League Island Park
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Area | 348 acres (141 ha) |
| Created | 1914 |
| Operated by | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation |
| Visitors | 120,000 |
| Open | All year |
| Website | www.fdrpark.org |
| Designated | August 9, 2000 |
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Park (originally named League Island Park and locally known as "The Lakes") is an aesthetically designed park located along the Delaware River in the southernmost point of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, comprising some 348 acres (1.41 km2) which includes a 146-acre (0.59 km2) golf course, about 125 acres (0.51 km2) of buildings, roadways, pathways for walking, landscaped architecture, and a variety of picnic and recreation areas placed within about 77 acres (310,000 m2) of natural lands including ponds and lagoons.
Bordered by the South Philadelphia Sports Complex on South Broad Street, Interstate highway-95/Philadelphia Naval Yard and Pattison Avenue/ Packer Park residential neighborhood. Many Philadelphians enjoy it as a green "Oasis" for a variety of recreational activities, while sport and entertainment event patrons attending games and events at the nearby stadium complex know it as an alternative place for offsite parking.
The park was built to the design of Olmsted Brothers, the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted and John Charles Olmsted in the early 20th century. The parkland was reclaimed mostly from marshlands of Greenwich Island, one of several islands in the area created by river channels present in the 18th and 19th centuries. The use of the park for the Sesquicentennial Exposition in 1926 and subsequent improvements have moderately changed the original design, keeping the main character of the park west of Broad Street. The original plan of the Olmsted Brothers still remains highly visible and significant west of Broad Street. The official name was changed from League Island Park to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the late 1940s and a golf course was constructed. The park's boathouse (1916), gazebo (1914) and American Swedish Historical Museum (1926) are reminders of the 1926 Exposition. In 2000, the park was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
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