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11 August 08: Pi reconsidered
When the Summer of the Delaware officially kicked off in June (the morning after Penn Praxis presented its 10 year, 10 point plan to the public and the
mayor), one of my first suggestions was to tear down the Penn's Landing Pi, the giant concrete reminder of how dumb an idea building a tram across the
Delaware is. A tram certainly doesn't factor into the academic longview of this central most of the central Delaware, which may one day be re-envisioned as a
Great Lawn. Leaving the icon representing so many failures hovering 60 feet over an awful surface parking lot gets in the way of momentum. Just get it out of
the way now, I say.
Not so fast, said Jason from South Street. Why waste what's already there, he asked -- why not try a little adaptive reuse? A good point, I thought, so I
asked Philly Skyline readers for their input. Following are some of the best suggestions . . .
* * *
JOE FROM OLD CITY: Perhaps following up on the Paul Levy
bike trail SOTD item, Joe Naujokas had very simply to say, "bike rack!"
And while that's perfectly pleasing in the aesthetic, it doesn't carry the magic his other suggestion does: "A David Copperfield event!"
JIM FROM NARBERTH: They should make a giant water balloon sling shot out of it and charge people to shoot water
balloons at passing duck boats and people visiting the Battleship NJ.
Ed. note: while I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Duck Boats idea -- "you may fire when
ready, Gridley" -- I think slinging water balloons at the USS NJ may not be the best idea. Their artillery's a little fiercer and more precise than a few
latex grenades, I reckon.
* * *
ERIC FROM NARBERTH: Make Pi into a giant swing set. Multiple slides that could get pulled up very high swung while
looking at the skyline or the river.
* * *
TIM FROM ROXBOROUGH: The always reliable Tim Garrity -- himself a fellow newlywed (congrats, Tim!) -- took time from
his wedding planning schedule to offer the following about Pi:
Find an artist who can create a sculpture out of the already existing structure; top it off with some surrounding landscaping. Or speak with Jane
Golden about painting a mural on it so it becomes a piece of art and not a symbol of failure.
Tim also elaborated what turned out to be the most popular suggestion, utilizing Pi for movie screenings.
How about putting a digital screen inside the hollow portion of the Pi (kind of like the one in Millennium Park, Chicago; but with [lots and lots
of] concrete around it). It could display digital images at night and could even double as an advertising/PSA screen to raise funds for the construction
costs. This idea could also help speed up the Great Lawn concept, by touting it as a spot to host movie screenings for families when it's nice outside.
* * *
Finally . . .
STEVE FROM DOVATE: 1. Block Camden with a picture of a prettier
waterfront. (My photoshop is from a photo of Maine that I took a few years back.)
2. Drive in!
Have you heard of the drive-in at 61st and Passyunk that switched to an all-porn format back in the late 70s/early 80s? Now that's classic Philly.
I heard of this porn drive-in from a guy who grew up down around there. He's in his late 30s, but when he was a kid, he and his adolescent, pre-internet
friends would ride their bikes down and watch the porn shows. He said it was at 61st and Passyunk, right around where Passyunk turns into Essington and
leads into the auto mall.
There's not much down there even now, except for vacant lots, junk yards, refiniries and a couple of really shady looking strip joints. I've gone looking
for the remants of the drive-in, but couldn't find anything. I think it was torn down completely and replaced with a concrete processing plant.
I guess all good things come to an end.
* * *
Indeed they do, Steve. All these good suggestions on how to slice the Pi will now come to an end, too. A big thanks to all participants.
–B Love
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SUMMER OF THE DELAWARE ARCHIVES:
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