Park Service retracts decision to take down William Penn statue at Philadelphia historical site

By MARC LEVY
Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The National Park Service is retracting a proposal to take down a statue of William Penn at a Philadelphia historical site as part of a renovation that touched off a torrent of criticism over the legacy of the man who founded the province of Pennsylvania. In a statement Monday, Independence National Historical Park said it withdrew the proposal it had announced quietly before the weekend about the wider renovation of Welcome Park, just blocks from the Liberty Bell. The proposal, it said, was released “prematurely” and hadn’t undergone a complete internal review. The retracted plan had also involved expanding the telling of the Native American history of Philadelphia.