LOVE Park's Welcome Center struggling to find a long-term tenant

State of play: City officials are weighing next steps for the space-age-looking building at the corner of 16th Street and JFK Boulevard.

• They are now also considering local arts organizations for the building, city Department of Parks and Recreation spokesperson Darren Fava tells Axios.
• LOVE Park staff are using the building's lower level.

The latest: The Festival of Trees opens inside the circular building Thursday for the holiday season.

• The free event is a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and will feature Santa on select days through Dec. 24.

Context: A $5.6 million rehab of the building was completed in 2019, shortly after the overhaul of LOVE Park.

• That year, Philly-area restaurateurs Marcie Turney and Val Safran signed on to run a restaurant and bar in the space.
• While their plans were delayed by the pandemic, they opened a pop-up outside the building in 2021.
• But in 2022, the pair pulled out of the plan due to pandemic-related challenges.

Last year, the city's request for proposals seeking a restaurateur for the building received zero responses, Fava says.