Eakins Oval About To Become Philadelphia Family Fun Spot


Our friends at Foobooz have already noted the arrival of food trucks at Eakins Oval—it’s part of a broader summertime transformation of the space into a community fun spot for the summer, documented today by NewsWorks, which includes a new beach featuring 16 tons of sand:

This whole beach concept is the first iteration of a three-year plan — “The Oval” — to activate the Parkway. With help from a roster of partnering organizations, the pop-up park will be open every day until Aug. 18, when the Parkway will be given over to the Labor Day weekend “Made In America” concert preparations.

“The Oval” is not an appeal to tourists, according to Mark Focht, deputy commissioner of the parks and recreation department. Rather, it is for the estimated 70,000 residents in the Parkway’s immediate neighborhoods.

“Historically, the folks in Logan and Fairmount and Spring Garden have looked at the Parkway as the edge of their community — the end,” Focht said. “Instead we want them to see it as the common space, the common park.”

A full calendar of events at The Oval—at the museum end of the Parkway—can be found here.