With a final blessing by Father Ed Brady Saturday morning and a bittersweet ceremony, the iconic Philadelphia Irish Memorial at Front and Chestnut is temporarily moving from that location, which it has occupied for 20 years, to a new spot at Foglietta Plaza, Front and Spruce.
The solemn occasion was observed with the U.S. and Irish national anthems by Tim Kelly and Theresa Flanagan Murtagh, and lowering of the flags.
The move is necessitated by a long delayed and massive project to build a cap over I-95, creating an uninterrupted stretch of parkland—roughly 12 acres—stretching from Front Street to the Delaware River.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the massive bronze memorial was standing in the way of progress on the cap. The statue could have remained where it was, contractors said, but there would have been limited access, and its very presence could have extended the project another six to nine months.
Protracted and at times contentious negotiations with PennDOT and contractors on where to move the 30- by 12-foot bronze statue, crafted by sculptor Glenna Goodacre, finally came to a sudden but gratifying conclusion, according to Memorial president Bob Gessler.
“PennDOT and the powers that be had suggested three different (temporary) locations for the Memorial,” says Gessler, “but they were all substandard. There were a couple of years of back and forth. The turning point was a month after St. Patrick’s Day, when we got all the designers and officials together at its current location. Then there was a second meeting. We were able to make them see that it’s not just a memorial—it’s a place.”
Bob Buckley, of general contractor Buckley & Company, Inc., was there at the meeting, Gessler recalls.
“Bob Buckley said, I can give you an answer,” says Gessler. “He said, we agree to everything.”
And with that, the question of where to move the monument until its permanent move to the southern tip of the cap at Front and Walnut was decided. And now that the issue is resolved, things are going to move quickly.
“They’ve already fenced off the (Foglietta) plaza,” says Gessler. “They’re going to pour the plinth (the base where the statue will rest) on October 30. They’ll begin construction on the temporary site within two weeks. November 6, they’ll close the current site. They’re hoping to have the new site open by mid-December, which would be fantastic. They’re shooting for the first of the year, at the latest. As long as we’re open by March—as long as we can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day there and not miss one.”
The statue will be moved the few blocks to its new home on a flatbed truck. “The statue is hollow,” says Gessler. “It was designed to be moved. It can be craned up.”
The Scottish memorial, which currently stands near the Irish Memorial, will also move to the new location.
The monument to An Gorta Mór—Ireland’s mid-19th century “Great Hunger”—is more than the statue. There are information stations surrounding the statue. The move, says Gessler, presents an opportunity to improve on the current experience.
“One of the things we’re starting now is a fundraising campaign to update the information stations and bring the memorial into the current century. We want to make it interactive, so phones will be pinged as people move again, giving them a tour. One of our missions is education—the Great Hunger, and hunger today.”
Keep your eyes on the memorial website for more as the weeks go by: https://irishmemorial.org
