Originally built for Pope John Paul II’s visit to Philadelphia in 1979, a massive cross has sat overlooking Benjamin Franklin Parkway at Logan Square for the past few decades. It will be relocated to the Malvern Retreat House, write Joe Brandt, Raymond Strickland, and Marcella Baietto for CBS News Philadelphia.

Over one million people attended a mass held on Oct. 3, 1979, by the former pope. The cross has become a landmark for locals and visitors on the corner of City and Lancaster avenues.

At the Malvern Retreat House, the cross will be refurbished and resurrected hopefully by the fall.

“This landmark is going to continue to live,” said Michael Norton, the president of the Malvern Retreat House. “That was most important. This cross will continue to live in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.”

Albert Baylor, who also works for the retreat house, said the cross was a big part of his childhood. He knows that the community will have to get used to not seeing it there anymore, but it will find a welcoming home in Malvern.

“It was always a landmark that you look forward at that age,” said Baylor. “When you are little, you always try to tie into something. Going up to my grandmother’s, I get to see the cross. Going up City Avenue, I get to see the cross.”

Read more about the historic cross being transferred to the Malvern Retreat House in CBS News Philadelphia.

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