Pier 68 Calls You to "Get Hooked" at Public Meeting on February 12th

Future fishing opportunities means you'll "Get Hooked" at Pier 68

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, in conjunction with Studio Bryan Hanes, Bittenbender Construction, DIGSAU, Stantec, TEND Landscape, and Azavea, has announced a collection of public information sessions regarding the development on Pier 68 - the future fishing and recreation pier set to open later this year located near Walmart on Columbus Boulevard. The first of these sessions will take place during the monthly Pennsport Civic Meeting on February 12th from 7pm to 8pm at the EOM and your input is vital to the development of the site. As you are probably know by now, we've been loudly bangin' the old drum about the development on the Delaware River, especially the Pennsport section, and hope to see a large turnout for these upcoming meetings.

Interested in the Pennsport section of the Delaware River Trail? You're going to want to hit up this meeting.

Recreational access to the Delaware River has been a hot topic for a few years; culminating in a $5 million grant awarded in October 2013 to increase public access to the trail from Washington Avenue Green down to and including Pier 68. Here's what we wrote on the grant money and future plans after the announcement in October:

"Today's announcement reaffirmed and expanded upon the notes from the meeting in April. As you can see in this article from Plan Philly, the structure of Pier 68 has been deemed viable out to 390 feet, that's up from 350 feet at the April meeting. On top of that, plans have surfaced for the use of Pier 68 -- a public fishing pier with potential for recreational watercraft. That shouldn't come as a huge surprise as it was revealed in the April meeting that Pier 68 was currently, albeit illegally, being used in that capacity (as well as a tugboat landing) and that the DRWC was looking to design a project around the wetlands."

Studio Bryan Hanes, whose work also includes examples such as Sister Cities Park and the future Noble Street Spur, has a nifty website dedicated to the past and future of Pier 68. Poke around and you'll get a better idea of the history on the pier as well as get a feel for its enormous potential, both in it's natural landscape and vantage points but also as a unique public fishing and recreation space. Again, our view back in October:

"However, some interesting news comes in the form of the possibility of Philadelphia holding a Bassmaster's Fishing Tournament sometime in August of 2014 at Penn's Landing (Editor's note: Looks like the tournament will be August 7-10, 2014 at the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing). The DRWC is looking to have Pier 68 completed in time for the tournament in order to showcase the new public fishing opportunities on the Delaware River on a national stage. (Another Editor's Note: Philadelphia is apparently "under-serviced" when it comes to residents who fish and this event looks to generate big bucks.)

This news, coupled with the timeline of Pier 53 scheduled for completion in the Summer/Fall 2014, and you're looking at a total sea-change for the Pennsport waterfront in around a years time."

If you have two seconds, fill out this quick survey about the development along the Pennsport section of the Delaware River. For those of you who plan on attending the meeting, the survey could also help you to develop some talking points for your neighbors or those in attendance.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

"NO TRESPASSING" -- not for long at Pier 68