![\"Upper](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10286856_upperdarby.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nUPPER DARBY, TWP. (WPVI) — In Upper Darby, Delaware County, there is a new plan to revitalize and engage residents of all ages.<\/p>\n
Upper Darby Township has recently received a $1 million grant from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to fund phase one of a new community center to serve the state’s sixth-largest municipality.<\/p>\n
“This project is a long time in the making. The idea is that we need a place to engage community members of all ages,” said Vincent Rongione, chief administrative officer for Upper Darby Township.<\/p>\n
Rongione says that a facility like this has long been awaited in Upper Darby.<\/p>\n
“We want to have a bright, modern, forward-looking place, that Upper Darby residents can take pride in their community,” he said. “Where they can gather in a place that feels energetic and forward-looking. Where they can access technology, information, and fitness.”<\/p>\n
The plan for this community center is to engage residents but also those close by in West Philadelphia, with a vision to build positive social activities for youth and adults in both communities.<\/p>\n
“It’s the combination of years and years of work on the part of Mayor Keffer,” Rongione said.<\/p>\n
While the project is currently in its feasibility phase, the new center will replace the current Welcome Center building located on the 7000 block of Walnut Street.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Upper Darby Community Center. – Exterior rendering 11\/25\/20. (Architecture firm Buell Kratzer Powell.)<\/p>\n
Architecture firm Buell Kratzer Powell has created a preliminary exterior rendering of the facility with the possibility of expansion upon community feedback.<\/p>\n
Rongione says The Upper Darby Police Athletic League went dormant in recent years and use to run a popular boxing gym that he hopes to revive in this new facility.<\/p>\n
“Upper Darby has a very strong tradition where our police athletic league use to operate The Upper Darby Boxing Gym. There are a lot of famous fighters and also regular folks who got their start and met their mentors in the Upper Darby boxing club,” he added.<\/p>\n
The feedback so far has been positive, Rongione says.<\/p>\n
Mayor Barbarann Keffer of Upper Darby Township has long dreamed of this opportunity.<\/p>\n
“Now more than ever, our kids need a safe place to play and learn after school,” said Keffer. “This center represents a critical – and long overdue – step for our community. It will send the signal that Upper Darby is on the move as a forward-looking destination community for families and businesses alike.”<\/p>\n
The plan is to engage community members along each step of the process so that this community center can be beneficial and innovative for all in Upper Darby.<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UPPER DARBY, TWP. (WPVI) — In Upper Darby, Delaware County, there is a new plan to revitalize and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[81287,81291,81289,14510,81290,45110,81288,147,149,148,150],"class_list":["post-182081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upper-darby","tag-1-million-grant","tag-81291","tag-community-center-project","tag-community-events","tag-delaware-county-developments","tag-new-development","tag-phase-one","tag-upper-darby","tag-upper-darby-headlines","tag-upper-darby-news","tag-upper-darby-township"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}