The Phillies MLB Urban Youth Academy formally broke ground Wednesday on an indoor training facility that will provide free, year-round instruction for 8,000 youth athletes.
The 7,500 square-foot facility is being constructed at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia. The training center will include four retractable batting cages similar to those at the Phillies minor-league spring training site in Clearwater, Florida. Parts of the existing recreation center will be renovated to create space for fitness training and vocational programs.
The Phillies MLB Urban Youth Academy is the only multisite MLB Academy. It also includes an outdoor facility consisting of four baseball and softball fields at FDR Park.
The 8,000 baseball and softball players participating in the Phillies Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program will have free access all year to the facilities.
Funding for the project was contributed by Major League Baseball, the Phillies, the Phillies, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, the city of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard.
“Improving parks and recreational spaces is a long process that involves infrastructure changes, natural resource management and the creation of healthy, sustainable spaces," Mayor Michael Nutter said in a statement. "By providing youth with fun and fulfilling environments in their own neighborhoods, we are giving them the tools to become successful, engaged adults.”
The academy is managed by MLB, the Phillies and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. The Phillies Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program.