Kathryn Ott Lovell is leaving Philly Parks & Rec to head city visitor center

Kathryn Ott Lovell, commissioner of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, will become the next president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corp., effective July 10.

She will be the first woman to lead the organization, and will do so alongside Debbie O’Brien, who is the first woman to chair the visitor center’s board.

A fourth-generation Philadelphian, Ott Lovell said she has long dreamed of taking on such a role.

“I always joked that when I retire, I want to become a tour guide for the city,” she said. “It was a joke, but it’s not now — and I don’t have to wait until I retire.”

It was that energy and excitement for the city, combined with a stellar track record of leadership in city government and nonprofits, that made Ott Lovell the ideal person for the job, O’Brien said.

“Her passion and her enthusiasm is really unmatched,” said O’Brien, adding that Ott Lovell has cemented a reputation as “one of the biggest cheerleaders for Philadelphia” since becoming Parks and Recreation commissioner in 2016.

Ott Lovell launched the Parks and Recreation Department’s first strategic plan and implemented programs such as Parks on Tap, the traveling beer garden, and The Oval+, a pop-up park on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway that turned public spaces into gathering places for residents and visitors.

Ott Lovell expanded PlayStreets, turning the 60-year-old summertime meal distribution program for city children into a day camp-like experience with arts, sports, and dance parties. She also brought activities, seating, umbrellas, and plants to some city pools.

In recent years, Ott Lovell navigated the Parks and Recreation Department through a pandemic that temporarily shuttered some spaces, such as pools and rec centers, and sent people flocking to others, such as the trails at Wissahickon Valley Park. Ott Lovell said she was never prouder of her work than in the pandemic’s early days, when her employees worked tirelessly every day cleaning up crowded parks and trails or packing boxes of food at the city warehouse.

“We absolutely proved that we were an essential service during COVID,” she said.

As virus restrictions eased, she led efforts to safely reopen facilities and restart programs, while grappling with chronic underfunding — exacerbated by pandemic budget cuts — rising gun violence, and staffing shortages.

“I never anticipated when I took the job to be Parks and Rec commissioner that we’d have so many challenges. COVID was certainly one that felt insurmountable at the time,” Ott Lovell said. “Looking back, I can see now that it was a harrowing experience, but there were some good things that came out it: The city is stronger. We as individuals are stronger.”

She said she will take lessons from that experience and apply them in her new position, in which she will be one of several city tourism leaders working to accelerate the industry’s pandemic recovery.

Earlier this year, tourism officials said they expected business and leisure travelers to return to Philadelphia in pre-pandemic numbers within the next year. And they’re anticipating welcoming even more visitors in 2026, when the city will host the FIFA World Cup, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and celebrations for the country’s 250th anniversary.

The pandemic “has been a huge setback, but that only makes the path forward more exciting and optimistic,” Ott Lovell said. “There’s so much going well for our city that we don’t talk about enough. And certainly the comeback and the rebound of the hospitality industry is a great success story.”

Ott Lovell was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia. She lives with her husband, Andrew, and two young daughters in the Cedar Park section of West Philadelphia. When she has visitors in town, her favorite place to take them: Reading Terminal Market.

“I just think it’s everything great about our city, the diversity of it, the busyness of it,” she said. “It’s uniquely Philadelphian.”

Before becoming commissioner, Ott Lovell served as executive director of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, a nonprofit that works to support and improve Philadelphia parks, and chief advancement officer for Mural Arts Philadelphia, the city’s public art program.

As head of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation, she will oversee the Independence Visitor Center, in cooperation with the National Park Service, as well as the LOVE Park Visitor Center, the City Hall Visitor Center, and the Philly PHLASH downtown bus loop, a public transit service that stops at more than a dozen popular tourist sites. The center, a nonprofit, also operates the Liberty View, a private event space at the Independence Visitor Center.

Ott Lovell’s appointment comes after an intensive region-wide search. She will replace Jennifer Nagle, who has served as the visitor center’s interim president and CEO since January. Nagle took over from former CEO James Cuorato, who in September announced he was stepping down after 13 years at the helm. Ott Lovell’s last day at Parks and Rec is June 2.