Marian Anderson Recreation Center improvements expected to slide into home plate by June 20

If you’ve walked past Marian Anderson Recreation Center at 17th and Fitzwater any time during the past few months, you’ve seen a lot of construction work underway.

That construction now has an expected completion date. The new MLB Urban Youth Academy facility and improvements to the play yard are on track to be open to the public by June 20.

The MLB Urban Youth Academy is a program that is bringing better facilities for inner-city kids, from age 7 through high school and college-aged, to participate in baseball. This also includes more classroom space to positively encourage education with things like tutoring and SAT prep. The baseball-related improvements at Marian Anderson include the building of a 7,500 sq. ft. addition to the already-existing center for a new fitness facility and indoor batting cages.

Once completed, the Youth Academy will be serving as many as 8,000 area kids, year-round.

In addition to the new indoor facility, some improvements are also being made to the existing outdoor play area at the center.

You may also recall that FDR Park was spruced up with new baseball fields for this MLB Urban Youth Academy. The program is run by the City of Philadelphia, in partnership with the MLB and the Philadelphia Phillies.