Long-planned Camden park nears opening after more than a decade of work

The Delaware River Port Authority is trying to conclude a very long-term project along the Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden.

The DRPA created Gateway Park by demolishing buildings on the road leading to the Ben Franklin Bridge so things would look nicer for the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

But only now that the majority of environmental remediation work is complete can the DRPA turn over the park to the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, who sits on the DRPA board, said it’s time to move forward with the transfer.

“When we have residents coming to DRPA meetings on a regular basis asking for help, part of our civic responsibility as an authority is to be responsive to them and to get through these problems,” he said. “There’s no one that I’m aware of who doesn’t want that park open. The sooner we can get to that, the better it will be for the entire region.”

DRPA CEO John Hanson says transferring legal title of the park could be done in the next two weeks.

“Right now, it’s a matter of contractual negotiations between us” and Camden’s municipal utilities authority, he said.