Somewhat Old Skool

Great to see my tax dollars going to good use. And best of all, a statue of Donald Duck has not been ruled out. The dream is still alive!

While Rocky sequels seem to be a permanent feature of the cinematic landscape, the statue did not stay at the Spectrum. It eventually moved to a site near the Wachovia Center. After the most recent Rocky crew departed a few months ago, the statue was placed in storage. Now the city wants to put it back in front of the Art Museum - at the foot of the steps this time around.

Joan Schlotterbeck, the city's commissioner of public property, said there had been ongoing interest from Stallone and his representatives to have the statue placed in a prominent spot - such as the top of the Art Museum steps. "This is the first time we gave him a compromise that works and he accepted," Schlotterbeck said in an interview.

Park Commissioner E. Harris Baum expressed dismay about the precedent.

"If a film about Donald Duck in Philadelphia comes out," he wondered, "do we put a Donald Duck statue in our park system? Rocky is fine. But other films have relevance, too. Where do we stop?"

"That's something I'm not prepared to answer," Schlotterbeck told the commission. "To me, the Rocky statue does have relevance to the city. It came to the city for a movie, and so it has relevance for the city. As far as Donald Duck is concerned, I can't comment."