User:Metaquanta/sandbox/JFK Plaza

Skateboard Mecca
Following the urban decay of the 80s, the otherwise desolate "concrete playgroundAs skateboarding rose in popularity, Love Park became a popular destination for skate tourism. It's curved stairs, granite surfaces, numerous ledges, and a fountain that remained dry through the cold months made it an ideal spot for street skaters. It's central location between City Hall and the parkway provided an atmosphere of Philadelphia culture and community in stark contrast to the skate-parks outside center city. The park eventually attracted worldwide attention as a skateboarding Mecca. The city of Philadelphia made a number of ineffectual attempts to stop the activity at JFK plaza. In 1994 skateboarding was explicitly banned in the park. In 2001 fines were increased and security was posted around the clock . In 2002 JFK Plaza was renovated specifically to make the park less attractive to skateboarders. The 2002 renovation plan was famously protested by Bacon, a long-time critic of the city's anti-skating efforts, by riding a skateboard in the park.

The Death of Love Park
While In 2016 Mayor Jim Kenney announced that the park would be renovated once again. The renovations would drastically change the face of the park, turning the "granite Sahara" into a single-level mostly-green space. The announcement drew protests from the skateboarding community. Several skater groups proposed alternate redesigns that allowed the park to remain accessible skaters and non-skaters alike but these were rejected. DC Shoes offered to write the city a $1,000,000 check to leave the park intact but the city declined. Jim Kenney decided to lift the skateboarding ban for the five days proceeding the park's closure for renovations to give skaters around the world a chance to say goodbye. The renovations were completed in 2016 and the skaters never returned. A motivation for the renovations was the concurrent renovation of the ceiling of the parking garage below as requested by the buyer.