Fitler Square

{{short description|Neighborhood in Philadelphia, US}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox settlement | background_color=    |image_skyline=Fitler Square.jpg |image_caption=Fitler Square in Summer 2007 |image_flag= |name=Fitler Square |settlement_type = [[List of Philadelphia neighborhoods|Neighborhood of Philadelphia]]   | mapsize = 300px | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Philadelphia | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_mapsize = | coordinates = {{coord|39.94763|-75.17973|type:landmark_region:US|format=dms|display=title}}  |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{USA}} |subdivision_type1 = State |subdivision_name1 = [[Pennsylvania]] |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_name2 = [[Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]] |subdivision_type3 = City |subdivision_name3 = [[Philadelphia]]   |postal_code_type= |postal_code= |area_codes=[[Area codes 215, 267, and 445|215, 267, and 445]] }}

'''Fitler Square''' is a 0.5 acre (0.20 ha) public park in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], United States and a surrounding [[List of Philadelphia neighborhoods|neighborhood]] of the same name. The square is bounded on the east by 23rd Street, on the west by 24th Street, on the north by Panama Street, and on the south by Pine Street. The neighborhood encompasses much of southwest [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]] west of [[Rittenhouse Square]] and east of the [[Schuylkill River]].

Fitler Square was named for late 19th century [[list of mayors of Philadelphia|Philadelphia mayor]] [[Edwin Henry Fitler]] shortly after his death in 1896. The square lies on land owned by the City of Philadelphia, via the Department of Parks and Recreation,<ref>[http://www.phila.gov/parksandrecreation/Pages/default.aspx Department of Parks and Recreation]</ref> and is cared for through a public private partnership between the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Fitler Square Improvement Association.<ref>[http://www.fitlersquare.org Fitler Square Improvement Association, Inc]</ref>

==Neighborhood== [[File:Fitler Square Circa 1947 A.jpg|thumb|Fitler Square, {{Circa|1947}}]] The name '''Fitler Square''' is also used to describe the [[neighbourhood|neighborhood]] surrounding the square, bounded roughly by 21st Street on the east, the [[Schuylkill River]] on the west, [[Locust Street]] on the north, and South Street on the south. To the east of this neighborhood is the [[Rittenhouse Square]] neighborhood; to the west is the [[University City, Pennsylvania|University City]] neighborhood, home to the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and [[Drexel University]]; to the south is [[Southwest Center City]], also known as "South of South" or the "Graduate Hospital Area". The portion of Center City surrounding Fitler Square and nearby [[Rittenhouse Square]] is sometimes referred to as "Rit-Fit" after the two parks.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Before the 1950s, the neighborhood was a prime example of the [[urban blight]] that had overcome much of the city. The park itself was described as a "mudhole inhabited by drunks and empty bottles".<ref>Lowe, Jeanne R., ''Cities in a Race With Time: Progress and Poverty in America's Renewing Cities'', p 338, Random House NY, 1967</ref>

In the mid-1950s, the Center City Residents' Association successfully petitioned [[Joseph S. Clark|Mayor Clark]] to do something about the decline of the neighborhood. Working together, they freed up [[Mortgage loan|mortgage]] money for the construction of new homes and rehabilitation of the neighborhood. Also threatening the neighborhood was the proposed [[Interstate 695 (Pennsylvania)|Crosstown Expressway]]. The threat of its construction, which would demolish much of the neighborhood, was enough to reduce property values and add to the neighborhood's blight. The Residents' Association was successful in changing these plans and in the following years the neighborhood drastically improved largely due to efforts of the Center City Residents' Association and the Fitler Square Improvement Association.

The neighborhood is mostly residential, composed of single-family homes,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fitler Square |url=https://kwphiladelphia.com/communities/fitler-square/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=KW Philadelphia |language=en-US}}</ref> and within a short walk of the commercial areas of Center City.

==Sculptures== {{See also|National Register of Historic Places listings in Center City, Philadelphia}} [[Image:Fitler Square 2.jpg|thumb|The fountain in Fitler Square]] A sculpture of three turtles adorn the park made by Philadelphia artist [[Eric Berg]] along with sculptures of a Grizzly Bear and a Ram. The center of the park is dominated by a Victorian-era fountain which flows most of the year. Prior to 2010, this fountain, like many in [[Philadelphia]], flowed fresh water from the main directly into the sewer system. In 2010, the Fitler Square Improvement Association engaged a large project at a cost of approximately $40,000 funded by neighborhood donations and a $7,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to change the fountain into one that recirculates all of its water with a pumping system saving huge amounts of water each year.

==Educational institutions== The Philadelphia School, a private institution, is located in the Fitler Square Neighborhood at 2501 Lombard St. The school, which originally opened in 1972, offers preschool through 8th grade classes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tpschool.org/wwa/ataglance.php |title=The Philadelphia School |access-date=2009-10-20 |archive-date=2009-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091117100737/http://www.tpschool.org/wwa/ataglance.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Free Library of Philadelphia]] operates the Philadelphia City Institute on the first floor and lower level of an apartment complex at 1905 Locust Street.<ref>"[http://libwww.freelibrary.org/branches/branch.cfm?loc=PCI Philadelphia City Institute]." ''[[Free Library of Philadelphia]]''. Retrieved on January 20, 2009.</ref>

==Notable people== * [[Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus]], subjects of ''[[50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus]] ''

==In popular culture== *On the television show ''[[Philly (TV series)|Philly]]'', [[Kim Delaney]]'s character "Kathleen" was portrayed as living in a small apartment overlooking the park. *Hojun Li, co-editor of the film ''[[The Sixth Sense]]'', claims to have been inspired by children in Fitler Square.

==References== <references />

==External links== * [http://www.fitlersquare.org Fitler Square Improvement Association] * [http://www.phillyhistory.org/ Historic Photographs of Fitler Square], ''Philly''History.org

[[Category:Center City, Philadelphia]] [[Category:Municipal parks in Philadelphia]] [[Category:Neighborhoods in Philadelphia]]