 JFK Plaza with the LOVE sculpture and fountain LOVE Park (JFK Plaza) is a plaza located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The design of LOVE Park turned out to be 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 for Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture which overlooks the plaza. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 408 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1013 × 1488 pixel, file size: 1. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 408 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1013 × 1488 pixel, file size: 1. ...
Center City District, highlighted on a map of Philadelphia County. ...
Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area - City 369. ...
A skateboarder performing a frontside lipslide Skateboarding is the act of rolling on or performing tricks with a skateboard. ...
2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...
Robert Indiana (born September 13, 1928) is an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement. ...
History LOVE Park is the brainchild of former Philadelphia City Planner Edmund Bacon and architect Vincent Kling. The park is across from City Hall and was designed as a terminus for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The park, which was 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 added in 1969. What was once the city visitor center was closed down for five years, but opened up in May 2006 as The Fairmount Park Welcome Center. The park was dedicated in 1967 as John F. Kennedy Plaza after President John F. Kennedy. TIME Magazine November 6, 1964 Edmund Norwood Bacon (May 2, 1910 – October 14, 2005) was a noted American architect, urban planner, educator, and author. ...
City Hall at night, from Broad Street, 2005 Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of government for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic avenue that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia. ...
1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...
For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ...
1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ...
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. Robert Indiana (born September 13, 1928) is an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement. ...
1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ...
The United States Bicentennial was celebrated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. ...
1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...
Skateboarding
 LOVE Park in Philadelphia, PA in winter. Photo is looking down the Ben Franklin Parkway to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The large space, granite surfaces, and curved steps made the plaza attractive to skateboarding and in the 1980s it became a popular location for skateboarders. In the 1990s LOVE Park's international reputation as a skateboarding locale had been strengthened by the successes of some its most famous users. Internationally known professional skateboarders like Josh Kalis, Stevie Williams, Anthony Pappalardo, and Philadelphia native Ricky Oyola made their names in the multibillion–dollar skateboarding industry by being identified with their frequent use of LOVE Park's 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 its two year stay. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixel Image in higher resolution (3456 × 2304 pixel, file size: 3. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixel Image in higher resolution (3456 × 2304 pixel, file size: 3. ...
The 1980s refers to the years of and between 1980 and 1989. ...
For the band, see 1990s (band). ...
Josh Kalis (born April 27, 1976 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a professional street skateboarder. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Ricky Oyola is a professional skateboarder responsible for starting the skate scene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...
ESPN X Games logo The X Games is an annual multi-sport event with a focus on action sports. ...
But LOVE Park 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"[1]: The Philadelphia City Paper, a free weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was established in 1981. ...
- "...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. For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...
John Franklin Street (born October 15, 1943) is the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. ...
Some reports suggest that the decision to start enforcing the ban, as well as the renovation itself, are connected in whole or part to the opening of luxury housing near the park, and designed not only to keep skateboarding out of the park, but also the homeless (by such means as redesigning benches so there is a strategically placed rail preventing someone from lying down on the bench). A homeless man pushes a cart down the street. ...
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. Mayor Street countered 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. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
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. June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ...
2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
DC Shoes is an American based footwear company in Vista, CA founded in 1993 who specialize in producing shoes for skateboarding as well as snowboarding boots and outerwear. ...
Popular culture - A parody of LOVE Park was featured as a level in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. The park, called "Philadelphia, PA", was based on LOVE Park and features a replica of the JFK Plaza. Instead of the LOVE statue, however, there is a parody of the statue using game's initials: THPS.
- A parody of LOVE is in Renegades Rage Against the Machine's 2000 cover album.
Renegades is the fourth and final studio album by Rage Against the Machine. ...
Rage Against the Machine is a Grammy Award-winning American rock band, noted for their blend of hip hop, hard rock, punk and funk as well as their explicit revolutionary socialist philosophy and lyrics. ...
2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
See also Liberty Bell; public domain. ...
TIME Magazine November 6, 1964 Edmund Norwood Bacon (May 2, 1910 – October 14, 2005) was a noted American architect, urban planner, educator, and author. ...
External links Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...
Notes - ^ Valenzuela, Rick. "Bye Bye Love: A Eulogy for a Fallen Landmark", Philadelphia City Paper, May 2–8, 2002.
|
Feeds |
Contact