These Are the Folks Who Are Going to Figure Out How to Connect Old City to Penn’s Landing

This morning the executive committee of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation met to choose the firm that will develop the conceptual plan for the redevelopment of the waterfront. That includes the eight-acre Penn’s Landing Park and a cap over I-95 and Columbus Boulevard to connect Old City to Penn’s Landing. It’s part of the Central Delaware Master Plan finalized in 2012. Bids came in from 15 design teams and there were four finalists.

Rendering of Penn’s Landing Park concept from the Central Delaware Master Plan (© KieranTimberlake/Brooklyn Digital Foundry)

The DRWC unanimously selected Hargreaves Associates to handle the next phase of working on preliminary design, with a contract that is not to exceed $425,000. So why Hargreaves? For one thing, the firm has worked on similar projects before. In Louisville, Hargreaves connected a waterfront to the city, despite being separated by an interstate.

In Chattanooga (below), the firm turned a down-at-heels riverfront into a hub of investment and community engagement.

Chattanooga riverfront/Hargreaves Associates

And for the London Olympics, Hargreaves created the 274-acre Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with a post-Games Transformation Plan to ensure the vast space serves the neighborhoods and remains vital.

So yes, the resume does read well. They bring with them a host of other design firms, like one that brings specialized knowledge of pedestrian bridges.

Don’t expect the renderings to become reality anytime soon. Hargreaves will develop a plan and strategy for moving forward, but the moving forward comes later.