The subjects of two of Riverhorse’s film projects have been added to the US National Register of Historic Places this year.
On 30 April, Joe Frazier’s North Philadelphia Gym was added to the register by the US National Parks Service. Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who last year added the gym to the nation’s endangered buildings list said:
The listing of Joe Frazier’s Gym on the National Register of Historic Places is cause for celebration and a fitting tribute to one of our greatest athletes of all time.”
However, the gym is not fully protected yet. As part of the National Park Service’s National Register, the building is only added to a list as a notable landmark. In order to fully protect the building from demolition or major changes to the exterior by any future owner, it must be added to the Philadelphia Register for Historic Places. The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia has submitted a nomination to the Philadelphia Historical Commission for the gym’s listing on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places – a decision is expected June 2013.
Earlier in 2013, Chicano Park, the focus of the hour-long documentary “Under the Bridge”, was added to the register. The designation, which officially occurred on Jan. 23, recognizes the park for its
critical association with the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of the city of San Diego’s political and social history.”
The inclusion on the register also acknowledges the significance of the park’s internationally acclaimed murals the bulk of which were were painted between 1973 and 1989.
Both films are available to watch online (FREE – US only)
www.hulu.com/joe-frazier-when-the-smoke-clears
www.hulu.com/under-the-bridge
