Vare Recreation Center sets a ‘goal for the city’ with grand reopening after $21 million renovation

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City officials cut the ribbon Monday evening on the newly renovated Vare Recreation Center, the first project completed by Rebuild Philadelphia to cost more than $20 million.

Renovations cost $21 million, bringing a full indoor basketball gym to Grays Ferry and a gymnastics gym with new equipment. The Philadelphia Eagles have donated $250,000 toward a new outdoor field expected to be completed by spring.

The facility will also include space that can be converted into new classrooms. Of the city’s 183 rec centers, Vare is the first to receive fiber-optic high-speed internet that will be utilized in the facility’s new computer lab. Parks and Rec Commissioner Susan Slawson said this project is the department’s “goal for the city of Philadelphia.”

“We want every child who steps into this rec center to know their city values and believes in them,” Slawson said. “We want every parent to know that their children have a safe and secure place to learn to play and to grow.”

The facility, which is more than a century old, was once crumbling at the seams. But over the past two years, work went into transforming it into a state-of-the-art facility. City Council President Kenyatta Johnson called the rec center a hub for kids throughout Point Breeze and Grays Ferry.

“I remember when the building started to become dilapidated and we had, like, these two rebars on the side holding up this particular rec center,” Johnson said. “We had to make sure that it was steady enough to still make sure that our programs still operated inside this particular building, so it’s just a warm feeling to have this opportunity to see what’s available for the kids in South Philadelphia today.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker thanked former Mayor Jim Kenney for his work getting the Rebuild program off the ground and said projects like the Vare renovation are what the city government will “be judged on.”

“How many times can we duplicate what you have done here in neighborhoods across the city? How can we not just do this with Parks and Rec, but we do it with housing?” Parker said. “Tangible results that will help to put people on the path to self-sufficiency and actually change their lives. This is also how I believe we will unite Philadelphia to truly be one Philly, a united city.”

Funds for the renovation came from the city’s soda tax, $1 million came from the Rosenthal Foundation, $525,000 came from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Community Conservation Partnerships Program and $250,000 came from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Greenways, Trails, and Recreation Program.

The project was completed as part of Rebuild Philadelphia with support from the Make the World Better Foundation, founded by former Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin.

“There is nothing more important to young kids’ development and their future success in our city than giving kids a safe place to play and be kids,” Barwin said. “And I stood up here over there three years ago and said we’re going to build the best rec center in Philadelphia, and I know we all built the best rec center in Philadelphia.”

The new upgrades include:

• 7,000-square-foot indoor basketball gymnasium with spectator bleachers
• 4,900-square-foot gymnastics gym with new athletic equipment
• 900-square-foot multipurpose room that can be converted into two classrooms
• A computer lab equipped with high-speed fiber optic internet, and an adjacent pantry for storage
• A centrally located administrative space, with visibility and easy access to the full building for staff
• Two new outdoor basketball courts
• A 1,500-square-foot outdoor plaza and performance spaces
• A new spray ground
• 6,000-square-foot playground with structures for children of all ages
• Site furnishings, including benches, game tables, ping pong tables, outdoor hydration stations, trash receptacles, accessible picnic tables and shade trees
• New exterior lighting
• New building security camera system
• Newly planted landscaping
• A synthetic turf field, funded with support from the Philadelphia Eagles to be installed in spring 2025