Fences, small mounds of dirt and a couple of unmanned pieces of machinery marked the view looking down from Lemon Hill, the historic East Fairmount Park mansion, on a recent weekday.
Construction began earlier this month to prepare the park, which lies just south of Girard Avenue, for the FIFA Fan Festival, a viewing party being held next summer to coincide with the men’s World Cup soccer tournament.
Philadelphia is set to host six matches at Lincoln Financial Field, and the World Cup is among the most anticipated events in 2026, when the city is anticipating a tourism boom as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
For those perhaps most invested in Lemon Hill Park, however, there is uncertainty – and in some cases, skepticism – over the lasting impact of the festival and the city’s multimillion renovation.
“There’s been decades of disinvestment here,” said Nissa Eisenberg, co-organizer of the Lemon Hill Neighbors Association. “So a lot of this is a long time coming – maintenance issues, crumbling pathways, tree cleanup. We just hope, after the event’s over, they’ll put everything back together in better shape than it was.”
“It’s kind of like the bare minimum that could possibly be done is being done,” added Shaun Cerborino, another co-organizer for the group.
LHNA is an organization set up to support Lemon Hill, in line with other friends groups in a network established by the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation (PPR). They hold events, arrange for cleanups, maintain trails and advocate for the park, among other activities.
Cerborino and Eisenberg told Metro that LHNA has been pushing PPR to conduct maintenance and enhance the park for years, only to hear about funding constraints. Now that FIFA is coming, the money seems to have materialized.
However, many of the group’s recommendations are not part of the initial plan, even though most are “a repair or an upgrade to an existing infrastructure,” Cerborino added. These include fixing sidewalks not included in the festival project and resurfacing the basketball courts.
Other suggestions, such as reopening a long-closed bathroom building and installing fencing for a dog park, have been treated as radical and too expensive to maintain, according to LHNA.
“This is the moment where there’s going to be investment made,” Eisenberg commented. “This is the time now to do any of these reasonable upgrades that we’ve been asking for. Not even upgrades. It’s just basic maintenance.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration has set aside $11.8 million for capital improvements at Lemon Hill, a spokesperson for her office said.
Before the festival, the city’s contractors intend to replace a pathway up the hill; repair sidewalks on Sedgley Drive, Poplar Drive and Girard Avenue; make the site accessible for people with disabilities; remove dead trees; repave nearby streets; rework intersections for pedestrian safety; install water drinking stations; and set up security cameras.
A deteriorating pavilion has already been demolished, and there are also plans to restore the copper roof of a gazebo overlooking the Schuylkill River.
Crews are expected to begin building festival structures, including a vendor area, in May 2026, ahead of the World Cup’s opening match in June.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino went to Lemon Hill in April, and the global soccer governing body, in a post to its website marking the visit, said the festival “will be the heartbeat of the tournament in Philadelphia, offering fans iconic musical performances and entertainment.”
Matches will be broadcast from a big screen, and the event is expected to draw crowds, with a capacity of up to 25,000 people. FIFA officials, in the post, said the site “will form part of the enduring legacy that Philadelphia Soccer 2026 and the City of Philadelphia aim to leave.”
Meg Kane, World Cup host city executive and CEO of the local organizing committee, said in a statement this week that “the ongoing renovations reflect the strong partnership between Philadelphia Soccer 2026, the city and the community.”
“Together, we’re creating a world-class experience for fans while delivering improvements that will serve residents long after the tournament,” Kane continued.
During the entirety of the festival, which, like the World Cup, is set to run for more than a month, Lemon Hill Park will be completely fenced off, except for the trail around the area, according to an information sheet uploaded by LHNA.
LHNA members said they have been told that entrance to the festival will be free, though attendees will need to go through security. The playground will likely be inside the perimeter and available to families at the event, the association has heard.
Eisenberg and Cerborino related how Lemon Hill is an important gathering place, especially for residents of Brewerytown, Fairmount, Strawberry Mansion, Spring Garden and the surrounding neighborhoods.
“We’re going to lose access to our park no matter how much you want to bill that it’s a free event,” Cerborino said. “The way that the park is used by everyone will not be able to happen.
“Nobody’s going to come unless they’re coming for the event.”
The LHNA leaders acknowledged that some good is likely to come from the renovation, including long-awaited improvements to a problematic intersection near Lemon Hill.
Once the festival leaves, the city plans to replace the park’s current playground with an expanded space that includes equipment for children with disabilities. A public input session is being held at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, at the playground to get feedback on the design.
Cerborino and Eisenberg expressed hope, if not optimism, that the benefits of the festival and associated revamps will extend to neighbors who use the park on a daily basis.
“Why I feel a little, I don’t know, not so great about it is because it’s being done in the name of the event, and not the years and years of asking and trying to highlight all the things that are needed,” Cerborino told Metro. “It’s who it’s in service for.
“There’s that caveat to it. You’re going to get all these things, but you’re also gonna have to deal with this.”
