A crowd gathers around the portal in Love Park in Philadelphia (Credit: Phaedra Trethan, USA Today Images)
The Portal is beloved in other cities around the world. Describing it's relationship with Philadelphia is not nearly as easy.
We are a unique breed in this town, and so, of course, we are going to find ways to push boundaries. Sometimes, we go to far.
Which is why some recent acts of vandalism at the Portal - namely smashing the screen with rocks and cutting it's wires to stop transmitting across the globe - forced the Portal to be offline for about a week.
All the repairs have been made, and the Portal reopened Friday morning at Love Park.
But it's not staying there.
The acts of vandalism are not the only reason, officials say, after all, at Christmas they had to move the Portal to install the Christmas village, and, well, who wants to move the portal once a year?
But the reality is, after just five months in Love Park, the fact that a new home is already being considered speaks volumes.
This isn't atypical for Philadelphia - consider how many times the Rocky statue has changed locations, right?
But the kumbaya nature of the Portals project - which is to build a bridge to a united planet - doesn't always fit the nature of the parochial, and hard-scrabble world of Philadelphia.
The city is working with the directors of the Portal project to find a new home, and three secret locations are being considered, including one that is indoors, but that announcement won't come until next month.
As for the long-term viability of the Portal in Philly?
"I am 100% committed to keeping this Portal in Philadelphia through the celebration of our country's 250th birthday," Joe Callahan, a director for the Portals project told 6ABC recently.
So, for another 18 months, got it.
