Construction beginning for Pier 68 park
Last summer we told you about the plans to transform the abandoned Pier 68 behind the Walmart on Columbus Boulevard into a new park space.
Now construction is finally beginning on Pier 68, which will soon become a park space for things like fishing, gatherings and general public enjoyment.
The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation posted on Facebook yesterday about the construction beginning on the location.
Construction is underway for our soon-to-be fishing park in Pennsport. Have you seen the plans?
Posted by Delaware River Waterfront on Wednesday, July 1, 2015
As we told you previously, this $1.7 million park project will feature amenities including:
- An entrance deck with wood paving, seating, and site furnishings that register water elevation. Located just off the future Central Delaware trail extension, this space will serve as a resting spot for those using the trail and as a place where shopping center visitors can quickly experience the Pier Park.
- A collection of native trees that begin to conceal the parking lot and traffic to the west. These trees will serve as a threshold, marking that visitors have crossed into a new riverside environment.
- A Picnic Grove where a gravel walking surface and a combination of furnishings and trees will create a space to rest and enjoy the shade.
- A 4.5’ deep aquatic cut into the pier surface allowing water to filter up through the lower wood deck and reveal the semidiurnal tidal activity of the Delaware River. Filled with native, aquatic plants, and crossed with a simple rope and cable bridge structure, this space will become a focal point for educators and curious visitors. Students will have the opportunity to observe and learn about the Delaware’s changes in water elevation and what this means for vegetation, fish and wildlife populations.
- An angled lawn for lounging and sun-bathing accompanied by a long linear bench for seating.
- A water-side walk and the open pier terminus will support a variety of events and activities such as recreational fishing or gathering to watch holiday fireworks.
You can take a look at more renderings of Pier 68 here.
When people are fishing, where are they to cut the bait? Where will the residual scraps of bait sit? Is there an area to wash off, like a cutting table? So that rats and cockroaches or the wild cats from the nearby cat farm, arent so readily drawn to the smell and detritus of left over bait. How about when someone catches a fish and guts it? What happens to that lovely mess?
Also, any restrooms anywhere near this or the other piers?
@JEM, you clearly have never been fishing. Relax. There are tons of people currently fishing all over that area, it’s nothing new.
They may be currently fishing, but at isolated spots where the general public is not being expected to lounge, read books, relax on benches, have their children running about, enjoy a lunch or a coffee, etc. And as another thought occurs, how are people suppossed to get there? You have to cross train tracks, 5 lanes of heavy traffic, under 95, past the homeless encampments, the pan handlers and the strip clubs
No, people currently fish on THAT pier. Relax. Enough of the “think of the children” drama.
This is a good thing. If your worried about seeing a dead worm, there is already a refurbished pier to sit on.
JEM, it’s connected directly to the Delaware River Trail. That’s how people get there.
I’ve never heard of someone causing that much of a mess while fishing. That said, I honestly don’t expect there to be enough people fishing to cause a problem.
Yeah the amount of people interested in fishing the Delaware River contaminated fish are not so great that it is going to become a problem. Anyone who doesn’t throw back the fish and actually eats it… Well… I feel bad for them. And those who fish for the novelty of it? I feel like its a novelty that wears off after a while. Onslought of fishermen and fisherwomen is not going to be problem…
When is construction projected to be completed?
I’m not sure what the expectation is for this pier, aside from the occasional driver who will drive over to fish. Pedestrians making their way across Columbus on foot, to walk behind a Walmart to enjoy sitting on the pier? I just don’t see it. Maybe I’m missing the point on this one?
It’s connected to the Delaware River Trail. That’s the point. Also, additional green space on the Delaware is always a good thing.
You’ve mentioned that it’s connects to the “Delaware River Trail” twice now, yet still no explanation of how to get there. What it is NOT connected to, is any neighborhood. This is planning in a vacuum!! Build a series of trails, piers etc, yet provide no safe, sound or reasonable way to get for a neighborhood to this area. No planning has been done by DRWC to include connections