Analysis: JFK Plaza

March 10, 2009
Rose Schmitt
Prof. J.W. Zuggi
The Urban Experience
LOVE Park

In the heart of Center City, Philadelphia is the JFK Plaza, which is known to many Philadelphians as LOVE Park. The plaza is the home of The Fairmount Park Welcome Center, a single-spout fountain, and Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture. The plaza serves as a terminal point for The Ben Franklin Parkway and merges it to City Hall. The plaza itself was designed in 1965 by city planners Vincent King and Edmund Bacon as a visitor’s center. The addition of the LOVE statue came later in 1976 as a symbol in celebration of the country’s Bicentennial commemoration[1]. Two years later the statue was removed from JFK Plaza; the same year, the chairmen of the Philadelphia
In addition to Street’s renovations he introduced a fine for skating at the park of three hundred dollars; LOVE Park is constantly under a permanent police watch[5]. Even though Mayor Street established a fine for skating, LOVE Park is still very much a skateable square in the City; it is just illegal to do so. The skateboarding has decreased drastically since the institution of a fine but the LOVE statue and the park as a whole still attracts many people for sporadic congregating. On a spring day you might fine many people walking around the park or see many business people having their lunch break by the fountain. The single-spout fountain is another attraction to the park that plays off of the LOVE statue very well. I think seeing the fountain bursting up behind the statue sets a fun and loving mood for visitors. The fountain showcases the statue in the park by acting as a stage or a backdrop for the famous icon. Often times the fountain will be died a certain color in order to acknowledge specific events (i.e. Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness or Green for celebration of The Philadelphia Phillies being World Series
I could be considered a Philadelphian compared to many of my friends that I go to school with, even though I live in a Philadelphia suburb. Personally, I have taken the statue for granted for all twenty-one years that I have lived near this great City. I commute in and out of the city on a moderately frequent basis and never have stopped to admire the beauty and meaning of the iconic statue. One of the first places I went when I moved to school was to visit LOVE Park with my new friends who have only heard about it and wanted very much to see the statue in person. They took pictures by it and we stayed in the Park the whole day just people watching and admiring the statue and fountain and surrounding buildings, like City Hall. Because of this day I shared with my new friends I was able to start looking at Philadelphia and its historical architecture in a new light, from an outsider’s perspective. I have started to truly appreciate more the meaning that the design of the LOVE statue has adapted since being placed in the center of our City. Like I mentioned previously Philadelphia is “The City of Brotherly Love” and the statue is the perfect icon for this theme. Thinking about past and current events that take place in Philadelphia, I can relate them to the feeling of love and sense of welcome that emerges from the city. After