New baseball-themed park lets young fans be the players

Young aspiring Phillies players can achieve their dreams—or at least get dream-adjacent—with the creation of a new park that pays homage to the Citizens Bank field.

The 13,000-square-foot park, called “The Yard,” debuts this season near Citizens Bank Park. It features a number of amenities that are meant to remind young baseball fans of the professional field right next door, according to a statement from Alan Metcalfe, principal of Metcalfe the Philadelphia-based architecture design firm behind The Yard.

They’ll be able to play Wiffle Ball on The Yard’s 70-foot green, shoot foam hotdogs from a launcher at targets on the wall and test their pitch speed with a radar gun. There’s even a 30-foot climbing wall with a design of the Philly skyline.

“The Yard was carefully planned to be a seamless extension of the main venue, avoiding the feeling of an add-on entertainment element through several design strategies,” Metcalfe, said in the statement, adding that the children’s park uses the same materials, finishes and architectural elements of the real Citizens Bank Park. The Yard is rotated in such a way that it even shares the same skyline view as the park itself.

The Yard is officially open now, just in time for the season, Metcalfe announced this week.

Correction: An original version of the story attributed a quote to Ioana Botzoman, when it should actually be attributed to Alan Metcalfe. The error has been fixed.