Gathering to review LOVE Park renovation ideas

Some preliminary feedback on plans for LOVE Park renovations will be presented Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Mark Focht, first deputy commissioner of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, said those who have weighed in on the plans want to keep what he calls the “democratic” feel of the park.

“Folks go there for protests, they go there for celebrations, they feel welcome there,” he said. “And the other thing we’ve heard a lot is keep it green.”

After presenting the details in a public forum, Focht said, the design team will go to work on the renovation plans to bring the park up to date with current design principles.

The objectives are to “make the park fully accessible to the disabled, keep the green, keep a major water feature, and, of course, keep the LOVE statue,” he said. “So we are making it more accessible, more sustainable and more of a contemporary design.”

A design is expected to ready for the city’s Art Commission’s conceptual approval in April.

The Tuesday meeting is set for the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Skyline Room from 6 to 8 p.m.