Keys to Community - Philadelphia, PA - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

Keys To Community replaces Penny Franklin, a 6-foot acrylic bust of Franklin that once sat in the courtyard at 329 Arch Street. That was a really cool statue but it fell into a heap and needed replacing. So, a nine-foot bust of Benjamin Franklin, commissioned by the city of Philadelphia, was installed on Oct. 3 and dedicated in Girard Fountain Park at 4th and Arch Streets in historic downtown Philadelphia at 10 a.m. on Oct. 5, 2007. It is still so new, it has not made the SIRIS site yet. The statue is gigantic and is of Franklin, just looking forward, head and shoulders, made of bronze. It is next to a Philadelphia firehouse. Franklin is credited with creating the Philadelphia Fire Department so its placement is quite appropriate.

In 2003, the city of Philadelphia launched a competition to replace the much-loved but deteriorated Penny Franklin sculpture that stood next to the Engine 8 firehouse in the historic Old City neighborhood (see map). After sifting through many submissions, the council chose James' proposal for a nine-foot bronze bust. Key to its selection was James' desire to make the sculpture more than simply a memorial and a thing of beauty; just like the work it would replace, he said, it should be a touchstone for the surrounding community.

So in 2005 and 2006, James visited 24 nearby elementary schools to talk to students about Franklin. He asked the pupils to bring old keys from home — and they responded by filling buckets with more than 1,000. Casts of the keys were incorporated into the surface of the piece. Many more schools participated in a penny drive organized by the city's fire department, donating 1.8 million pennies — some $18,000 — toward the project. The pennies and keys will allow a generation of Philly kids to point to the sculpture and say, "I helped make that!"

The sculpture also honors the city's firefighters. On July 7, 2007, representatives of the Philadelphia city government and the Philadelphia and Chester, Pa., fire departments gathered at Laran Bronze in Chester for the first pouring of molten bronze for the sculpture. During the casting, several firefighters cast brass nameplates of fallen colleagues into the metal. Also added were several pennies collected for the Penny Franklin sculpture in 1971. Said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers, "To cement the bond between the Philadelphia Fire Department and this magnificent piece of art for all time, we have brass plates from the fallen firefighter's memorial. Representing fallen firefighters from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, they are melted into the bronze casting. They will be a part of the statue forever, so we are really proud of this."

Franklin is our city's hero! He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Patriot for the Revolutionary cause, an inventor, statesman, writer, printer and a whole mess of other things. He was truly a great man in a time that needed him. He is buried across the street and down a block in Christ Church Cemetery.

The sculpture is located at 329 Arch Street and is accessible day or night from the sidewalk or street,