thought about the ground breaking and what it will mean to have a rebuilt playground.

“I think it’s really cool,” explains Marques Brown, Jr. “Just for the fact the I’ve been growing up at that playground. So, I think that it’s good that they’re upgrading it so that the kids can get more out of it. It will give us different programs and keep kids off the streets.”

Rebuilding this community playground should resonate to young people that city playgrounds can be their “Field of Dreams” and with the passion of men and women from the community, they can be given an opportunity to be in a Safe Place without the threat of harm of being a young person or kid in the right place.

Community Photo Journalist and Youth Advocate, Jim Brown was asked by Amber Burns of the Mayor’s Office to take part in the Ground Breaking Ceremony and also be one of the honored speakers, said this about his participation in the ceremony.

“This is one of the greatest moments in my life,” says Mr. Brown. “To be honored to be in the Ground Breaking Ceremony and to talk about my childhood at this playground when it was the McAlpin Playground and what this rebuild means to me was a great shared moment. My speech resonated to many in the crowd, but none like it did to Mayor Jim Kenney who played youth football with the E.O.M (Edward O’Malley) Organization that was my Young Great Society (YGS) Organization in 1972.”

“It’s nice to see that when the men and women of your community can provide positive alternatives to young people, their “Field of Dreams” can come true over time when adults give back to the kids in their respective communities.”