Spectrum Statues

The time has came for the Spectrum to come down. The Sixers and Flyers are long gone.  Music, boxing, and lower tier sports no longer draw crowds there.  America’s showplace is ready to be taken apart, bit by bit. Because of the structure, there won’t be an explosive grand finale. The actual seats have been sold, as has countless other memorabilia.  Pretty soon, all that will be left are the memories. One thing that has yet to be decided, is what to do with that statues that rest in front of the building. Rocky once stood there, but has been moved to his rightful place: The Art Museum. Now we have Dr. J, Kate Smith, and Gary Dornheofer. They definitely don’t deserve to gather dust in a warehouse somewhere; so where do we put them?

When Kate Smith sang “God Bless America” either in person, or on a recording, prior to a Flyers game, it was almost always a win for the Orange and Black. The Flyers record when God Bless America is sang in lieu of the national anthem stands at 87 wins, 23 losses, and 4 ties. That’s a pretty damn good win percentage. And since we always call on her when we need some help, she deserves to stick close to the team.

So why not making Katea part of the concourse.  The way that Wells Fargo Center stands, there’s not a real good place to put the statue up outside of it. Put her near one of the entrances where the ceilings are huge and there’s a lot of room for people to stop and check out the statue, take some pictures, and read some quick facts about her.

Dorny’s goal in 1973 came in overtime against the Minnesota North Stars.  At the time it was a huge deal, but I think it’s lost some of it’s luster over the years.  It didn’t bring us a Cup, but it was significant at the time.  It came on the tail end of a great individual effort, and the win gave the Flyers a bit of street cred in the hockey world. That series against Minnesota was the first one that the Flyers ever in their brief history. And since the Flyers consistently give this city more hope than any other franchise, it would be a shame to put this statue away also. The statue always stood on a platform, where people could take pictures, but couldn’t climb all over it. This one is kinda big, so maybe keeping it outside will be fine.  Put in near the entrance on the opposite side of the building from the Wilt Chamberlain statue.  Build some sort of large pedestal and put some fencing around it to keep people off, and you have pretty much the same effect as before.

That leaves us with Dr. J.  It’s the Sixers, and we probably should toss it into the river, but because it’s Doc, he deserves waaaaay more respect than that. I think putting this one in front of the entrance to Fan Gear, inside the stadium, would be a good place.  I think they still sell his shirts and jerseys, so why not have him making sure sales are going smoothly?

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