PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (WHTM) – The National Park Service is proposing the removal of a William Penn statue and a model of his home from Welcome Park in Philadelphia.

The park is located at the site of Penn’s home, the Slate Roof House, and is named after the ship “Welcome” which brought Penn to Philadelphia in 1682 when King Charles II granted a charter for lands in North America.

According to the National Park Service, the proposed removal of the Penn statue and the Slate Roof House is part of a plan to “rehabilitate Welcome Park to provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors.”

Plans for the park, which was completed in 1982, include a new planted buffer on three sides and a ceremonial gathering space with circular benches.

New exhibit panels would also be installed to replace the Penn timeline.

Original features such as the street grid, the rivers, and the east wall would be maintained.

The National Park Services says the proposal includes an “expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia and was developed in consultation with representatives of the indigenous nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe, and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.”

A two week public comment period will be open online from January 8 to 21. Comments submitted through social media, phone calls, emails, or mail will not be accepted.

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Pennsylvania House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) said be believes the proposed removal of the statue is an attempt to “cancel” Penn.

“To remove Penn’s statue to create a more inclusive environment takes absurd and revisionist view of our state’s history and further seems to serve no purpose other than to check a box for an increasingly dangerous radicalism infiltrating today’s left wing political agenda,” said Cutler.

On Monday Cutler introduced a resolution “honoring the life and accomplishments of William Penn and encouraging the Biden administration and National Park Service to immediately halt their announced plans” to remove the statue.

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