Save Our Waterfront (SOW), in partnership with the North Camden stakeholders including Hopeworks, Camden Lutheran Housing Inc., Respond Inc., Grace Lutheran Church, and other members of the North Camden Steering Committee, are seeking to utilize the services of a professional design team to host, oversee, and facilitate a collaborative design and planning workshop with the community. Key topics include the prison, transportation, parking, public access and road extensions to the river, greenway trail, and mixed use development (retail, commercial, and residential) within the project boundaries, identified as the Ben Franklin Bridge to the south, the Delaware River to the west, and Main Street to the north/east.
Consistent with the North Camden Neighborhood Plan, the objective is to discuss and evaluate the locations, options, and implications of short- and long-term development within this project area. The goal of the design workshop will be for a professional design firm to facilitate discussions with the community and stakeholders on the future reuse and specific planning of these preliminary projects and concepts as well as build consensus among the interested groups on the site layout for the project area.
A design consultant will be selected within the next few weeks and a date for the workshop will be identified for later in November.
All are welcomed and encouraged to participate. For more information, please contact Joe Myers from Cooper’s Ferry Development Association at 856-757-9154 or myers@camdenwaterfront.com
2 responses so far ↓
1 Father Jeff // Oct 20, 2009 at 11:05 am
I am excited about this process. I think that it will be interesting to garner community input—however, I am concerned about how meetings have been held in the past.
It seems pretty clear that “One Large Meeting” isn’t a successful format. Often meetings are not well attended and we seem to get the same limited cross section from the neighborhood.
I believe that to engage our community fully, we need to have multiple smaller meetings and in multiple locations. I would advocate a series of meetings moving around the neighborhood–there seem to be natural concentrations/locations where people gather—Northgate, lower State Street Corridor, Bible Tabernacle Church, Camden Lutheran Housing, Holy Name are some I think about. I am sure there are more–especially along Eerie Street and down along front street. Why not use the design process to help us build community within North Camden as well as solicit ideas for the triangle. That would be a double win and set the stage for further follow-up and community input/building.
2 TiffanyCFDA // Oct 27, 2009 at 10:48 am
We completely agree. The selection committee is currently interviewing a design firm and posing similar questions about engagement and community values.
We think the early consensus is to have the Save Our Waterfront (SOW) steering committee members work together over the next few weeks to meet throughout the neighborhood and talk about these issues prior to a meeting with the eventual design consultant. This would allow the residents and stakeholders an opportunity to become prepared and engaged prior to the meetings with the eventual design consultant (the current proposal calls for at least two meetings with the design consultant but that could change).
We think it will also be important to work with the existing SOW steering committee members and ask for their assistance in reaching out to their members, friends, and constituents. Along these lines, Pastor Margaret with Grace Lutheran Church has invited Cooper’s Ferry to talk with members of the congregation next Wednesday evening and solicit input regarding the “Triangle” design workshop. We encourage other stakeholders to do the same. The success of this process will be dictated by the initial work and engagement over the next few weeks by the steering committee members.
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