Camden's planning board meets about landmark Sears building

Camden's planning board met last night to discuss a proposal to tear down the old Sears, Roebuck & Co. building - a national historic landmark - to make way for an expanded Campbell Soup Co. headquarters. Even if the board agreed to raze the building, the plan would have several more hurdles to clear.

In place of the Sears building, a fixture on Admiral Wilson Boulevard since 1927, Campbell proposes a $72 million building that would expand its headquarters and a sprawling office park that might attract jobs to Camden.

"It puts the city in a dilemma. It's a choice between history and progress," Mayor Gwendolyn Faison said recently. - Inquirer staff