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 The South Philadelphia Sports Complex as it existed in 2003–2004. Clockwise from top right:Citizens Bank Park,Lincoln Financial Field,Xfinity Mobile Arena (formerly the site ofJohn F. Kennedy Stadium), theSpectrum (razed in 2011), andVeterans Stadium (imploded in 2004).Interstate 95, which passes the complex, can be seen at the bottom right corner of the photo. | |
  South Philadelphia Sports Complex | |
| Address | Philadelphia,Pennsylvania United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°54′14″N75°10′08″W / 39.904°N 75.169°W /39.904; -75.169 |
| Facilities | Xfinity Mobile Arena Lincoln Financial Field Citizens Bank Park Stateside Live! |
| Public transit |  SEPTA Metro: (NRG Station)  SEPTA bus:4,17 |
TheSouth Philadelphia Sports Complex is the home of four prominentPhiladelphia professional sports teams. The complex is located inSouth Philadelphia and is the site ofXfinity Mobile Arena, home arena for thePhiladelphia 76ers,Philadelphia Flyers, andPhiladelphia Wings,Lincoln Financial Field, home field for thePhiladelphia Eagles,Citizens Bank Park, home field for thePhiladelphia Phillies, andStateside Live!, a sports retail and entertainment center, in addition to shared parking lots for the complex's venues.
Before its development, the region that is now the South Philadelphia Sports Complex was a shanty town known as "The Neck" of the undeveloped League Island area, formerlyPassyunk Township. Neckers developed an agricultural economy, raising hogs and growing vegetables to sell at markets in town. City officials who wanted to develop the area passed laws to outlaw these crucial aspects of its economy.
In 1911, pigs were banned within city limits.[1] For the next six years, Philadelphia police would regularly raid illegal pig farms, seize pigs and raze the shanties where farmers lived.[2]
As early as April 1914, "a plot of ground onBroad Street near the Navy Yard was also considered" as a location on which to erect a stadium for theArmy–Navy Game with a capacity greater thanFranklin Field andShibe Park, both of which had not yet been expanded in 1914.[3]
Oregon Avenue was the southern border of development in the city up to the 1920s.[1]
In 1926, the City selected the area south of Oregon Avenue for the1926 Sesquicentennial International Exposition and developed the large river delta land south of Oregon Avenue. SouthBroad 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 for the stadium.
Longshoremen, railroad workers and others continued to inhabit shanties along Stone House Lane through the 1950s, protected from eviction by Republican politicians who courted their community for political support. The street was ultimately cleared for development by the reform Democratic administration ofJoseph S. Clark Jr.[4]
The South Philadelphia Sports Complex was once home to three stadiums that have since been demolished:John F. Kennedy Stadium (1926–1992),Veterans Stadium (1971–2004), and theSpectrum (1967–2011).
Prior to building Veterans Stadium across Pattison Avenue north of JFK Stadium, family entertainment included a bowling alley and adrive-in theater, which 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.
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JFK Stadium was condemned in 1989 and demolished in 1992. JFK was home to the Eagles, thePhiladelphia Quakers of the firstAmerican Football League, thePhiladelphia Bell of theWorld Football League, and 42Army–Navy Games. It was also one of the host sites for the originalLive Aid concert in 1985, and the Jacksons Victory Tour in September 1984.
NRG Station on theSEPTA MetroB 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 anaming rights agreement in 2010; the naming rights passed toNRG Energy in 2018, which also maintains the complex's own solar and wind grid infrastructure to allow it to generate its own power.[5] 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.[6]SEPTA City Bus routes4 and17 provide service to the Sports Complex.[7]
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| Formation | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Headquarters | 3300 South 7th Street Philadelphia,Pennsylvania |
Region served | South Philadelphia Sports Complex |
| Website | http://www.scssd.org/ |
TheSports Complex Special Services District (SCSSD)is a501(c)(3)non-profit organization inPhiladelphia 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 ofSouth 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 Xfinity Mobile Arena 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.[8]
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), streettree 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 ofPacker Park andMarconi Plaza that are represented on the board by four neighborhood districts.
The Special District does not include the "Stateside Live!" dining entertainment built on the former site of the Spectrum Arena. The impact of traffic and patrons has raised concerns by the adjacent neighborhood community and the parkland ofFDR Park, which is seeking to have a mechanism to deal with it in an organized structure, similar to the SCSSD.
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