Schwartz Announces Funding for Lardner's Point

from the inbox:

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz announced today that Lardner’s Point will receive more than $640,000 from the Coast Guard’s National Pollution Funds Center, enabling the Delaware River City Corporation to move forward with the riverfront construction project. The $643,271 in funding is one of nine claims presented as a result of the Athos I oil spill.

Schwartz sent a letter to the U.S. Coast Guard in September urging the NPFC to release the funds for the project in a timely manner or the DRCC would lose $750,000 in funding from the state to complete the project.

“I appreciate that these funds have been made available so the Lardner’s Point project can move forward,” Schwartz said. “This breathtaking park is another link in the North Delaware riverfront, which will become a front yard for the neighborhoods in Northeast Philadelphia, bringing economic revitalization, recreation, and environmental opportunities to the residents of this district and the city. I look forward to working with the DRCC to make the additional trails and parks of this 11-mile greenway a reality.”

“DRCC was up against a deadline and in danger of losing $750,000 in state funding to build Lardner’s Point Park, without these funds from the NPFC, the project would have died,” said Bob Borski, Chair and CEO of the DRCC Board of Directors. “Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz’s direct involvement led to the release of $643,271 in Athos I oil spill mitigation funds to match our prior state funding. Without her, this park and shoreline restoration would not have been possible.”

The new 4.5-acre riverfront park will be constructed immediately south of the Tacony Palmyra Bridge and will be situated along the K&T Trail. Plans for breaking ground are schedule for January 2011.

Lardner’s Point will include a river overlook, fishing pier, and areas for picnicking and passive recreational activities. Tidal wetlands will be created and the shoreline or riparian edge and a riverbank forest area will be restored.

The park – the 64th in the Fairmount Park system - will be a gateway and trailhead for the North Delaware and is adjacent to the Philadelphia Water Department’s historic Lardner’s Point Pump Station.