Rendell: ‘mistake’ to put Rizzo statue at Municipal Services Building

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Political leaders are loath to admit mistakes, but former Gov. Ed Rendell now allows it may not have been the best idea to lend his support, when he was mayor of Philadelphia, to such prominent placement of the statue of predecessor Frank Rizzo.

Should the Rizzo statue come down?

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“In retrospect, to put Frank Rizzo in front of the Municipal Services Building, to single him out from other mayors such as Joe Clark or Richardson Dilworth, was probably a mistake,” Rendell said in an interview.

The 10-foot tall, one ton bronze likeness is at the center of a post-Charlottesville debate: Should the city glorify a man who, to his detractors, oppressed black citizens as police commissioner in the 1960s and became mayor in part by appealing to the racial fears of white Philadelphians? Or are activists demanding the city tear down the statue maligning a good man whom supporters believe protected all people from crime and championed the little guy?

“Keep the statue, absolutely don’t destroy it, and move it to another location where people who admired him can go and see it,” Rendell said. “But, overall, forget about statutes. Taking a statue down might make someone feel good for a moment, but it won’t help the life of a single Philadelphian.”

The statue was unveiled on Jan. 1, 1999, after the Mummers — another institution rooted in South Philadelphia — had made their way around City Hall in their annual parade. Rendell was beginning the last year of his second term as mayor.

Rizzo died in July 1991 during a comeback campaign for mayor, running as a Republican against Rendell, the Democratic nominee. Rizzo, then a Democrat, was elected mayor in 1971 and served two terms.

The movement to erect the statue started less than eight months after his funeral, as admirers of the Big Bambino began raising money for the tribute.

Mayor Kenney said he had concerns about the Rizzo statue when it was being planned while he was a member of City Council. An “unwritten rule” in the city called for the passage of at least a decade before such an honor was bestowed on a late politician, Kenney said.

Such concerns were swept away in the desire among city leaders to honor a larger-than-life mayor. Where to put the sculpture was a controversy for years, starting even before it was struck.

Rizzo’s son, former City Councilman Frank Rizzo Jr., helped raise the six figures to pay for the statue, including $25,000 in an auction of his late father’s cigars. He first asked to place it at the Municipal Services Building. The city’s Art Commission told him to go instead to nearby JFK Plaza, known as Love Park.

The Fairmount Park Commission, which controlled JFK Plaza, sent him back to the Art Commission, which OK’d its placement at the Municipal Services Building.

Ironically, Rizzo’s statue now stands about 100 feet away from “Government Of The People,” a modernist sculpture erected while Rizzo mayor in 1976, much to his very public consternation. Rizzo, who said the sculpture looked like a dropped “load of plaster,” refused to pay for the installation. Private benefactors raised the money.

On Tuesday, Kenney said that the city’s Arts Commission would decide what to do with the Rizzo statue, though the body’s chairman of the commission said it would not take up the issue until October.

Published: August 23, 2017 — 12:18 PM EDT | Updated: August 23, 2017 — 12:22 PM EDT

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