Donny Argoe, Writer
Many years ago, the City of Brotherly Love launched a rebuild project to make physical improvements to parks and recreation centers around Philadelphia to strengthen community engagement. Seven years later, the Belfield Recreation Center is just one of the many organizations suffering from this unfulfilled promise. On the inside, Belfield Rec. is an amazing facility that sits as the hub of one of the main resources that individuals can utilize in the Northwest Philadelphia community. However, with chipped paint, broken walls and stereotypes related to a shooting that happened over a decade ago, they are struggling on the outside and seeking help from the city to truly begin a rebuild.
"We see Belfield as the center in the hub to help individuals combat violence and to bring the community back together," said Belfield Recreation Center Advisory Council President, Alexis Noland, "and we've been doing this holistically with all the different programs that we have here because we want to bring everyone back to the hub."
Their mission at Belfield is to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for individuals of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy recreational and social opportunities, and to contribute to the overall well-being and health of our community. They aim to promote community engagement and participation in recreational activities and to ensure the center meets the needs and interests of the local community. The recreation center comes with a community garden, a playground, a football and baseball field, a kitchen, two classrooms and an indoor and outdoor basketball court. Working inside and outside, day after day, Belfield is working on providing educational and active experiences that allow kids to be kids while in a safe space away from home.
"Today our biggest obstacle is to get our rebuild, we aesthetically do not look welcoming to our community," said Noland, "that's the only way that we can combat some of the fears of our community members returning back to the hub."
While Belfield is pursuing their mission, they are facing adversities that are not benefiting them within the community. From the outside, they just look like any old building in the city that has almost been forgotten about, the condition of their walls, the basketball courts that aren't up to par and the unforgettable tragedy that happened there almost 12 years ago. Between parents thinking Belfield is unsafe due to community gun violence and local residents who don't even know that the building is a recreation center;, they are trying and fighting to rebuild and make their name stronger in the community.
"I can actually see the Belfield Rec. Center from my dorm room, and I had no idea what it actually was until recently," said Maddie Geyer, a La Salle University student who is currently working with the Belfield PR team. "But now, working on PR initiatives alongside the advisory council to strengthen Belfield's ties with the local community has revealed how much potential the space holds."
Without a rebuild from the city, the Belfield Recreation Center is only becoming more susceptible to a lack of community engagement, which is the opposite of the mission they're trying to enforce. They are here to better the community and the city, regardless of how much they are willing to give in return.
"Many years ago, the city put out a plan to do a re-build project for all the parks and recreation centers in the city of Philadelphia, but today, Belfield has not even gotten started," Noland said. "We just want to restore people's faith and assure that the hub is still here. It's still thriving, and we're here to serve the people in the community."
Years after this promise, Belfield has not given up hope, and they have not given up on trying to make a difference within the community for a better and safer place. In doing so, they need help from the city to rebuild their facility into a stronger and more uplifting environment.
Noland said, "What we're asking is if the city could please push us up on the list, we definitely need to rebuild not only for aesthetic purposes, but just for safety and for our community."
With every successful day that passes, this recreation center is working for a better tomorrow and happier community. It's been seven years since the initiation of the rebuild project, and even if it takes seven more, Belfield will continuously fight to make the community healthier and stronger.
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