Veterans Stadium was the former home to the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles, and seemingly Vietnam veteran Tom Garvey.
The 78-year-old recently published a book, “The Secret Apartment: Vet Stadium, a surreal memoir,” where he recalled his time living in an empty concession stand inside The Vet from 1979-81. He told his story to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which was able to corroborate his claims with three other individuals who said they visited his secret apartment, including Eagles Hall of Famer Bill Bradley.
“You go in there and you think it’s just a root beer stand with a bunch of stocked-up boxes,” Bradley said. “And then it opened up into a better apartment than I had in Center City.”
“I was like a kid with a Willy Wonka golden ticket,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Garvey says he worked at the stadium complex parking lots through a company owned by his uncles. Through that job, Garvey received an office at the Vet and keys to an obscure entrance to the stadium.
Just across from his office was an unused 60-foot-by-30-foot concession stand. Garvey would soon add a bed, sink, fridge, coffee maker and hot plate. Leftover AstroTurf became good for carpet.
One particular day, the Phillies were in a double-header and he ran into some fans with puzzled looks on their face.
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“There were less than 200 people scattered around,” he said. “They didn’t want to know why I was there in a bathrobe and flip flops, they just wanted to know where I got a hot cup of coffee because the concession stands closed hours ago.”
His good times would all come to an end in 1981 when his uncles’ contract with the stadium lots ended.
The stadium was torn down in 2004 and so went the proof of his secret hideout.
“I’d been so busy for so many years when I came home and this gave me the opportunity to put things in perspective,” he said of his time living in Veterans Stadium. “I found it to be healing. It was a place where I went inside myself and found some peace.”
