Philly wants your ideas for the ‘flying saucer’ building in LOVE Park
A 2023 request for proposals did not result in any bids, but the building has since been renovated.
The city’s Parks & Recreation Department is seeking out-of-this world ideas for potential businesses that could bring life — extraterrestrial or otherwise — back to the circular building at LOVE Park known as the “flying saucer.”
Faced with the question: “What would you do with the Saucer if the sky was the limit?” Philadelphians on social media this week have suggested everything from turning it into a museum (one devoted to meats and cheeses and/or skateboarding) to making it into an actual spaceship (oh, HAL yes!).
Opened in 1960 as the Fairmount Park Welcome Center, the structure at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard previously served as a visitor center and park staff offices, but it’s been inaccessible to the public for a decade, since closing in 2015 prior to park renovations (RIP old LOVE Park).
According to Ra’Chelle Rogers, Parks & Rec spokesperson, the saucer, which underwent $5.6 million in improvements, is “structurally brand new” and has a working bathroom but does not have a full kitchen and still needs “finishing touches.”
The city has twice issued requests for proposals for a restaurant in the building. A hospitality group that initially signed on in 2019 backed out of the project after the pandemic and a subsequent 2023 request for proposals did not result in any bids, according to Rogers.
This time around, Parks & Rec is seeking “requests for expressions of interest,” which isn’t a formal proposal process, but rather an open call for ideas from “visionary businesses, particularly those in food, beverage, retail or hospitality,” a news release said.
“Revamping The Saucer now with a lighter-touch model, such as a café, taproom, or rotating residency, helps alleviate the cost burden of a full restaurant buildout and creates a more flexible, accessible use of the space,” Rogers said via email. “We anticipate [it] will garner more interest than what was requested in the 2023 bid process.”
The city is seeking “restaurateurs, cultural curators, nonprofit leaders, and entrepreneurs” who will turn the space(ship) into a place that “reflects the spirit of Philadelphia,” showcases local pride and talent, serves residents and visitors, offers flexible community-centered use, and “reflects the spirit” of the 2026 semiquincentennial, according to the news release.
Former Gov. Ed Rendell, who chairs Philadelphia250, the local group leading the city’s 250th anniversary celebrations, wanted to create a permanent and interactive monument to democracy for 2026 in the saucer called the National Light, but the size of that project was unfeasible for the site, Parks & Rec Commissioner Susan Slawson previously told The Inquirer.
Users on social media platforms Bluesky and Threads had some pretty great ideas for the saucer when asked earlier this week what they would do with it.
One particularly popular idea was to make it into a home for the Phanatic and Gritty (with a huge nest on top for Swoop).
Other suggestions included turning it into bathrooms, a Philly snack shop, a coffee shop, a Wawa, or an Arby’s or making it into a venue for Philly artists of all mediums to showcase their talents.
The saucer could also be fashioned into the bridge of the USS Enterprise (an idea that boldly goes where no one has gone before), a Gravitron, a tiny roller rink, a giant trampoline, or a place to display the Philadelphia Eagles’ two Lombardi trophies, readers said.
Ideas must be submitted via email with the subject line “SaucerRFEI Submission — [your business name]” to [email protected] by 5 p.m. June 6.