We must save Joe Frazier’s Gym on North Broad Street

A modest, three-story brick building on North Broad Street that now houses a vacant discount furniture store was once heavyweight champion and boxing icon “Smokin’” Joe Frazier’s Gym. After winning gold at the 1964 Olympics, Frazier bought the building in 1968 and lived there while he trained for his legendary bouts against Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. After retiring from professional boxing, he opened the gym to the public, coaching new generations of champions. Frazier later said his grueling training routine — using slabs of beef as a boxing heavy bag and sprinting up the Art Museum steps — served as the inspiration for the iconic workout montage in Rocky.

“Smokes,” as many of his athletes affectionately called him, provided more than just a workout space. The gym, located in the 2900 block of North Broad near Glenwood Avenue, served as a safe space and community resource. Boxers who didn’t feel safe at home or simply needed a place to stay were allowed to stay upstairs, and he often helped them and their families out financially.

That’s why it’s so hard for me to understand why some are willing to stand by and let this critical piece of Philadelphia history crumble and potentially be demolished. Frazier had to sell his beloved home and business in 2011 after struggling with his health and finances. By 2012, the owner was also seeking to remove Frazier’s original signage from the facade, and the building had fallen into such disrepair that the National Trust for Historic Preservation added it to its list of “11 Most Endangered Historic Places.”

I came to the gym in 2012, when the National Trust and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia convened a group of partners to explore the potential of acquiring and restoring the property. The concept was to work with the city, which would allocate tax credits to support community-driven and revenue-generating uses at the site, with the potential to construct affordable housing adjacent to the gym. While this proposal ultimately did not move forward, we succeeded in getting Joe Frazier’s Gym listed as a Philadelphia landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

The designation was only a first line of defense, however. It requires a permit from the city to demolish or alter its historic architectural features. But that hasn’t stopped the building’s current owner from letting the gym sit vacant and in disrepair to the point that it’s failed multiple city safety inspections.

Deferred maintenance is a stall tactic. When a building owner does not consistently invest in maintaining a property, the renovation costs increase. They can then claim they lack the money to preserve the building until the city agrees to let it be torn down.

Although cultural heritage and redevelopment work takes time and has its own set of challenges, Joe Frazier’s Gym must be sold to an owner who is willing to invest in its upkeep and work with historic preservation experts to not only bring the building back to its former glory but to restore its place as a center of the community. Reviving the gym would attract tourism and new businesses to the area, enabling the neighborhood to further embrace its history and civic pride.

The gym with Joe Frazier’s name still etched on the granite facade stands as the embodiment of his spirit and enduring impact. Smokin’ Joe is beloved in Philadelphia, not just for being a boxer who knocked down giants, but for the thousands of lives he changed for the better.

If a new owner takes over the building and is willing to work with both the Preservation Alliance and the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, we would be glad to help them preserve Frazier’s legacy. By forging new partnerships, we can enable the local community to preserve, restore, repurpose, and maintain this historic place for future generations. It’s our moral and ethical responsibility to find solutions to mitigate threats to this incredible Philadelphia landmark.

Brent Leggs is the executive director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and a senior vice president at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.