It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.The LOVE may be coming back to skateboarders
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 10:12 am - by Dan Pohlig. Filed under: Entertainment.
Prove your skills in Love Park as portrayed in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Skateboarding in Love Park became an issue in the 2003 mayor’s race when the Katz campaign (full disclosure: at my suggestion as a Katz staffer after I was informed about the issue by the proprietor of this blog) decided to put Sam on a skateboard and make a call to reopen the park to the people who had given it its iconic, globally-known status.
Ask any skateboarder in the world about Love Park and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about… at least such was the case in the late ’90s, early ’00s. Since then, the park’s (increasingly loosely enforced) prohibition against skating has turned it from the mecca of the sport to more of an Atlantis - where legend has it that a wonderful civilization once thrived but is no longer.
According to Kellie Patrick Gates’ piece in PlanPhilly, Planning Commission Executive Director Alan Greenberger may want to make it, if not a mecca, at least a Brigadoon of sorts:
He doesn’t want to make skating at the park legal – not every day. But he would like to see one day of amnesty – and celebration - each year.
“A festival once a year,” he said. “That’s what I’d like to see.”
Hopefully none of those skaters will fall in love with Love during that one fleeting moment when its skatepark side appears out of the mist, because they’ll have to wait 364 days before they can see it again.
Any skaters out there care to chime in with memories or stories of Love?
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Let the skaters come back home! As a former center-city resident, I have to attest to the fact that the park was once enjoyable and habitable in the late evening hours because of the skateboarders. I would walk through the park on my way home from Fairmount Park or grocery shopping at the Callowhill Whole Foods, and feel safe because of the number of normal-looking and active people there. After the skateboarders left (were banned) it became a haven for nodding off drug addicts and other shady characters. What do people want to see, strange folk sleeping on benches or active young folks? The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive, just keep the skateboards.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
@MJA
I haven’t been through Love Park at night or otherwise in a long time since I live and work on the sunrise side of Broad Street but I remember the time before the skateboarders found Love Park and it was like the situation that you described. First the skaters came in and brought activity to the park. They used to play touch football with the homeless guys at times. Soon the homeless moved on and dozens and dozens of skaters filled the park.
Then the purge…
Now you get the occasional daring law breaker who just once a chance to experience what everyone else got in the nineties.
It would be nice to see them back and even better to see the city capitalize on the cool cache so much that it could earn enough revenue to keep up the park.
Nutter wasn’t a big fan of the skaters in the park so it’s unlikely to happen during this term. But here’s hoping.
June 28th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
were all tired of running
tourists love us
9 outta 10 times we clean up after our selves
love being free again would bring a lot of good to Philadelphia
June 28th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Love park will always belong to the skaters. Whether they let them in or not. One day ? Na, I want 365
June 28th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
If Love was open to skateboarding “legally” the park would be a lot nicer than ever. DC has already offered a million bucks to the city to free love park. I’m sure that other skateboarding company’s including DC would pay money to maintain the greatness in love park. Round ledges would be non existent <3