PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread

[doormanpoet]

Looks like it is a beautiful city.

[FlyersFan118]

'tis. Philly's little sister to the south.

I <3 Wilmington.

[Joey D]

It occurred to me that there are no real pics of Wilmington. I figured I would post a few so people would know wth it looks like.

Hope somebody gets something out of these.








Now, you know.

[mglan80]

Good grab Joe.^

[mglan80]

Question answered (sorry, no rendering to be found):

Buildings Giving Way to New Garage

10 Demolitions on Shipley and Orange Streets Will Clear Space For 370-Car Parking Structure

By MAUREEN MILFORD / The News Journal
04/19/2005

The entire Urban family of Wilmington went on high alert April 8, when demolition work began on a row of buildings on Shipley Street in downtown Wilmington.

Joseph W. and Diane L. Urban and their three children, Ryann, 14, Joseph II, 12, and Joshua, 9, didn't want to miss the day the excavator would chomp into their old building at 907 Shipley St. For nine years, the Urbans ran their Talkin' Turkey Cafe on the ground floor of the building, before they moved in September 2003 to their new location on the corner of Ninth and Shipley streets.

"Our kids had their birthday parties there. They would rollerblade down the hallway in the summer. We have a lot of good sentiments about the place," Diane Urban said.

"We put in 60 hours a week there for nine years," Joseph Urban added. "It was an extension of our home."

Now, the Urbans have two bricks from their old location - one is in the restaurant and one is at home.

The demolition of 10 vacant and deteriorating buildings in the city's central business district is the first step in a plan to create an approximately $9 million parking garage on the site. Montchanin Development Group Ltd. of Wilmington is tearing down five buildings on the west side of the 900 block of Shipley Street. It then will demolish five buildings on the east side of the 900 block of Orange Street.

The properties are owned by John Hynansky, chief executive of the 14-dealership Winner Automotive Group. Alan Perry, president of Montchanin Development, said the demolition work could take another two weeks. Construction on the six-story, 370-car garage is expected to begin in the fall, he said.

Besides the building formerly used by the Urbans, the building that housed the Shipley Grill has been torn down. Sean Reilly, who owned the Shipley Grill from 1989 to 2001, said he grabbed a section of brickwork, to which he attached the keys to his old restaurant. Over the past several months Reilly was permitted to go into the vacant restaurant and remove anything he wanted to save.

He rescued bar items, salt and pepper shakers and several tables, including the restaurant's only round table. Known as Table 37, it was the seat of the stars. Hollywood actors like Kathleen Turner, Hal Holbrook, Robin Williams and Mitzi Gaynor sat at Table 37 after performances at the DuPont Theatre and the Grand Opera House. Reilly also salvaged a vase that held flowers given to him by Gaynor.

For Reilly, the demolition of his old restaurant building was psychologically freeing.

"The building was so dilapidated, it was like reviewing the corpse over and over," he said.

Other structures headed for the brick pile include the Copper Kettle Restaurant, McNelis Hallmark shop and Mrs. Snyder's Chocolate Chippery on Orange Street.

The work has created a lot of sidewalk interest in a part of downtown that in recent years had become a depressing promenade on both Shipley and Orange streets.

"It's a shame to see old buildings go, but anything is better than what was there," said Paul Simonds, co-owner of Mutt's Hot Dogs, at 901 Orange St.

Eric L. McDaniels, chief executive of E.M. Enterprises and manager of the newly-renovated office tower at Ninth and Orange streets, said the demolition has created more interest in his building.

"It's creating a buzz in the neighborhood," McDaniels said. "It's definitely good to see some construction and investment in this part of town."

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Hopefully it'll look nice.

[Joey D]

I should stop taking acid, maybe?

[FlyersFan118]

Nice pics. I love Wilmington. Beautiful little city.

[mglan80]

An ad for the Renaissance Centre on King and 4th Streets


I have to say I like this building more and more. Also, it's now 15 stories, not 13.

FF - It's a city of contrasts. There are some good and some bad landscapes.

[FlyersFan118]

I know, but the same goes for Philly. Doesn't mean I can't love Wilmington. Whenever I drive through, I'm always pleased. I love it.

I wish Philly were like it in some respects. Like to start...taxes?

Tax-free bastards...

[Joey D]

Hahaaaaaaaaaaah Mglan. Me too. The first time I saw it I think I was picturing in my mind like a 4-story building. Now, tho.. if you look at the height of the building perpendicularly to the size of the block, it's nicely proportioned for the area.

Maybe it can block out some of that Super Nintendo tape they built a couple years ago.

FlyersFan: Why the HELL hasn't Philly gotten that picture? It's so apparent that if it works for a shitty little city in the same MSA right down the street with the same demographics, etc.. It can work for the big guy up the street.

I just don't get it. They need to purge city council and get a new Mayor. Rendell is the man.

The last dude who ran for Mayor last year was a bail bondsman.
his motto was "Bail out the City." A good number of crackheads actually voted for him too.

[mglan80]

"Super Nintendo tape"? What the courthouse?

Originally Posted by joe84323

The last dude who ran for Mayor last year was a bail bondsman.
his motto was "Bail out the City." A good number of crackheads actually voted for him too.

I remember that. The guy even had an ad for his bailbonds company on the billboards. Needless to say, my vote was for Baker.

[Joey D]

Yep, the courthouse. Yeah. I said it.

[Swede]

Great to hear a bit of news from the only Swedish colony that amounted to anything (unless you count Finland). Don't think I've seen this many pics of it before
/Wilmington could market itself more in Sweden - might get more historybuff tourists.

Originally Posted by mglan80

I would like to make my appreciation of this pic known. I had no Idea that was a fence, thanks for the info.

[mglan80]

Well Swede, there's not much left of the colony except the original church and cemetary. The Kalmar Nyckel is a replica of one of the two original ships that brought some of your forebearers over.

The Nyckel:

Originally Posted by Swede

I would like to make my appreciation of this pic known. I had no Idea that was a fence, thanks for the info.

You're welcome. It's actually the hole in the ground for the yet to be constructed Juniper Bank headquarters. I didn't notice the fence sign before you mentioned it.

[mglan80]

It does look like a Nintendo tape on its side. I never saw that until you wrote that. I still like it.

[mglan80]

Some updates:

The Renaissance Centre is now under construction. A crane (I'm assuming for the pile driving) was brought on site last week. Crews demolished three buildings on 4th Street to make way for the new building. Unfortunately, I didn't photograph these buildings before they were destroyed (there was an interesting neon sign for DuPont Paints). Damn.



^The intersection of 4th and King Streets.



^A rendering of the building on the site fence.

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Also, the Juniper Bank site has a ton of equipment on it, and looks like they're starting the site work. No photos, since it's just a bunch of equipment.

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The Shipley Street garage site is cleared and they're now excavating.



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Also, in some bigger news, the word 'round the campfire is that Gateway Plaza will start construction this summer! A large law firm has contracted to take a large block of space, and this is enough to get things moving. WSFS has not made any commitments yet, but I'm pretty sure we're moving.

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Updates on the Christina Landing thread also.

[Joey D]

Ahhhhhhh.... HOTNESS.........
Reminds me ish of Symphony House. Don't ask me why.

We goffed at that thing at it's announcement. I don't know why.

Mglan... You never cease to amaze me with your insider's information on the city. I have a small pic of Gateway if anybody wants to see it.

[volguus zildrohar]

Originally Posted by joe84323

The last dude who ran for Mayor last year was a bail bondsman.
his motto was "Bail out the City." A good number of crackheads actually voted for him too.

New bulletin: Marion Barry is at it again...

[mglan80]

^Speaking of Barry, is that a pile of coke on your avatar, Black Magic?

I forgot to mention also, that the BPG plan for the old Public Works yard over on Madison is for 500+ units! I didn't hear anything about another tower, so looks like it'll be townhomes and apartments. There will be a hotel though, so that may be an 8-10 story building.

Originally Posted by joe84323

Mglan... You never cease to amaze me with your insider's information on the city. I have a small pic of Gateway if anybody wants to see it.

It's a small, small town. Do you have a stand alone rendering of Gateway? Looking at the first page of this thread, it seems the News Journal doesn't allow hotlinking anymore. Bastards.

[Joey D]

The last building on the right is the Gateway Plaza