MLB's 2026 All-Star Legacy projects to inject over $5 million in Philadelphia communities
A new children's library, a refurbished turf youth field in FDR Park and four new statues honoring the Philadelphia Stars are just some of the upgrades coming to the city thanks to the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
The Phillies and MLB on Tuesday announced a more than $5 million investment into the Philadelphia community as part of the league's 2026 All-Star Legacy Initiative.
The money will be used for several projects in Philly intended to "empower underserved communities by expanding access to baseball and softball for youth, supporting our veterans, and providing essential educational and nutritional resources," a news release says.
One of the projects will help convert the existing 135,000-square-foot grass at Ashburn Field at FDR Park in South Philadelphia into a high-performance synthetic turf system. The new turf will help reduce flooding and make the field more playable. The Phillies say more than 30% of scheduled events at the field are lost because of weather. They say the turf will debut during the All-Star week.
Ashburn Field was built in 1998 with funds from when Philadelphia last hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 1996.
The money will also help Tree House Books — a North Philly-based nonprofit community center and by-donation bookstore — double its children's library and provide a new teen center to help teens connect socially and plan for life after high school. The project also features a new tutoring space that will allow Tree House Books to double the number of students it serves.
In West Philadelphia, Negro League Memorial Park at 44th and Parkside will be redesigned to honor the legacy of the Philadelphia Stars. The project includes four statues "representing Philadelphia Stars and Negro League players, capturing the spirit, pride and athleticism of the era," a news release says.
The 7-foot statues were created by Philly artist Miguel Horn.
The Stars of the Negro Leagues played their home games at the West Philly park from 1933 to 1952. A new mural is also coming to the park this summer to honor the Stars.
MLB says nearly $125 million has been put into local communities since the All-Star Initiative's 1997 inception.
More information on the projects can be found online.
