http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/nation/14555991.htm
BY STEPHAN SALISBURY
Knight Ridder Newspapers
PHILADELPHIA - The peripatetic bronze Rocky statue, bestowed on the city a quarter-century ago by His Rockyness Sylvester Stallone, appears to be coming to rest again: at the head of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway near the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Fairmount Park Commission on Wednesday approved the site - proposed by city officials - just to the east of the museum steps made famous in the original “Rocky” movie.
“This is an incredible honor from the greatest city in the United States of America,” Stallone, who learned about the move from a reporter’s call, said through his publicist, Michelle Bega.
The Art Museum has “OK’d” the site, said Norman Keyes, a museum spokesman.
The 8-foot, 6-inch, half-ton statue of Stallone in boxing trunks - arms raised - was a prop in the 1982 movie “Rocky III,” and the actor offered it gratis to the city that year. There was only one catch: He wanted it prominently located - as in, atop the museum steps. Art Museum officials and the city Art Commission said no way, citing its commercial nature and questioning its artistic worth.
But after much back and forth, a compromise was worked out and the statue was located on the steps for a few months (where it was a favorite for tourist snapshots) and then moved to the Spectrum.
While “Rocky” sequels seem to be a permanent feature of the cinematic landscape, the statue did not stay at the Spectrum. It eventually moved to a site near the Wachovia Center. After the most recent “Rocky” crew departed a few months ago, the statue was placed in storage. Now the city wants to put it back in front of the Art Museum - at the foot of the steps this time around.
Joan Schlotterbeck, the city’s commissioner of public property, said there had been ongoing interest from Stallone and his representatives to have the statue placed in a prominent spot - such as the top of the Art Museum steps. “This is the first time we gave him a compromise that works and he accepted,” Schlotterbeck said in an interview.
Park Commissioner E. Harris Baum expressed dismay about the precedent.
“If a film about Donald Duck in Philadelphia comes out,” he wondered, “do we put a Donald Duck statue in our park system? Rocky is fine. But other films have relevance, too. Where do we stop?”
“That’s something I’m not prepared to answer,” Schlotterbeck told the commission. “To me, the Rocky statue does have relevance to the city. It came to the city for a movie, and so it has relevance for the city. As far as Donald Duck is concerned, I can’t comment.”
Schlotterbeck said a private fund would be established to install and maintain the statue.
Laura Griffith of the Fairmount Park Art Association, a public art organization that has maintained and sited sculpture throughout the park and along the Parkway, said that “the art association was not involved in the relocation.” She had, therefore, no comment on the site selection.
The city Art Commission also must approve the location.
