Renovations begin for North Philly athletic field

A scrappy North Philadelphia football field that is home to one of the country's best Pee Wee football teams is getting a $2.5 million makeover.

The new synthetic turf field will serve as the home field of the Blackhawks Athletic Club, which won the 2010 football team won the 2010 pop Warner Pee Wee National Championship, and will also be used by St. Joseph's Prep sports teams.

City officials, including Mayor Nutter and Council President Darrell L. Clarke, attended the ground-breaking ceremony Wednesday at the 11th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue field.

Clarke, who represents that district , said there had always been talk about cleaning up the field (built in 1970) but that once the Pee Wee team won big, those talks "kicked up a notch."

On Thursday, the ceremonial shovels went into the ground as work was already underway to install the new football and baseball fields. The project is expected to be completed in mid-November.

The restoration project will replace the existing grass field with new artificial turf. New field goal posts and a scoreboard will also be installed, along with new fencing and landscaping.

Click here for Philly.com's politics page.