(SEPTEMBER 2021)Construction completed in 1914. Ships used to dock at Freedom Pier carrying immigrants to the port of Philadelphia. The large building to the east was used a processing center by the Department of Immigration. In 1945 the site was converted into a US Coast Guard Station and the pier was used to dock the buoy tenders “Red Oak” and Lilac and several 40′ patrol boats. In 1988 the Coast Guard moved into a new facility in Philadelphia.
Gloucester City’s Freedom Pier will be 10 years old this coming September. The exact date of the unveiling of the pier was September 17, 2011. Approximately 100 people attended the dedication including State Senator Donald Norcross, Assemblymen Gilbert Whip Wilson, and Angel Fuentes, Sheriff and former City Mayor CHALIE Billingham, Freeholder and former City Councilman Tom Gurick, Councilmen Nick Marchese, Jay Brophy and Dan Spencer, City Historian Dave Munn, School Board President Louisa Lwellyn and St. Mary’s Church Deacon Frank Crosson.
The cost to reconstruct the pier’s bulkhead was $1 million and another $450,000 was spent to build the 1200 foot promenade and brick walkway surrounded by an iron railing, lanterns and benches. Funding was provided through various grants such as Green Acres, and the City’s UDAG program, along with financial help from the Economic Development Association, and the Delaware River Port Authority.
Near the end of the presentation it was announced that Don Bigley, the owner of several restaurants in Burlington County will built a restaurant, transient marina and retail shops on the site beginning in the spring of 2012. The plans called for the venture to be broken down in three phases. The first phase would be the completion of the restaurant, second phase a 24 slip transient marina and the third phase would be retail shops. The agreement calls for the City to lease the ground to Bigley for 30 years. He would pay all construction costs.
Bigley died a few years later and as we all know the restaurant also died at the same time.
In the 1990’s the City spent another $1 million for the Proprietor’s Park renovations which included a marina, an iron railing that blocked the view of the river when you sat down on one of the teak benches. Whoever was in charge of that project forgot to have electric and water installed for the marina. The approximate cost for that blunder was between $500,000 and $1 million depending on who you talked with.
A restaurant and marina was first proposed in the 1980s. In 1991 the City obtained the deed to the Freedom Pier site from the federal government for $1 which included the four story Coast Guard Building at King and Cumberland Streets.
Peyton and I began our sojourn at the Gloucester City Marina parking lot. The first thing we noticed was the piles of goose droppings spread all over the pedestrian sidewalk and the street. Because of the droppings we had to tip toe our way over to nearby Proprietors Park. A empty fire engine was parked near the Marina office building. The goose droppings continue throughout the Proprietors Park parking lot and walkway.
A SIDE NOTE: We recently learned that nearby Woodbury is not idly sitting by doing nothing about the nuisance geese in their city. From their website: Consider that ONE hungry goose, who can consume up to 4 pounds of grass in a day, can generate up to 2 pounds of poop a day – at a frequency of every 12 minutes! These droppings account for high costs for cleanup, repair and maintenance. Public works installed an electronic, programable geese management system. This program features a base unit and 4 speakers that emit one of three audio sounds to deter the geese from congregating in the parks.
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Woodbury might be on to something. Wouldn’t it be nice if our Public Works Department or City Administrator contacted Woodbury to see if their idea would work in our City. (Read the article here)
Getting back to our walk we stopped at each one of the monuments that are erected throughout Proprietors to see what was written on the plaques. But, because the original transcript was scarcely legible you had a difficult time reading what was written. We also discovered that one monument was facing in the wrong direction instead of the plaque facing the pedestrian walkway it was on the back of the monument.
A few steps further and we discovered a sign that said Gloucester City was still dumping sewerage into the Delaware River whenever there was a heavy rain. Camden City is doing the same thing. As we took a photo of the sign and the pipe in the river some human waste came floating out of the sewer pipe into the water. A man walking by said the sewage comes out of that pipe on a daily basis not just on days when there is a severe rain storm.
As we looked out at the river we noticed three Gloucester City firemen floating by in one of the fire department’s boats they owned. The department has three.
Heading on the promenade towards the Freedom Pier Peyton started to act anxious and began barking at something ahead. A few feet further and the reason for her actions was a two foot snake laying in the middle of the walkway. We gave it some distance and warned a young lady on her telephone to be careful, “Watch out! You are going to step on a snake.” The woman didn’t miss a step and was overhead saying, “You are not going to believe this mom, I almost stepped on a snake.”
We made it to the entrance to Freedom Pier and found all the lamp posts had no lamp. And, most of the pedestrian benches were gone. The city is supposedly placed them in storage. Whoever removed them left the anchor post sticking up out of the ground, which you can barely see until you are on top of it. We found out they were there hard way after tripping on one. Can you say “Accident waiting to happen, followed by Lawsuit?”
WATERFRONT INFRASTRUTURE IMPROVEMENTS-Once again the City is making repairs and improvements to the walkway along the Delaware River at Proprietors Park. Back in the 90’s the City put up a railing along that stretch blocking your view, when you are sitting down, of the river plus a brick walkway was installed, new lights and benches and a multi-million dollar marina without electric or water. This time the plans call for extending the present riverwalk from the Park around the Coast Guard pier to Monmouth Street. The plans include new lighting, iron fencing, teak benches, and trash receptacles. Completion date in November 2010. Cost for the Freedom Pier Walkway is $387,391. The low bidder was Bud Concrete of Sewell. Funding is provided by a NJ Green Acres Matching Grant.
This will be followed by three additional phases of construction which will include the repair of the bulkhead sheathing on the Coast Guard pier, new transit boat dock and a 5200 square foot restaurant with a completion date of 2012.
Mayor James said in the press release announcing the plans, “Myself along with Council will stay committed to improving our valuable waterfront. This project will be the catalyst for future economic development in our King Street business district. “