An elegy for the giant game pieces outside Philly’s Municipal Services Building

Sorry, not sorry, the announcement from the city seemed to say,

As the news was quietly released the Friday before Memorial Day.

The giant game pieces that have dotted the Municipal Services Building’s Thomas Paine Plaza since 1996,

Are not long for this world, the release said, they’re about to be nixed.

Removal began the day of the announcement and on Tuesday it was completed,

Goodbyes there were no time for, of sorrowful farewells we were cheated!

There will be no more skateboarding on dominoes or lounging in a wheelbarrow from Monopoly,

Little kids will no longer play among bingo chips or pawn pieces from chess and Sorry.

The city said this public art project, called Your Move, has reached “deaccession,”

Which is a fancy way of saying Philly no longer wants these pieces in their collection.

The reasons cited range from impending renovations of the plaza to poor condition of the art,

“Ongoing expensive” costs of maintenance, officials said, also played a part.

The 45 pieces (34 of which remained), were constructed of fiberglass, steel, and concrete,

And against the forces of mankind and Mother Nature, they could no longer compete.

The artists of the work — Daniel Martinez, Renée Petropoulos, and Roger White — were offered the option to take their pieces home,

But according to Marguerite Anglin, public art director for the Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, they decided to leave them alone.

Anglin said the artists requested the game pieces be “disposed of,” not given away or sold,

So we won’t one day find the Monopoly iron in someone’s West Philly basement growing mold.

With no Community Chest or Chance cards in sight to offer the hope of a “Get out of jail free,”

The game pieces were removed and will be temporarily housed at a storage facility.

From there the city will decide how to dispose of the artwork, it will not be revived,

Turns out even giant playing pieces don’t make it out of the game of life alive.

The city said the artwork stood as a reflection of life’s journeys, “from child’s play to adult obligation,”

And that human interaction through playing games was another connotation.

But like most art, how you interpreted Your Move was totally subjective,

Myself, I’ve always liked RoadsideAmerica.com’s perspective:

Beyond adding whimsy to a dull space, perhaps the artists intended to draw a deeper thread,

That it’s hard to follow the rules of Philly bureaucracy with so many games mixed up, the site said.

Given their location at Thomas Paine Plaza, a major spot for protests in Philly,

The giant game pieces have often dripped with irony.

National Guard soldiers stood among them, looking down at protesters below,

And it’s here where Philadelphians told the city “No more games, the Rizzo statue has got to go!”

Of course there was Occupy Philly, Phillies rallies, DNC and Trump protests too,

Philadelphians are outspoken, and the plaza is where we do what we do.

Anglin said renovations to the foundation begin next week and are expected to be completed by next spring,

And the new site will include green space and seating, which is definitely a good thing.

The city said the plaza will undergo renovations similar to Dilworth Plaza and LOVE Park,

And while Dilworth is great, the new LOVE Park is too stark.

So when public artwork is chosen for the plaza’s redesign,

We ask the city to keep what Your Move brought to Philly in mind:

Childlike wonder and whimsy; irony and subversive criticism too,

The next move is yours Philly, now let’s see what you do.