Smith Today and Tomorrow
As one of the country's oldest child-focused facilities, Smith remains situated on its original six and a half acre site and continues to provide play opportunities free of charge. Although located in Fairmount Park, Smith is not a city or governmental agency. Since its inception, Smith has been managed by an executive director and the Richard and Sarah Smith Trust officer. Recognizing the need to expand services and increase its funding base, in 2003 Smith developed a Board of Directors and incorporated as an independent non-profit organization. Smith is now led by an all-volunteer board supported by a professional staff and a dedicated cadre of volunteers.
On a daily basis, Smith works to accomplish the following goals:
- Foster respect for children of all communities and abilities
- Promote self-esteem and cooperation
- Nurture learning and freedom of expression through play
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- Cultivate an appreciation for the natural and constructed environments
After 104 years of uninterrupted service to the children of Philadelphia, in May 2003 Smith's Playground was closed for renovation. The difficult decision to close the facilities was based on an evaluation of the existing playground equipment, coupled with rising insurance costs. Few of Smith's play pieces or its 100-year-old Giant Wooden Slide, the focal point of the Playground, met today's safety and/or accessibility standards. In addition, the Playground's acres of hard packed, sloped and eroded surface made accessibility particularly difficult.
The Plan for Smith
Smith intends to renovate and restore the outdoor Playground and the indoor Playhouse over a period of five years. The essential elements are:
Play Zones - The Playground will include age-specific play areas. Each area will be designed to promote interaction among children, encourage imagination and creative play as well as foster caregiver supervision. Included will be more than 50 new, unique, age-appropriate, and accessible pieces of play equipment, plus the restored Giant Wooden Slide.
As of August 2006, two state-of-the-art play areas
have been opened and the Ann Newman Giant Wooden Slide has been renovated.
 
 
 
Plan for the Tot-Lot
Playhouse Restoration and Renewal - The exterior and interior of the 24,000 square foot Playhouse will be
restored. The interior renovations will increase the overall useable area by 20% to allow for additional programs and to accommodate more children. Basic building systems will also be upgraded.
The Family Fun Zone - Revitalizing Smith as a destination and resource for children and families will contribute to other efforts currently underway to restore portions of Fairmount Park and the Strawberry Mansion and Brewerytown communities that it abuts. Smith is located in an area dubbed by many as the new "Family Fun Zone" within minutes of: Boathouse Row along Kelly Drive; The Philadelphia Zoo; the new Please Touch Museum; Sedgley Woods Disc Golf Course; a golf driving range; 12 tennis courts; the proposed Audubon
Pennsylvania Society Educational Center; and Boxer's Trail.
The plans to restore Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse are ambitious, the estimated cost for the project is $13,500,000, but Philadelphia's children deserve nothing less than the best. To date more than
$4,700,000 has been raised from individuals, foundations, government agencies, and corporations. If you would like to make a contribution to Smith's capital campaign and/or learn about naming opportunities, please call 215-765-4325.
Many,
many thanks to the following individuals, corporations, foundations, and
government agencies for their generous contributions to the Capital Campaign.
$250,000
and higher
City
of Philadelphia
Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania
Ida Newman
William Penn Foundation
$50,000
– 249,000
The 1772 Foundation
City
Trusts
Commerce
Bank
Dorrance Hamilton
Lowe's
Bud
Newman
Pennsylvania
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
David N. Pincus
Wachovia
$10,000
- $49,999
Berwind Corporation
Caroline Alexander Buck Foundation
CSX
Connelly Foundation
General Recreation Inc.
The
Farber Family Foundation
The Hassel
Foundation
Susan O.W. and Paul Jaffe
McLean Contributionship
Ronald McDonald Charities
Bob and
Gene Pratter
Ross Family Foundation
Judy and Jim Strazzella
Ann
Sorgenti
Sunoco
Inc.
The Wright-Hayre Foundation
Widener Memorial Foundation
$5,000
- $9,999
Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc.
Chace Granting Group
Samuel S. Fels Fund
Greenfield Foundation
Independence Foundation
The Nelson Foundation
Philadelphia Inquirer
PECO
Prudential Fox & Roach Realtor
Marie Richards
The Charles and Peggy Roach
Charities
The Poses
Family Foundation
The Rotary
Club of Philadelphia
Hope Zoss
$1,000
- $4,999
Camellian PlayScapes
Carthy
Family
Grace B. Charleston
Ann
Corbett and Karen Ivory
Marion Dixon
Debra Fogel
Lynn and Eric Henson
The Samuel
and Rebecca Kardon Foundation
Brett Mandel
The March 22nd Fund
Anne M. Morley
The Rittenhouse Foundation
Philip Price Jr.
Robert
Prischak
Jacqui
Solodar
Miriam & Arthur Spector
Barbara Springler and Debra Fogel
Temple University Health Systems
United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
$100
– $999
Beatrice
Acker
Maureen and Michael Acker
Marjorie
Adler
Ada Allen
Edwin Allen
Amanda S. Aronoff
Bart and
Charna Axelrod
Eileen Baird
Danielle Banks
Beacon Center for Children
Ed Blumenthal, Mark Eskin, and Stan Singer
Brokerage
Concepts
Ann Barton Brown
James Bryson
Robert
Capanna
Connor Family
Paul Dandridge
Christine and Gerard Dever
Dhondt
Family
John F. Dietel
Ramy
Djerassi
DPK&A
Sylvia Egnal
Selma Fishman
Adine and Benjamin Frank
Amy
Galer
Dr.
Jeffrey Ingher
Richard Kutner
Dr. Stanley Lefkowitz
Kathleen Lens
Christine Leonard
Irene and Bruce Marks
Annette B. Mattei
Scott Miller
Normandene
Murphy
Madhu
Narula
Northstar
Advisors
Henrietta
Poses
Helen
Schwartz
Toni Seidl
& Richard Berkman
Michelle
T. Seidner
Caroline Simon
Margot C. Sklar
SMPP Pre School
Families
William
& Mary Tsiouris
Curtis
Wilson
This
list includes Capital Campaign Donors as of
April 10, 2008
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