By Nicholas Mirra, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s search for its next artist-designed bike rack is nearing an important first deadline. The last day to submit a design is September 30th. That deadline was extended to increase the number of submissions received, and to give artists time to react to a change made in the specifications for the larger (4-bike) rack category.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is partnering with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) on the contest. Philadelphia already has a handful of nontraditional bike racks, such as the funky sculpture outside Johnny Brenda’s and the slightly intimidating-looking crane hook structure in front of North Bowl.

This structure outside North Bowl in Northern Liberties isn’t what comes to mind when most people think bike parking.

These metal structures give the streetscape a distinctive look and provide a valuable service for patrons of those businesses arriving via bicycle.

The most recent push for distinctive bike parking began in 2011 when the Bicycle Coalition installed a car-sharped bike corral at Walnut & Sydenham in Center City. The installation was part of Parking Day, a design event in which businesses, organizations, and schools repurpose a car parking space. The bike corral was made permanent, however, and helped jumpstart the City’s bike corral program.

The bike corral at Walnut & Sydenham alludes to the parked car it replaced while providing safe parking for 14 bicycles.

Now businesses and agencies across the city are reconsidering the advantages of hosting bike parking, and are requesting bike racks, bike corrals, or racks from this contest. So far six locations have been selected to receive a contest-winning rack: Sister Cities Park, Café Cret, the PMA Perelman Building, Boathouse Row, Penn Center Plaza, and City Hall. More locations may be announced in the upcoming months.

The artist-designed bike rack will be the next wave in Philadelphia’s reinvention of the bike rack. The final designs will be announced in October.