Plans to remove a statue of William Penn from Welcome Park in Old City are no longer part of the U.S. National Park Service plans to reimagine the space.
“Independence National Historical Park has withdrawn the review of a draft proposal to rehabilitate Welcome Park and closed the public comment period,” the parks service posted on its website late Monday. The statement also said the draft proposal was “released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro said he was in contact with the Biden administration throughout the day “to correct this decision,” in a post on social media. “I’m pleased Welcome Park will remain the rightful home of this William Penn statue — right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Penn founded.”
When it comes to historic locations operated by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) in Philadelphia, Welcome Park is not on the top of most tourists’ lists.
While nearly 2.7 million people visited Independence National Historic Park in 2022, most of those visits focused around Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Although only a few blocks away, Welcome Park, at 2nd and Walnut streets, gets much less attention.
Opened in 1982, the park’s open plaza design reflects Penn’s original grid plans for the streets of Philadelphia, according to The Cultural Landscape Foundation. The park is named after the ship “Welcome,” which Penn arrived on when he first came to Philadelphia.
That lack of attention changed this week, as the NPS originally announced plans for upgrades at the park to fix “deteriorating” conditions and better live up to its namesake and be more, well, welcoming.
Among the initially proposed changes: new benches, exhibit panels, and a ceremonial gathering space — but also the removal of…