Today we’re going to play a game of fill in the blanks. See if you can correctly complete the following sentence, uttered by Gov. Ed Rendell.
“I guarantee that (insert name of city here) will be one of the first-class cities in Pennsylvania.”
Anyone care to offer a guess?
Philadelphia? Harrisburg? Pittsburgh? Allentown? Erie? Scranton? Lancaster?
Would you believe none of the above?
Brace yourself. Rendell was indeed not talking about any of those burgs.
He was talking about Chester. In fact, he was standing in Chester when he uttered those words.
More than that, it wasn’t hype. It wasn’t just another campaign promise.
Rendell was putting his money where his mouth was. Literally.
The governor arrived on the Chester waterfront Thursday along with someone who knows the city – as well as its struggles and the push to reverse those fortunes – very well. Rendell joined Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, who was once mayor of the city, in announcing a $47 million state aid package that will seal the deal for construction of a 18,500-seat soccer stadium.
The hope is that the stadium will be the final cog in convincing Major League Soccer to award the region a professional soccer franchise. They would play their games in the spanking, new facility that will sit in the shadow of the Commodore Barry Bridge along the Delaware River.
Now the developers await word from Major League Soccer. Chester is believed to now have the edge in competition for the league’s 16th franchise in a neck-and-neck battle with St. Louis.
News of the stadium financing is simply the latest benchmark in the impressive turnaround in the city, especially along the waterfront. In fact yesterday’s press conference was held at the Wharf at Rivertown, a business complex that kicked off the renaissance. Now that boom is moving into other areas of the city.
In fact, it could be argued that while yesterday’s stadium news was impressive, it pales next to everything else the aid package will create for the city.
Try rolling these around on your tongue:
* A 200,000-square-foot exposition center;
* 2 office buildings, with 335,000 square feet of space;
* 25 apartment units
* 186 townhouse units
* A courtyard
* A riverwalk and boat slips.
The stadium will be the centerpiece in a $400 million development plan that is the vision of developers the Buccini/Pollin Group for the waterfront.
But it’s not just along the Delaware. And it’s not just high-rollers and outsiders who will benefit. There will be thousands of jobs, first with construction and then permanent positions at the stadium and shops.
Rendell claimed there would be 2,600 construction jobs, 800 permanent jobs and $19 million in annual tax revenue. At that rate the public would get its money back in a few years.
The development also would remedy one of the city’s great shames, that its residents do not have a major supermarket within its borders. The developers also are looking to align the team with the struggling Chester Upland School District, targeting a portion of ticket sales to the schools.
Mayor Wendell Butler could only dream of such developments a few years back.
“This is utterly amazing,” Butler said yesterday.
James Nevels, head of the Swarthmore Group and the former head of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, is one of the partners in the venture.
He had another word for what happened yesterday.
“It’s a miracle day,” Nevels said.
A miracle in Chester. How cool is that?
“I guarantee that (insert name of city here) will be one of the first-class cities in Pennsylvania.”
Anyone care to offer a guess?
Philadelphia? Harrisburg? Pittsburgh? Allentown? Erie? Scranton? Lancaster?
Would you believe none of the above?
Brace yourself. Rendell was indeed not talking about any of those burgs.
He was talking about Chester. In fact, he was standing in Chester when he uttered those words.
More than that, it wasn’t hype. It wasn’t just another campaign promise.
Rendell was putting his money where his mouth was. Literally.
The governor arrived on the Chester waterfront Thursday along with someone who knows the city – as well as its struggles and the push to reverse those fortunes – very well. Rendell joined Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, who was once mayor of the city, in announcing a $47 million state aid package that will seal the deal for construction of a 18,500-seat soccer stadium.
The hope is that the stadium will be the final cog in convincing Major League Soccer to award the region a professional soccer franchise. They would play their games in the spanking, new facility that will sit in the shadow of the Commodore Barry Bridge along the Delaware River.
Now the developers await word from Major League Soccer. Chester is believed to now have the edge in competition for the league’s 16th franchise in a neck-and-neck battle with St. Louis.
News of the stadium financing is simply the latest benchmark in the impressive turnaround in the city, especially along the waterfront. In fact yesterday’s press conference was held at the Wharf at Rivertown, a business complex that kicked off the renaissance. Now that boom is moving into other areas of the city.
In fact, it could be argued that while yesterday’s stadium news was impressive, it pales next to everything else the aid package will create for the city.
Try rolling these around on your tongue:
* A 200,000-square-foot exposition center;
* 2 office buildings, with 335,000 square feet of space;
* 25 apartment units
* 186 townhouse units
* A courtyard
* A riverwalk and boat slips.
The stadium will be the centerpiece in a $400 million development plan that is the vision of developers the Buccini/Pollin Group for the waterfront.
But it’s not just along the Delaware. And it’s not just high-rollers and outsiders who will benefit. There will be thousands of jobs, first with construction and then permanent positions at the stadium and shops.
Rendell claimed there would be 2,600 construction jobs, 800 permanent jobs and $19 million in annual tax revenue. At that rate the public would get its money back in a few years.
The development also would remedy one of the city’s great shames, that its residents do not have a major supermarket within its borders. The developers also are looking to align the team with the struggling Chester Upland School District, targeting a portion of ticket sales to the schools.
Mayor Wendell Butler could only dream of such developments a few years back.
“This is utterly amazing,” Butler said yesterday.
James Nevels, head of the Swarthmore Group and the former head of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, is one of the partners in the venture.
He had another word for what happened yesterday.
“It’s a miracle day,” Nevels said.
A miracle in Chester. How cool is that?
Comments