The Rocky statue and Rocky steps in Philadelphia

The Rocky statue and the Rocky steps are two of the most popular tourist attractions in Philadelphia. Each year, tens of thousands of people snap photos with the Rocky statue and then run up the 72 Rocky steps leading up to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The steps gained global fame after being featured in a notable scene from the 1976 film ‘Rocky’.

In 1980, Sylvester Stallone, Hollywood movie star and producer of the ‘Rocky’ film series, commissioned sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg to create a bronze statue of the fictional boxer with both arms raised for the movie ‘Rocky III’. In the 1982 movie, the eight-and-a-half-foot statue is placed in the courtyard of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After the filming, Stallone donated it to the City of Philadelphia and proposed installing it in the same location where it appeared in the film.

The sculpture was moved several times because critics rejected the sculpture on the ground that it was not worthy of display in front of the museum. The Philadelphia Art Museum and the Philadelphia Art Commission had some differences over the location of the sculpture. Some regarded the statue as nothing more than a movie prop. Others saw it as kitsch. On the other hand, supporters argued that the statue should be given a recognition because the movie ‘Rocky III’ generated valuable publicity and tourism for the city.

In 1982, after a few months at the Museum of Art, the Rocky statue was moved to the Spectrum, an indoor sports arena in South Philadelphia. It stood for many years in front of the main Pattison Avenue entrance of the Spectrum, which had been represented in the movie as the site of Rocky’s first and second fights with Apollo Creed. (The fight sequences were actually filmed at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena). The statue was removed several times over the years to be used in the filming of sequels to the original film.

In 1990, the Rocky statue was again temporarily placed atop the museum steps for the filming of Rocky V, then brought back to the Spectrum. Renewed debate about the location ensued as well. In 1993-94, the statue was moved there briefly again for the filming of the movie ‘Philadelphia’ with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. But afterward, on each occasion, the statue was returned to the sports arena Spectrum.

By 2002, the Rocky statue was put into storage during the demolition of Veterans Stadium and it remained in storage. In August 2005, filming began on the sixth Rocky movie, ‘Rocky Balboa’, which was planned for release in 2006, the 30th anniversary of the first Rocky film. Again, supporters started talking about moving the Rocky statue back to the Art Museum location.

In September 2006, the Philadelphia Art Commission approved a plan to return the statue to the steps near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, near the bottom, but not at the top of the steps.

The Rocky Steps leading up to the East entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia
The Rocky steps leading up to the East entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
View from the Rocky steps into Philadelphia

On September 8th, 2006, the Rocky statue was installed on a pedestal in a grassy area near the foot of the steps to the right of the Museum. The unveiling ceremony included live music, the debut of the first full trailer for the ‘Rocky Balboa’ film, and a free showing of the first Rocky movie from 1976. A cheering crowd of a couple of thousand Rocky fans attended the ceremony. At the ceremony, Philadelphia’s Mayor John Street said that the steps were one of Philly’s biggest tourist attractions, and that Stallone, a native New Yorker, had become ‘the city’s favorite adopted son’.

‘All you want is a slice of the American dream’, Stallone said to the crowd during the installation ceremony. ‘That’s what Rocky was about,’ he said. ‘Having the opportunity. Not to win. Not to set records. Not someday to be made into a statue. But just the opportunity to run the race and see if you can finish’. The statue, he added, ‘is not about me. It’s about you. Because inside of every one of you, there’s a real Rocky’.

Since the 1980s, Philadelphians have been gathering on the Rocky steps to protest for a variety of causes and speak out against injustice. These protests embody Rocky’s same message: the underdog has the potential to rise up in the face of adversity, just as Rocky himself did in his movies.