Christina River

What's a 45-minute car ride if it means you can row? That's the thinking of a small but dedicated group of Chester County student-athletes who are rowing for the Wilmington Youth Rowing Association (WYRA). "It's been great," West Chester Henderson senior Amanda Zimmerman said. "Everybody on the team gets along really well. " Zimmerman, who was previously involved in field hockey and lacrosse, was cut from the the Warriors' lacrosse team two years ago. "I didn't want to come home and do nothing after school," she said.

Wilmington has spent the last six years puttin' on its top hat, brushin' off its tails. The city's Christina River frontage, once an exemplification of urban entropy, is now spiffy as all get-out and ready to dance. Anchored on the south by the outlet Shipyard Shops and on the northeast by the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, the beautifully landscaped area is dotted with brightly painted, stories-high cranes, remnants of its World War II-era shipbuilding past. Connecting north and south is a 1.3-mile path - Riverwalk - that guides pedestrians around the Christina's curve.

In a game-changing move for both the Port of Wilmington and the state of Delaware, officials are pursuing a partnership with a private company or investment group to operate the publicly owned terminal and to expand the port by constructing ship berths on the Delaware River that could cost as much as $500 million. The state-owned Wilmington port touts itself as the largest handler of imported perishable cargo, fruits and vegetables in the United States and as the largest banana port in North America, second only to Antwerp, Belgium, in volume of bananas in the world.

ONCE THERE was a prison in Camden, right next to the Ben Franklin Bridge, on the river. The prison was fairly new and served its purpose, but everyone agreed it shouldn't have been there in the first place, so it was closed and demolished in 2009 and hauled away in what seemed like record time for government, to make way for new development on the riverfront. Although Penn's Landing has languished with failed ideas for decades, waterfront digs in Camden, Baltimore, New York City, Pittsburgh and even Wilmington, Del., have seen vast improvements and caught locals' eyes.

A FRUIT FREIGHTER AFIRE sends smoke over the Christina River in the Port of Wilmington. The 12,000-ton Centaurus, a Costa Rican ship, had unloaded most of its cargo of bananas and pineapples yesterday when an electrical short in the engine room set the freighter afire about 5 a.m., said Battalion Chief Jack Wright of the Wilmington Fire Department. One firefighter was treated at Wilmington Hospital for first-degree burns to his hands. The fire was out by 8:30 p.m.

Philadelphia is about to face more competition for waterfront entertainment, this time from Wilmington, Del. Enterprise Developments Corp., a company that includes two prominent Philadelphia businessmen, has received the blessing from Wilmington officials to build Riverview Plaza on the Christina River. The complex will be built on 3.7 acres adjacent to the Wilmington Train Station. Plans include a 14-screen movie complex, 1,000-seat amphitheater, indoor amusement center, two restaurants and a 300-car parking garage.

Most people would say the area of black asphalt behind the railroad tracks off Wilmington Boulevard looks like a parking lot - a parking lot with a not particularly scenic view of the river. But to Elliot Golinkoff, that blighted area looks like a three-story festival marketplace full of shops, restaurants and people. Golinkoff's vision is shared by dozens of others who are involved with the Christina Gateway project, a $200 million development being built along the Christina River by a coalition that combines private, city and state effort.

Time was, a farmer's market was a central gathering place, the nucleus of an active city. If Riverfront Development Corp. has its way, history could repeat itself. Beneath an arched, blazing-red neon sign, the Riverfront Market opened last week, the latest piece in a $200 million revitalization effort along the Christina River. Housed in a century-old building formerly used as a warehouse, the market is a smaller and quainter version of the Reading Terminal Market. "Like most cities, there is a strong history of markets in this city," said Mike Hare, deputy director of Riverfront Development.

The State of Delaware and the Norfolk Southern Corp. have agreed to create what they think is the nation's first toll bridge for railroads. The tolls will be used to repair the bridge, strengthening the nearby Port of Wilmington and other rail users as well as allowing the state to run passenger trains over Norfolk Southern tracks between Wilmington and Dover, possibly within six years. The improved freight-rail and future passenger service will ease congestion on U.S. Route 1 and other highways, Nathan Hayward 3d, Delaware's secretary of transportation, said.

Wilmington wants to join the growing ranks of cities that are chasing financial rainbows by transforming blighted waterfronts into centers of commerce, replete with festival marketplaces. Wilmington's candidate for a pot of gold is a large, mostly vacant patch of land along the banks of Christina River south of the city's central business district. "We're out to build, on a smaller scale, our version of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, New York's South Street Seaport and Boston's Faneuil Hall marketplace," said John J. Casey Jr., president of the Christina Gateway Corp.

In a game-changing move for both the Port of Wilmington and the state of Delaware, officials are pursuing a partnership with a private company or investment group to operate the publicly owned terminal and to expand the port by constructing ship berths on the Delaware River that could cost as much as $500 million. The state-owned Wilmington port touts itself as the largest handler of imported perishable cargo, fruits and vegetables in the United States and as the largest banana port in North America, second only to Antwerp, Belgium, in volume of bananas in the world.

Next time you peel a banana, there's an excellent chance it will have slipped here through a port on the Delaware River. Billions of bananas arrive through the piers and terminals on the Delaware headed to grocers, wholesalers, and produce markets across the country. Wilmington is the largest banana port in North America, and is second only to Antwerp, Belgium, in banana cargoes in the world. Dole Fresh Fruit Co. brings one ship a week, carrying more than 65 million bananas into the Christina River in Wilmington, or more than three billion bananas a year, said Dole vice president for operations Stuart Jablon.

ONCE THERE was a prison in Camden, right next to the Ben Franklin Bridge, on the river. The prison was fairly new and served its purpose, but everyone agreed it shouldn't have been there in the first place, so it was closed and demolished in 2009 and hauled away in what seemed like record time for government, to make way for new development on the riverfront. Although Penn's Landing has languished with failed ideas for decades, waterfront digs in Camden, Baltimore, New York City, Pittsburgh and even Wilmington, Del., have seen vast improvements and caught locals' eyes.

There is a lot of good happening in my hometown of Chester, the oldest city in Pennsylvania. But as Chester continues to recover from the dramatic loss of industrial and manufacturing jobs, and the loss of half its population - about 38,000 people - between 1950 and 2000, government must work with companies to plant the seeds of long-lasting revitalization in the city as it has with other older waterfront communities in Delaware County. We have a remarkable opportunity to kick-start the next phase of Chester's economic recovery.

By Dominic Pileggi There is a lot of good happening in my hometown of Chester, the oldest city in Pennsylvania. But as Chester continues to recover from the dramatic loss of industrial and manufacturing jobs, and the loss of half its population - about 38,000 people - between 1950 and 2000, government must work with companies to plant the seeds of long-lasting revitalization in the city as it has with other older waterfront communities in Delaware County....

The State of Delaware and the Norfolk Southern Corp. have agreed to create what they think is the nation's first toll bridge for railroads. The tolls will be used to repair the bridge, strengthening the nearby Port of Wilmington and other rail users as well as allowing the state to run passenger trains over Norfolk Southern tracks between Wilmington and Dover, possibly within six years. The improved freight-rail and future passenger service will ease congestion on U.S. Route 1 and other highways, Nathan Hayward 3d, Delaware's secretary of transportation, said.

Wilmington has spent the last six years puttin' on its top hat, brushin' off its tails. The city's Christina River frontage, once an exemplification of urban entropy, is now spiffy as all get-out and ready to dance. Anchored on the south by the outlet Shipyard Shops and on the northeast by the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, the beautifully landscaped area is dotted with brightly painted, stories-high cranes, remnants of its World War II-era shipbuilding past. Connecting north and south is a 1.3-mile path - Riverwalk - that guides pedestrians around the Christina's curve.

Time was, a farmer's market was a central gathering place, the nucleus of an active city. If Riverfront Development Corp. has its way, history could repeat itself. Beneath an arched, blazing-red neon sign, the Riverfront Market opened last week, the latest piece in a $200 million revitalization effort along the Christina River. Housed in a century-old building formerly used as a warehouse, the market is a smaller and quainter version of the Reading Terminal Market. "Like most cities, there is a strong history of markets in this city," said Mike Hare, deputy director of Riverfront Development.

David Tuttleman says he's always had that vision thing. In 1993 he leased a rickety warehouse on the shores of Wilmington's sleepy Christina River and reconverted it into the Big Kahuna nightclub. Three years later the Bala Cynwyd native expanded the site into a sprawling tropical nightclub/restaurant/arcade with an outdoor deck. Today, Kahunaville has become a shining star for the city's riverfront development. Tuttleman's Adventure Dining Inc. has since developed the concept into a seven-unit theme restaurant chain, including one in Langhorne, which anchors the Oxford Valley Mall.

Philadelphia has lined its downtown riverfront with hotels, nightclubs and strip joints. But in Wilmington, the banks of the slow-moving Christina River are attracting financial employers. The new U.S. banking headquarters of Dutch giant ING Group - which plans to target Philadelphia as its first big market - is under construction in a brick, five-story former factory building in the riverside strip between Wilmington's busy Amtrak station and I-95. American International Group is moving more than 1,000 jobs to a neighboring facility from other sites across the region.