From the archives: Group lays groundwork for Rizzo monument
This story was originally published on March 2, 1992. It was reposted as debate ensued over whether Frank L. Rizzo's Center City statue should be changed or removed.
This story was originally published on March 2, 1992. It was reposted after debate ensued over whether Frank L. Rizzo's Center City statue should be changed or removed.
They honored him in their words and in their hearts.
And now they seek to honor him in bronze - a statue to commemorate the late Frank L. Rizzo, who dominated the city as policeman, politician and mayor.
More than seven months after his death, such a monument is the special project of a group of Philadelphians whose members include Rizzo's personal secretary and a retired policeman who remains grateful to Rizzo for a favor done nearly two decades ago.
Acting with the consent of the Rizzo family, they are trying to raise money for a memorial that would stand in South Philadelphia, where Rizzo was born and where he always maintained a strong following. The monument would be paid for by contributions from the people who loved him. The group has raised about $500 of the $100,000 it might need.
"We don't expect to do it within a few months," Jody Della Barba said in a recent interview. "If it takes two or three years, we want the best. "
She and Joseph Ricci laid out plans for the memorial in the living room of Ricci's South Philadelphia rowhouse. Della Barba, 37, lost her favorite job as personal secretary to Rizzo when he died. Ricci is an ex-officer who spent 20 years with the Philadelphia Police Department, serving during the four years Rizzowas police commissioner. He retired in 1979.
He kept thinking about Rizzo after the Republican mayoral nominee collapsed and died of a heart attack July 16 in the midst of his fifth mayoral campaign. Ricci grieved and in his grief imagined a monument to the man he had so admired.
When he approached the Rizzo family about it, he was referred to the professional sculpture studio Miles & Generalis, which also had expressed an interest in such a statue.
They're all working together now.
Marconi Plaza site eyed
The city's first Italian-American mayor would be in good company. Across the street is Guglielmo Marconi, "the father of modern communications," as the base of his statue reads. And just south of the site is Columbus.
Park group supports plan
The Fairmount Park Commission approved the concept in December, but will soon review a more definitive proposal. The city Art Commission must review it, too. Ricci and Della Barba say they also need a city permit to install the monument.
Jody Della Barba always called him Mayor.
"Some people never get to meet their hero, and I got to work for mine," Della Barba said.
"I remember my dad walking down the street extending his hand to shake someone else's," he explained later as emotion gripped his throat.
But the talk hasn't gelled into anything specific yet.
"This isn't going to be a thing where we just go to the money people. It's basically for the citizens of Philadelphia," she said. "And also, it's so people don't forget him. Sometimes out of sight, out of mind. The people in South Philadelphia should remember."