LOVE PARK Returns – Here’s What I Know So Far…

Welcome to the Sunday edition of PhillyChit Chatter, read it here every Sunday and Thursday – it’s a little fun gossip, info and what’s going on around town. The last time I was at Love Park was during the Christmas Village.

The park was still under construction, but despite a few hiccups the market thrived and was packed everyday. Hope you got one of those Wisconsin cheese sandwiches. If you looked closely you could see the hint of greatness with the new paving blocks, quite different than the flagstone used before Love Park was renovated.

construction continued.

One of the sections of the park completed was this lawn. See those two evergreen trees, next year the City won’t need to buy a Christmas Tree for Love Park they can just decorate them.

I was really excited to see what Love Park looked like after the village cabins were removed, but then it snowed. Finally Friday it rained and melted the snow revealing the beautiful park (I’m off to Florida this week so I didn’t have time to get sunny shots as I would have liked as time was getting short.)  The land is cleaned and leveled. I can’t wait to see the centerpiece fountain turned on as well as the “arch” ones, which are smaller ones located in the “horseshoe” design you see here; giving Dilworth Park a run for it’s money with kids cooling off.

One thing we hope you won’t see is skateboarders, although some have been spotted testing out the park, I hear soon there will be security 24/7 keeping the park safe, clean and friendly for pedestrians, while also directing the skateboarders to the lovely park built for them closer to the Art Museum – Franklin’s Skate Park

I love the steps that line the north side of the park, which have corrugated pavers making it quite a bumpy ride for skateboarding.

Also new at Love Park, is the InterPark garage ie Love Park Garage at 1501 John F Kennedy Blvd has been updated with a glass cube, sorta like the Apple Cube in NYC on 57th Street, or the glass cube on top of the Phila Art Museum parking garage. It’s much more attractive, bright, easier to pay and convenient to reach your parked car now. No more climbing down the dingy steps.

Next to the garage is the decomposed granite (DG) park, there will be a lot of seating arrangements in this area. DG is an ideal hardscape material: natural, permeable, aesthetically versatile, and

often used as transition material to introduce landscaping and wild gardens.

Don’t judge the emptiness of Love Park today, as the furnishings all arrived,nor been placed. These pieces are examples of some
of the furnishing to expect.

The sight-lines are magnificent for people watching.
I imagine events will be held in the newly designed space, as they are at Dilworth Park.

The saucer building is being renovated for an eatery, not a welcome center as previously thought. I hear that they haven’t picked a food vendor yet and will  be doing an RFP soon.
When I mentioned it to Jennifer Logue, Metro Philly Saturday night, she thought it be perfect to call it the Love Cafe, maybe Stephen Starr could have it as an outpost for his new Love eatery in Rittenhouse Sq., I like it!!

I’m so excited, as the City is as well, that we’re going to have another beautiful park.

The sculpture of LOVE, newly painted red, and purple on it’s underside, returns to a new pedestal  just days before Valentine’s Day in February; just in time for all those engagements to happen. XOXOXO