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Rocky Statue Finds A Home,
Maybe
By Rich Drees
August 29, 2006- After much wrangling between city
officials and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, it appears as if a
compromise may be reached over the placement of the 9-foot tall
bronze statue of Sylvester Stallone created for the movie Rocky 3
(1982).
The compromise
comes just in time for next month’s “Philly Loves Rocky Week”
celebration of the Academy Award-winning film’s 30th
anniversary.
The statue was
created by noted sports sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg for a scene in
which Sylvester Stallone’s Philadelphia born and bred boxer
character Rocky Balboa is honored by his home town. The scene took
place on the top of the 72 stairs leading to the Museum of Art,
which Stallone famously ran up in the first Rocky film. After
filming the statue was donated by MGM Studios to the city, which
moved it across town to stand briefly outside of the Spectrum sports
complex, the setting of some of the films' boxing matches. It was
later moved to outside nearby Veterans Stadium, home of the
Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles sports franchises. The statue was
temporarily relocated back to the top of the Museum of Art’s steps
for a scene for Rocky 5 (1990).
When Veterans
Stadium was demolished to make way for a new facility in March 2002,
the statue was placed in storage where it has resided since, waiting
for a new home.
It now seems
that the statue will be placed near the bottom of the Museum of
Art’s famous stairs.
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Michael
Klein
reported on August 13 that Philadelphia Public Property
Commissioner Joan Schlotterbeck has been working hard to convince
the Museum’s Art Commission to approve the location before the
commission’s next scheduled meeting on September 6. The commission
had previously twice rejected Schlotterbeck’s petition to place the
statue on the Museum grounds claiming that it was a movie prop and
not a piece of art.
Previously, the
statue had already been approved by the Fairmont Park Commission
last May to be placed off of Eakins Oval in the Park. The Museum of
Art stands in a section of Fairmont Park’s city-wide system.
The
commission’s meeting is scheduled fortuitously on the start of
“Philly Loves Rocky” Week, which will feature numerous events
including a boxing exhibit and a “Rocky And Adrian Look-A-Like”
Contest. Rocky star Sylvester Stallone is expected to attend.
A sixth
Rocky film, titled simply Rocky Balboa, is scheduled for
release on December 22, 2006. |
