LOVE Park

LOVE Park (JFK Plaza) is a plaza located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The design of LOVE Park turned out to perfect for skateboarding and the plaza became internationally famous as one of the best places to skate in the world until a 2000 skateboarding ban was enforced in 2002. The park is nicknamed LOVE Park because of Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture.

History

LOVE Park is the brainchild of former Philadelphia City Planner Edmund Bacon and architect Vincent Kling. The park was designed as a terminus for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway across from City Hall. The park, designed by Vincent Kling, was built in 1965 and covers an underground parking garage. The main features of the plaza are curved granite steps and a single spout fountain which was constructed in 1969. A now closed visitor center for the city was also constructed at the southeast corner of the park. The park was dedicated in 1967 as John F. Kennedy Plaza after President Kennedy.

The now famous LOVE sculpture, designed by Robert Indiana, was first placed in the plaza in 1976 as part of the United States' Bicentennial celebration. It was removed in 1978, but the sculpture was missed and the chairman of Philadelphia Art Commission, F. Eugene Dixon, Jr., bought the sculpture and permanently placed it in the plaza.

Skateboarding

The large space, granite surfaces, and curved steps made the plaza ideal for skateboarding. In the 1980's it became a popular location for skateboarders to skate. In the 1990's LOVE Park's international reputation as an ideal skateboarding locale has been strengthened by the successes of some it’s most famous users. Internationally known professional skateboarders like Josh Kalis, Stevie Williams,Anthony Pappalardo, Philadelphia native Ricky Oyola made their names in the multibillion-dollar skateboarding industry by being identified with their frequent use of LOVE's famous ledges and stair sets. Additionally, the status of LOVE Park in international skateboarding culture led to Philadelphia being chosen to host the 2001 and 2002 X-Games, viewed by 150 million people in over 18 countries and attracting nearly a half million spectators during the two year stay.

But LOVE has been more than the proving ground for professionals or a source of international media interest in Philadelphia, according to Rick Valenzuela, author of City Paper article, "A Eulogy for a Fallen Landmark":

"...LOVE hosted dozens who were content merely to skate there. These were the [skaters] who composed LOVE's core of regulars—kids who rode the El (the Market-Frankford subway) from the Northeast and Frankford, skated downhill on Market Street from West Philly, through the neighborhoods of South Philly, Center City residents who moved specifically to skate nearby LOVE. It's these folks whose daylong sessions generated the murmur that would eventually spread throughout the East Coast and to the [skateboarding] industry."

Love Park's prominence among the great skate locations ended almost simultaneously with the X-Games. In 2002 Mayor John Street engaged in a campaign to enforce a ban of skateboarding at the Park. Increased fines for skateboarding and his focus on enforcing an ignored two–year old ban of "skateboarding on all public property unless otherwise authorized" diminished LOVE Park's skating activities. Placing the final nail in LOVE Park's status as a world renowned skate–spot, Mayor Street ordered the park to undergo a $800,000 remodeling which added planters to block ledges, covered other areas with grass and flowers and replaced stone benches with wooden ones.

LOVE Park's skateboarding became a minor issue in Mayor Street's reelection campaign, culminating in his opponent riding a skateboard (and quickly falling off) at the park and Mayor Street countering with a promise to create a city-owned location for skaters. As of 2005 the replacement skate park is still in the planning and funding stages.

On June 1, 2004, in hopes of reopening LOVE Park to skateboarders, DC Shoes offered the city of Philadelphia $1 million for the maintenance, security, upkeep and replacement of obstacles due to skateboarding in the park. The offer was turned down.

External link

• LOVE Park (http://www.ushistory.org/lovepark/index.htm) from ushistory.org in Philadelphia, with a fuller history.
• Press Release: DC Shoes Gifts $1 Million (http://www.ushistory.org/lovepark/media/dcshoes.htm)
• Money can't buy LOVE Park (http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/8813869.htm?1c) in Philadelphia Inquirer