PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The famous Rocky Balboa statue at the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps was moved to its new home — inside the building — for the next few months in a new exhibit.
Instead of running the steps, the “Italian Stallion” took the back door, to be installed as part of an exhibit called “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments,” which opens on April 25.
“The exhibit expands beyond ‘Rocky,’” explained Louis Marchesano, the museum’s deputy director of curatorial affairs and conservation, “but by placing Rocky in the context of boxing, it’s a bigger question about how viewers participate in the making of a monument by visiting it and by investing certain values into that object.”
It took crews about two hours to remove the 11,000-pound bronze statue from its original base, secure it to a platform and haul it up to its new home, where it will remain until August.
Jimmy Jordan, with Barnhart Crane, installed the statue, which he said was a benefit when moving day arrived.
“We didn’t come in cold. We knew what to expect and how to attack it, how to pick it up… a little bit of specialty rigging so we can come down to brace it up,” he said.
“You know it’s Philly’s favorite son, one of Philly‘s favorite sons, so we want to make sure we treat it like a baby.”
A statue of former world heavyweight champion “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier will replace the Rocky statue at the bottom of the steps. Frazier’s daughter Jackie was on hand to see the move and said boxing in Philadelphia is alive and well.
“I understand that we have some Olympic hopefuls that are going to be coming out of Philadelphia for the 2028 Olympics. My father had the privilege of being a 1964 Olympic gold medalist representing the United States,” she said.
“I look forward to our future and the continued excellence of Philadelphia boxing and throughout the world for sure.”
Philadelphia still has two other Rocky statues, for now. One is at Philadelphia International Airport, while the one installed at the top of the museum steps is on loan from Sylvester Stallone’s personal collection. It will return to the “Rocky” star after the exhibit ends in August.
