The National Park Service (NPS) has withdrawn the review of a renovation plan that included the removal of the statue of William Penn from the site of his former Philadelphia home.
The NPS asked for input on the future for the park, located near the intersection of 2nd and Walnut Streets off Sansom Walk in Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood, and they certainly received it — at least online.
The online site where the public was supposed to provide comment on the Welcome Park proposal on Monday—the first day of a 14-day period where the NPS were going to receive public input on the plan.
By 6:30 p.m. Monday night, the NPS said the public comment period was closed.
“The preliminary draft proposal, which was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review, is being retracted. No changes to the William Penn statue are planned,” the NPS said in a statement.
My team has been in contact with the Biden Administration throughout the day to correct this decision. I’m pleased Welcome Park will remain the rightful home of this William Penn statue — right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Penn founded. https://t.co/awSTpcyrNp
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) January 8, 2024
A social media post noting the proposed renovations had thousands of comments on the plan. The majority of online opinion seemed to oppose the idea with commenters focusing on the part of the plan that mentioned the proposed removal of the William Penn statue from the site of his former Philadelphia home, the Slate Roof House.
You’re removing the statue of William Penn – a paragon of religious liberty and self-government who influenced our U.S. Founding Fathers – from the site of his home in the city he founded.
Shame. Scrap…