New Restaurant Coming To LOVE Park In Fall

PHILADELPHIA — A new restaurant is coming to the revamped LOVE Park in late fall this year, city officials announced Wednesday.

Mayor Jim Kenney, Council President Darrell Clarke and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell announced that prominent Philadelphia restauratuers and business owners Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran of Safran Turney Hospitality, along with partner Terence Lewis, will open Loveluck, a full-service restaurant and bar located in LOVE Park’s iconic Welcome Center.

Loveluck is slated to open in late fall 2019, with dinner service to start, shortly followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

The Mayor ceremoniously unveiled the specialty glass manufactured by LOVE Park Welcome Center presenting sponsor Saint-Gobain, and acknowledged other critical partners in the renovation of this historic site, including Fairmount Park Conservancy.

"Loveluck will transform the Welcome Center into a destination for quality dining and socializing. This opening marks another positive step in the rebirth of LOVE Park," Kenney said.

After a full-scale renovation of the LOVE Park Welcome Center, designed by KieranTimberlake, Turney and Safran will work with Philadelphia-based Stokes Architecture + Design, as well as Rohe Creative, to collaborate on Loveluck’s layout and interior.

The distinctive and elevated circular space will provide 360-degree views of the park offered through the custom Saint-Gobain Glass, which utilizes pioneering coating technologies to enhance the architects’ vision, provide optimum occupant comfort, and allow for unrestricted views of the park. Current plans for the restaurant include indoor seating for 60, 40 seats on the balcony, and an additional 80 seats on the terrace located at the plaza level of the park.

“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to create a dining experience within an iconic structure at one of Philadelphia’s most treasured parks,” says Turney, whose cooking and entrepreneurship have earned her praise and recognition, including recently being named Philadelphia Magazine’s Trailblazer for 2019.

"As with our other restaurants, we want to create an experience at Loveluck that is approachable and fun,” says Safran.

“I am so excited that Safran Turney Hospitality, owners of some of Philadelphia’s most successful and welcoming restaurants have decided to open their next restaurant at the LOVE Park Welcome Center,” Ott Lovell said. “Their investment is another sign of the resurgence of LOVE Park.”

City officials toured the under-construction Welcome Center and experienced the spectacular panoramic views that are now available at the facility because of the newly installed glass glazing system. The Welcome Center’s former glazing system was removed as part of the renovation process and replaced with 2,500 square feet of custom energy-efficient structural glazing manufactured by Saint-Gobain.