The Philadelphia Stars Negro Leagues mural in West Philly was taken down — but a new one is planned

When a West Parkside mural honoring the Philadelphia Stars and Negro Leagues baseball was taken down last month, social media commenters were outraged as the news spread, fearing that Philadelphia had lost one of its iconic odes to Black history.

But the mural at 4304 Parkside Ave. won’t be gone for very long. In a collaboration among Mural Arts Philadelphia, Parkside community members, and the owners of its former building, a new version of the Stars mural will be re-created just across the street.

“It was put up over 20 years ago. We’ve been working really hard to spruce it up for the next 20 years,” said Marjorie Ogilvie, the president emeritus of the West Parkside Business Association, who helped erect the first mural in 2006.

It seemed inevitable that the two-story mural would eventually be brought down. There was roof and wall damage to the home on which it is painted, and the building partially collapsed. Those repairs required the removal of half of the mural a few years ago, and it was never replaced.

And the possibility of development on the plot of land is now closer to being realized. The triangle-shaped grassy lot in front of the mural has been owned by developer Haverford Square Properties for several years, and it acquired the 4304 Parkside building in September.

Haverford Square planned to construct a six-story apartment building at the corner, but community members fought back, arguing that it would lead to overcrowding in the neighborhood. Haverford Square president German Yakubov said they have since reached something of a compromise on a smaller-scale development, which will include a baseball-themed coffee shop on the corner.

But Yakubov is helping to secure the long-term future of the mural. Haverford Square has donated $30,000 and design services to the project to create a new version across Belmont Avenue.

“I didn’t want to let it go,” he said of the mural he has been driving past since he was a student at St. Joseph’s University.

The mural will be painted on a yet-to-be-constructed wall in the Philadelphia Stars Negro Leagues Memorial Park, at the southwest corner of Parkside and Belmont Avenues. It will look slightly different from the previous version, since the new wall will be wider and shorter than the 4304 Parkside wall was. But the designs come from the artist who worked on the original mural, David McShane.

The park features a 7-foot bronze statue of a Negro Leagues baseball player, which was unveiled in a 2003 dedication ceremony at Veterans Stadium by five living Philadelphia Stars players — Bill Cash, Mahlon Duckett, Stanley Glenn, Harold Gould, and Wilmer Harris — before being placed at the park in 2005. The new mural will be raised behind the bronze statue.

“It’s great to see when everyone comes together to ensure that the story of the Negro League[s] and the Philadelphia Stars is not forgotten,” said Mural Arts Philadelphia executive director Jane Golden.

Many people reached out to Mural Arts once they heard in the fall that the mural was going to be removed, Golden said. They were furious and wanted to know what the organization would do to protect it.

Golden said she expects construction to begin early this spring after the project receives Philadelphia Art Commission approval, and for the mural to be completed by summer. Thousands of visitors are expected for numerous events in Philly, including the MLB All-Star Game in July.

The Stars are nearing their 100th anniversary, having played their first games in 1933. They joined the Negro National League the following season and won their first and only pennant, beating the Chicago American Giants in a controversial eight-game series, 4-3-1, after game 7 ended in a tie due to the state’s blue law curfew. Satchel Paige briefly played for the Stars, as did other Negro Leagues legends like Biz Mackey and Jud Nelson.

But after Major League Baseball was integrated in 1947, the popularity of the Negro Leagues dropped, and the Stars disbanded in 1952. They played the majority of their home games at the 44th and Parkside Ballpark, the site where the new mural will rise.