Camden: The Downtown Waterfront

In chapter five of Camden After the Fall, the story of economic and financial struggle continues as the planners and politicians of the post-industrial city of Camden tries to change its reputation and appearance. The center point of this chapter on the city of Camden’s waterfront really interested me because I did not know the whole story of how the Camden Aquarium came into being. The main focus in this chapter consist of the pursuit of capitalist and economic growth from the downtown waterfront, and hoping that this opportunity would want people to come back to work and to live. Another goal is to increase the overall revenue of the city. However, as author Howard Gillette states, “But instances of redevelopment, when not linked to broader revitalization strategies, repeatedly ran the risk of reducing cities merely to tourist destinations. Camden’s waterfront history serves as a cautionary tale about the limits to what investments in a single sector of a city can do for the whole.” The elected mayor of 1981, Randy Primas, marked a new era. Primas attracted the matter and support from a large group of corporations such as the president of Cooper Hospital, President Gordon Mcgovern of Campbell soup, and RCA’s John Rittenhouse. This group helped to bring new life in the redevelopment era called the Greater Camden Movement (GCM). During the 1980’s the GCM hired the American Cities Corporation to commission a “comprehensive development plan” for the entire waterfront site. The American Cities noted in a 1983 report that Camden still maintain “significant assets despite its reversal fortune. Principal among these was its location directly across the Delaware River from Center City Philadelphia, convenient access by public transportation, and the presence of strong higher education and medical facilities, as well as the two remaining major corporations.” Despite all of the sensational assets, only a few corporation can support the $100 million plan it takes to fund the waterfront. The $100 million plan, “Cooper’s Ferry Pavilion” didn’t occur but the ideas of promoting the waterfront for an entertainment establishment and venue continued. As the legislation was passed