Dilworth Park is a public park and open space along the western side of
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
in
Center City, Philadelphia
Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...
. The park opened to the public on September 4, 2014.
History
![DilworthLawn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/DilworthLawn.jpg)
Dilworth Park opened in September 2014. It is named in honor of
Richardson Dilworth
Richardson K. Dilworth (August 29, 1898 – January 23, 1974) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 91st mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962. He twice ran as the Democratic nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, in 1 ...
, who served as
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of the city from 1956 to 1962. The current park was designed by
KieranTimberlake
KieranTimberlake is an American architecture firm founded by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake in Philadelphia. The firm espouses a philosophy of sustainable design, collaborative design, and in-depth research. They have also shown an interest ...
, Urban Engineers and
OLIN Olin may refer to:
People
Organizations
* OLIN, American landscape architecture firm
* Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis
* Olin College, an undergraduate engineering college in Massachusetts
* Olin Corporation, a chemical ...
and replaced ''Dilworth Plaza'', designed by
Vincent Kling in 1972.
Centre Square
City Hall is located in what was originally named ''Centre Square''. ''Centre Square'' was one of the five original
public squares
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...
planned by
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
in 1682. ''Centre Square'' was the geographic heart of the city until 1854, when Philadelphia expanded its city boundaries with the
Act of Consolidation. ''Centre Square'' never became the social heart of the city as originally intended, but it remained in use until 1871, when construction of City Hall began.
Penn planned for ''Centre Square'' to be:
However, the Delaware riverfront would remain the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' economic and social heart of the city for more than a century.
Features
Dilworth Park contains:
* grass lawns and landscaping,
* two large sloped glass stair canopies,
* a fountain/ice skating rink
* a cafe
* restaurant
See also
*
Penn Center
*
Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia. It ...
*
Richardson Dilworth
Richardson K. Dilworth (August 29, 1898 – January 23, 1974) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 91st mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962. He twice ran as the Democratic nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, in 1 ...
*
List of parks in Philadelphia
Philadelphia has a total parklandincluding city parks, squares, playgrounds, athletic fields, recreation centers and golf courses, plus state and federal parksthat amounts to . The Fairmount Park system historically encompassed 63 park areas pri ...
References
External links
Center City District page about Dilworth Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dilworth Park
Municipal parks in Philadelphia
Center City, Philadelphia
2014 establishments in Pennsylvania