The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation has
received yet another in a series of grants with tremendous potential to transform the southeast section of the city. Thanks to $5 million from the
William Penn Foundation, they can continue their work to connect the adjacent neighborhoods -- Queen Village and Pennsport -- with the waterfront, mitigating the decades-old barrier created by I-95 and Columbus Boulevard.
One of the most exciting projects involves the development of Pier 86 at Tasker Street, paired with a streetscape redesign that will improve connection to the water. This development will serve as a companion piece to
the ambitious renovation of Pier 53 at Washington Avenue.
According to Pennsporter, there are already preliminary plans for the project.
"Pier 68...has been deemed structurally solid out to about 350 feet -- meaning more access to the river," explains Pennsporter's James Jennings in a blog post. "Much like Washington Avenue Green, the hope is to design Pier 68 with the ecosystem and wetlands in mind. So, no, it won't be Race St. Pier 2.0. Instead, there have been ideas to use it the way it is currently (albeit illegally) being used -- as a partial fishing station and tug boat dock."
While finalizing its plans over the coming months, DRWC will hold a series of meetings with community and advocacy groups. The work on the southern section of the Delaware should be a terrific compliment to ongoing work at Penn's Landing (where a park is being built over I-95) and the Spring Garden connector project. All these efforts aim to connect Philadelphia's residents with one of the area's most underused and underappreciated assets.
LEE STABERT is managing editor of Flying Kite.