The battle to build Philly Rail Park | Morning Newsletter

Enjoy this sunny summer Sunday, with a high near 88 and light winds in the afternoon.

Some residents have been dreaming about a Philadelphia Rail Park akin to New York’s High Line for years. Making that dream a reality has been challenging. Today’s lead story explores the history of this project decades in the making.

— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Almost 20 years after two Callowhill residents first dreamed up plans for a park along the Reading Viaduct, only a small section of the old railroad tracks has been built into a public space.

Development of the viaduct has been at a standstill for years due to several factors including:

🏠 Disagreements among the park’s surrounding neighborhoods

🔒 Complications around the structure’s ownership

💰 A need to raise millions of dollars to make the project possible

But Philly is renewing its efforts to build the Rail Park. A bill introduced this summer in City Council aims to authorize the city to acquire the property from Reading International, an entertainment and real estate company, by any means necessary.

Keep reading for a look back at the challenges over the years to build the Rail Park.

🎤 Now I’m passing the mic to my colleague Kevin Riordan.

Established on the Delaware River in 1677, Burlington City has so much history it sometimes repeats itself.

“I think downtown is on its fourth or fifth revival,” said Rob Engime, who with his wife, Judy, owns and lives above Olde City Quilts. Their shop is on an architecturally eclectic stretch of High Street that’s abloom with flowers, murals, and other public art — but also has a noticeable number of empty storefronts.

Nine blocks upriver, the city’s latest choice to develop the 70-acre U.S. Pipe & Foundry site envisions a mixed-use community of old and new buildings where people will want to “live, shop, play, work, [and] learn.”

A spokesperson for Peron Development said the firm even “hopes to save” the ruins of the McNeal Mansion, built by an industrialist in 1890, later used for offices by U.S. Pipe and empty since 1950. The company shut down its Burlington City operations in 2007, throwing 180 people, mostly local residents, out of work.

Principals of the Peron Development team helped create the SteelStacks complex in Bethlehem, Pa., as well as the Pearl Pointe apartments overlooking Burlington’s signature Riverfront Promenade along the Delaware.

It’s at least the third time this site has been targeted for redevelopment: A North Jersey firm’s ambitious 2015 proposal for the U.S. Pipe site — which included saving the McNeal Mansion — was withdrawn. A different developer purchased the northernmost portion of the property; one million square feet of an Amazon fulfillment center was built on the river side in 2021.

While some in Burlington City are supportive of the latest proposal for the U.S. Pipe property, others are skeptical.

Continue reading about the town’s efforts to sustain its downtown and neighborhoods, while also treasuring its history.

What year did Earl Shaffer become the Pennsylvania hiker to first thru-hike the 2,000-plus miles of the Appalachian Trail?

A) 1901

B) 1920

C) 1948

2) 1966

Think you know? Check your answer here.

Hint: 🌊 + 🥾 + 🌳

CERELY IRKED

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Travis Hess who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Bethany Beach.

🎶 For today’s track, we’re listening to: “I’ve got nothing on (but the radio) / And my heart’s playing the song that you like.” 🎶

👋🏽 I hope you get a chance to spend some time outdoors today. Thanks for waking up with The Inquirer.