PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Live! Casino in South Philadelphia will donate $750,000 to help complete the rebuild of a neighborhood park. The casino and city officials pulled out all the stops Tuesday to celebrate the donation.
The Mummers, food, cocktails and former Eagle Ron Jaworski leading an "E-A-G-L-E-S" cheer were all part of the announcement, by owner John Cordish, that Live! Casino is giving the city’s Rebuild program the money to finish the rehab of Murphy Recreation Center in South Philadelphia.
“Murphy Rec Center is a critical hub for the community,” said Cordish. “We hope this contribution will impact the residents for generations to come.”
Mayor Jim Kenney says Murphy was actually the inspiration for the Rebuild program — the half-billion dollar program to restore city facilities. The field at Murphy, where he spent his youth playing football, had become a dust bowl from overuse.
“Then our kids get on a bus and go out to the suburbs and walk onto a manicured field, stands for the fans, concessions, locker rooms, showers and they must get back on the bus and say, ‘What is wrong with us?’” said Kenney.
Kenney says he was determined that Philly kids would have facilities as good as those for suburban kids. Rebuild is in the midst of rehabbing 75 sites. At Murphy, $4.5 million was budgeted, but there were more repairs needed than were expected.
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“We have a field crisis. We know that young people who play football and soccer have to travel to the suburbs, otherwise they risk forfeiting their games because our fields are unplayable. This gift will change that for the young people in South Philadelphia,” said Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell.
Rebuild director Kira Strong says the casino money means the job will be complete. “Safe, clean, high quality, absolutely what our kids deserve,” she assured.
The money is part of the casino’s community benefits package. To secure its site, Live! agreed to invest $15 million in the area over ten years. With this donation, on its second anniversary, the investment is up to $2.3 million.