Philadelphia to keep original Rocky statue outside Art Museum after Sylvester Stallone has a change of heart
After debate over whether Philadelphia should swap the original Rocky statue with a replica, Sylvester Stallone himself is now changing course.
A surprise twist came out of a Philadelphia Art Commission meeting Wednesday morning in the ongoing Rocky statue saga. After plans surfaced to swap out the original sculpture at the base of the Art Museum steps, Rocky himself had a change of heart.
City officials revealed they met with Stallone and said, based on "strong and heartfelt feedback from the public, Mr. Stallone has graciously decided that we will no longer move forward with the proposed statue swap."
"I'm sorry, Sly, man, you gave it to the city," Lars Jacoby said. "You should leave it in the city."
It was the type of public pressure that led Stallone to rescind his request that the original Rocky statue be returned to his possession and replaced by the replica at the top of the steps. Stallone lent a replica to the city last year for the first-ever Rocky Fest.
"I'm pretty sure Sly didn't pay for the original out of his pocket," Jacoby said. "He should just leave it here. I love you, Sly, but you should leave it here, man."
The Rocky statue made its debut on the silver screen, commissioned by Stallone, for "Rocky III." He later donated it to the city. The statue bounced around a bit before arriving at the bottom of the Art Museum steps, where it's welcomed about 4 million visitors per year for the past two decades.
"On the way out of town, we're hitting the statues," Jacoby said. "If it wasn't here, it would be tough, man. It would've been a tough blow for my bucket list."
Under the new proposal, the replica would be returned to Stallone, and the original statue would be permanently moved to the top of the steps.
The only problem? You'd have to climb the 72 steps, like Rocky, or ride up a series of long ramps to the top to see it, raising questions about accessibility.
"There's too many stairs. It looks fantastic. It's amazing the view for picture taking of the park, it's nice," Elizabeth Rivera said. "But it's better to have it more accessible to the people here where it is right now."
The art commission shared concerns about accessibility. The commission is asking for updated plans to include a Rocky shuttle or some type of vehicle to bring people from the bottom to the top of the steps throughout the day, before the commission fully approves the plan.