Camden Landfill To Become Waterfront Park: Officials

A South Jersey landfill is being transformed into a scenic waterfront park with trails, a stabilized shoreline and a fishing area under a proposal that went out to bid this week, officials announced. The project is estimated to cost at least $25 million and will be funded with Natural Resource Damage funds obtained by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) through the Office of Natural Resource Restoration. Bids are due by Jan. 5, with work expected to begin in the spring.

Construction will be contracted through the Division of Coastal Engineering with oversight from the Office of Natural Resource Restoration and its consultant. Under the proposal, the last 62 acres of of the Harrison Avenue Landfill in Camden will be turned into the Cramer Hill Waterfront Park. The park will include nearly a mile of shoreline that will offer passive recreation for residents and visitors.

“The Christie Administration has long been committed to the economic revitalization of Camden and the transformation of this landfill into a beneficial use for the community,” NJDEP Commissioner Bob Martin said. “DEP’s deep partnerships in this city prove that by working together with stakeholders at all levels, the result is economic stimulus through job creation, improved recreation opportunities for the public, and enhanced quality of life.”

Camden Mayor Dana Redd expressed the community’s excitement about the reaction to the announcement.

“I thank Commissioner Martin and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for their efforts to help Camden reclaim this precious open space. It’s going to be an ideal setting and will be a community asset for decades to come,” Redd said.

Transformation of the landfill into Cramer Hill Waterfront Park would give the public its first access to the neighborhood’s waterfront in at least 70 years, as well as a multitude of new park amenities, officials said.
The project calls for regrading and stabilizing about three-quarters of a mile of shoreline along the Delaware and Cooper rivers, creating freshwater tidal wetlands, adding waterfront access to include a kayak launch and areas for fishing, connecting greenway trails to other neighborhoods, and further remediating the area for possible community gardens. An amphitheater and picnic area also are planned.

“The redevelopment of the former Harrison Avenue Landfill is outstanding news for the Cramer Hill neighborhood and entire City of Camden,” Camden City Council President and Mayor-elect Frank Moran said. “The Cramer Hill Waterfront Park project is truly transformational and will include restored wetland areas, conservation areas, recreational and exercise stations, among other community-oriented amenities. The city looks forward to working alongside its partners and the NJDEP to ensure this tremendous vision is realized.”

The Harrison Avenue Landfill operated as a sanitary landfill from 1952 until 1971, but was never capped or closed. In 2004, NJDEP’s Office of Brownfields Reuse began a partnership with the Camden Redevelopment Agency, local non-profit agencies such as the Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, local officials and residents, to develop the park concept and make it reality.

Those partnerships eventually led to the remediation of a portion of the Harrison Avenue Landfill and development of the Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center after the estate of Joan Kroc contributed $59 million and private donors provided $10 million to the project. DEP also spent $26 million in Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund grant money to remediate the site in 2009.

The 120,000-square-foot building opened in 2014 and provides thousands of residents in Camden and the surrounding areas with a variety of education, sports, arts, social, spiritual, medical clinic, food pantry, and other programs.

NJDEP attributes its success in Camden, in part, to the Community Collaborative Initiative, an outgrowth of the Camden Collaborative Initiative formed in 2013 to provide Camden with a single point of contact for NJDEP expertise and data-driven decision-making. The purpose of the partnership is to advance the shared redevelopment goals of various federal, state and local partners working in the city.

Since then, the Camden Collaborative Initiative has resulted in investments of more than $150 million in water infrastructure upgrades and $60 million in land improvements. Those successes led Commissioner Martin to expand the Community Collaborative Initiative’s reach to include Trenton and Perth Amboy in 2015.

For details about the Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, visit www.camdenkroccenter.org/. For more information about the Community Collaborative Initiative, visit www.nj.gov/dep/cci.

The attached image was provided by NJDEP