with the price of gasoline on the rise this calls for the importance of a Delaware Commuter Rail System. Parts could be built above ground and underground Stops in Philly, Claymont, Wilmington, Newport Area (Del Park), Newark, Glasgow, Middletown, Smyrna, Odessa, Dover, and points south all the way to Rehobeth.

Also i'm so glad that sunday bus service is finally offered here. small problem its only like 6 buses, i think when the pilot program is over they are going to fully offer sunday service. also with that why not run the buses all day? other places do it why not DE? Northern Delaware is like a middle sized city in terms of population. Nearly 600,000 people in about 400 square miles. With gas prices the way they are, i could see this becoming a possiblity.

Commuter rail has been discussed, but nothing more. Commuter rail between Newark and Wilmington, and then between the two and Dover, seem the most reasonable, with stations also in Smyrna, Middletown, and Churchman's Crossing. Anything south of Dover is too much of a stretch to think about, for now.

I'm not sure about any other big Delaware places. This might be the biggest gathering of Delawareans.

ok^^, I'm all for a commuter rail in Delaware, but I don't see it happening anywhere south of the canal, even to Dover, if something does get built.

Commuter rail to Dover could work, if there are enough people that want cheaper land but want to live in a bigger place than Smyrna or Middletown. You might also be able to get regular Dover residents to use the train and look for jobs in Wilmington or Newark more often if there is regular train service.

Yeah^^, but thats the thing, its alot of 'ifs' and 'mights' IMO

if commuting from Dover and places south to Wilmington became frequent, would that make the Wilmington Metro Area and Dover merge into the Wilmington-Newark-Dover-Salisbury Metro Area?, and if thats the case would the whole state of delaware be one metro area?

^^ That would be kinda funny, a state as a metro. Isn't Rhode Island like that now? And IMHO, for commuting from Dover and farther south became frequent alot more jobs would be needed in Wilmington (like a few more towers), and wouldn't Dover and/or Salisbury grow, who would commute over a hundred miles daily (would be Salisbury in your question)

The state is a metro in a way, in my opinion. Since we tend to do things within our borders, and since Delaware is so small, we're familiar with our entire state. Anywhere in Delaware you go, you run into people that you know, or you run into people that know your friends or family. The state is pretty intimate.

If you pretend that the state is one big city, we have everything:

Elite "neighborhood": Greenville
Hippie "neighborhood": Main Street, Newark
Gay "neighborhood": Rehoboth Beach
Bar "district": Trolley Square in Wilmington; Dewey Beach
Streetcar suburbs: Bellefonte, Five Points area, Elsmere
And so on...

Thats true, I guess it would be just a spread out metro, Though when I think of a metro I think density.

Middletown is currently experiencing a population boom (in sprawl fashion). That could help bridge the density gap southward towards Dover. Still if it's all suburban density then "metro" might be the wrong word. How do we classify our metro now?

^^ I would say more of a Suburban Metro, than Urban such as New York or Baltimore

So our metro stretches from the northern state line to... Dover? That's not bad at all! Population over 600,000?

The real Wilmington-Newark metro is all of New Castle County, the Smyrna area, Landenburg PA, and Elkton MD. You can maybe count Kennett Square or Avondale PA as part of the metro, and you can maybe count Pennsville NJ as part of the metro as well. So yes, around 600,000 seems correct.

A recent article on the U.S. 301 Spur Route that is planned.

U.S. 301 spur project to get closer look
Workshops imminent on $100 million roadway


Property acquisition for the new U.S. 301 corridor is under way, but there may be a detour ahead for a critical component of the project.

The General Assembly wants the state Department of Transportation to take a closer look at the 4.5-mile Spur Road that would connect U.S. 301 to Summit Bridge.

That's the message the Bond Bill Committee sent in epilogue language attached to DelDOT's fiscal 2009 budget on June 24.

Although opponents of the Spur Road may cheer the decision, DelDOT public relations director Darrel Cole said the directive will not delay the new U.S. 301, which is in the early stages of design. DelDOT engineers chose their preferred path for the new road after a series of public workshops that began in June 2005.

"Does it set the project back? No. Nowhere in the epilogue language does it say we have to start over," he said.

The Spur Road, expected to cost $100 million to $120 million, would run roughly from Armstrong Corner Road to Summit Bridge.

DelDOT contends the new U.S. 301 plus the Spur Road are the best option to reduce congestion and improve safety. Between January 1999 and May 2006, according to DelDOT, 776 crashes occurred in the project area south of the canal.

Rep. Bethany Hall-Long, D-Middletown, applauded DelDOT's progress on the U.S. 301 mainline, but said a closer look should be taken at the proposed Spur Road.

Andye Daley, head of the Middletown Corridor Coalition, likened the epilogue language to a "speed bump" and said additional public workshops may give opponents of the Spur Road "a little breathing room."

Her coalition aggressively lobbied the Bond Bill Committee for weeks to have the epilogue language included.

Representatives from DelDOT and the Middletown Corridor Coalition have tangled repeatedly over the Spur Road during public workshops in the last three years.

"We've agreed in the past to phase the project, and we're going to fill the requirements of the epilogue language, meaning we will hold a public workshop and report our finding to the General Assembly," Cole said.

"We don't have any inclination that we're going to hear anything different from the public," he added.

However, Daley said "a large majority of the residents would like for DelDOT to uncouple the Spur Road from the project."

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807190330

On TNJ this morning theres an article on the Barley Mill Plaza in Greenville's opposition. I think that Stoltz, instead of building the 2.9 million sqft mixed-use center in an area like Greenville, should consider closer it to i495 specifically the 7th street penninsula. Althought previously I was thinking that it should go in Greenville, I think now the Wilmington and near and interstate are better. Places like Greenville in Delaware need to be preserved IMO from development like this.

Thank you for that! Greenville and environs don't need any further commercialisation. My own home backs up to the Barley Mill facility and would be rather hellish if the development were to proceed as proposed, with multi-story buildings, etc. More generally, however, the natural beauty and semi-rural nature of the whole Greenville-Montchanin area need to be preserved and not further intruded upon.

I should've posted this earlier, but I've been busy at work, and I'm also busy getting ready for my vacation next week, and finally planning a trip to Chicago for an Eagles game.

Anyway, this development sounds bigger than I thought it was going to be. I know that they were talking about mixed use stuff, but that was it. This seems to be including some midrises, which I was not aware of.

As far as preserving the landscape, the land across the street (that huge grass field and woodland) is owned by Tatnall through a trust, I believe. It's not getting developed any time soon.


Barley Mill plan upsets Greenville residents
Developers seek OK at former DuPont complex in Greenville


The blue blood is boiling in Greenville, home to some of Delaware's wealthiest and most powerful residents, over the proposed development of a former du Pont family property into what may be the largest real estate project in Delaware's history.

Residents of leafy communities along Barley Mill Road, Lancaster Pike and Kennett Pike, where houses can fetch more than $4 million, are rising up over plans for the Barley Mill Plaza office complex on Del. 141 and Lancaster Pike.

"Shocking is the word," said Ned Stinson, who lives across Del. 141 from Barley Mill Plaza. "The gall of these people. Just the scope, it's hard for me to imagine."

"We're concerned about the reasons we moved to Greenville changing," said Richard Calabro, president of the Westover Hills-Woods homeowners association.

The 96-acre property was bought by a Stoltz Real Estate Partners entity in September from the DuPont Co., which built the 24-building office complex beginning in 1978. The price was about $90 million, according to real estate agents. Six months later, Stoltz filed plans with New Castle County that called for about 2.9 million square feet of shops and restaurants, offices, housing and a hotel.

One building was proposed to be 11 stories and three buildings were proposed to be eight stories.

By comparison, the King of Prussia mall complex in Pennsylvania is about 2.8 million square feet. It is considered one of the largest in the world.

"It's absolutely not Greenville," said Kai Lassen, a du Pont family member who lives in a nearby estate off Kennett Pike.

To nearby residents, the immense Stoltz development would use local roads to draw workers and shoppers from the tri-state region. It would result in crippling traffic, disruptive noise levels and a loss of the bucolic character of the area.

"We're concerned about the changing of the landscape and beauty of the countryside. This landscape around here is some of the most beautiful in Delaware," Calabro said.

The levels of natural light for the homes bordering the project would also be affected, they said.

"Sure, I'm concerned about the value of our neighborhood and what's going to become of it. But it's going to have a devastating effect on all of New Castle County," said Chris McEvilly, a resident of Westover Hills. "I'm going to put a lot of faith into our elected officials and our land-use and transportation agencies to do due their diligence."

NCCo says plan unacceptable

Earlier this month, the plans Stoltz submitted in March were deemed unacceptable by the New Castle County Department of Land Use. The department expressed concerns over such issues as compatibility with community character, traffic, drainage, noise and lighting, said Mark Veasey, spokesman for the Department of Land Use.

Most of the land is zoned for office use. The project doesn't need to go through the rezoning process, but it still requires a variety of land-use approvals from the county, Veasey said.

"This is the greatest challenge I've had since I began public service as a civic leader in 1985," said New Castle County Councilman Robert Weiner, R-2nd District, which includes part of Greenville. "I'm sounding all the alarms to the state of Delaware and New Castle County that this is the make-or-break moment. Make the wrong decision and we will doom Delaware to no longer being a desirable place to live, shop, work and play."

Tom Gailey, spokesman for Stoltz, said the type of mixed-used development proposed for Barley Mill is consistent with the county's comprehensive plan. He said it was unfair to compare the project with King of Prussia or Christiana Mall because Barley Mill is mixed use, not a commercial shopping project.

Size conforms to county code

Stoltz will continue to have conversations with the county land-use department about the reasons the project was deemed unacceptable, Gailey said. But he emphasized that the proposed heights of the buildings "conform to county code, as does the amount of square footage."

"We're not even close to putting a shovel in the ground," Gailey said. "We're in the early stages of the process."

Stoltz said he will continue to explain the project to residents and listen to their concerns.

"Anybody living in any community has the right to ask questions and express their concerns," Gailey said. "They love their homes. We understand that and respect that."

Still, various homeowners are beginning to mobilize, hoping government officials will come to their aid. Westover Hills-Woods off Barley Mill Road, for example, recently presented a petition to New Castle asking that noise abatement barriers be constructed along Del. 141.

"I would characterize the mood as resolute," Calabro said. "We're totally against this, knowing full well we can't stop it. Our position is to make it amenable as we can to the surrounding area."

Mark Levy, a resident of Anglesey off Lancaster Pike who remembers when the Barley Mill property was a private airport, called the Stoltz development "a terrible thing."

'Not going to take this lying down'

Before its development by DuPont, the land had been the site of the DuPont Air Field, a private airport opened by Henry Belin du Pont in 1927. In October 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis there.

"We're not going to take this lying down," Levy said. "We're going to take every step we can."

Kevin O'Brien, who lives in Limerick off Lancaster Pike, said he would welcome an attractive mixed-used development similar to those on Kennett Pike in Greenville.

"But the scale of what's been proposed is way beyond what the neighborhood can sustain," O'Brien said. "The roads are already pretty maxed out."

Because it's not a rezoning, Weiner said residents must be knowledgeable about procedures and regulations at the state and county levels. Weiner spent more than 15 years battling the late millionaire John W. Rollins over the redevelopment of the former Brandywine Raceway project on U.S. 202 and Naamans Road. His efforts and those of other civic activists succeeded in altering the scope of the project.

"This is not just a NIMBY objection. The very viability of the state Department of Transportation's infrastructure capabilities hangs in the balance. If DelDOT doesn't rise to the occasion to properly manage this colossal project, then Delaware will no longer be able to say no to any project."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20080725&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=807250365&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
The developer's plans call for about 2.9 million square feet of shops, restaurants, offices, housing and a hotel.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807250365

I was just looking on google for future interstates in Delaware because this one site says I-101, though not confirmed. I-101 would follow use SR-1 then follow either US13 or US113 south. Then I found this picture of plans of DelDot's from years ago for the relief route of US-13 (SR-1). The first two the pictures for the planned corridor of route 1 have been built basically just as planned. The third (the one I originally found) has been built but, where Puncheon Run Connector now is in Dover, the relief route was supposed to continue, over route 13. I have no idea how old these maps are but I found this interesting, and am wondering if DelDot, although not mentioned anything, has plans for this corridor from Punchen Run Con. south. Heres the third picture of what I'm talking about.
http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/early_action_segment/images/fig1c.gif

Interesting. I've never heard of that proposal.

They also though about putting Route 1 on the western side of Dover. They decided not to do that because then sprawl would go unchecked acorss the farmland, like it's doing in Smyrna. With Route 1 where it is now, sprawl is boxed in a little bit from the marshlands.

I think I saw something about those plans a while ago, if that had happened I think everthing in Dover west of Saulsbury Road would be on the east, where RT1 is now, and like they didn't want, sprawl on the Westside. A few times when I was in Dover I've thought that an expressway would be really nice from the 301-50 split in Queenstown MD to Dover about along the path of Route 8 then south of the Kraft plant in Dover to connect with the Puncheon Run Con. though this will more than likely never happen.

Thank you for that! Greenville and environs don't need any further commercialisation. My own home backs up to the Barley Mill facility and would be rather hellish if the development were to proceed as proposed, with multi-story buildings, etc. More generally, however, the natural beauty and semi-rural nature of the whole Greenville-Montchanin area need to be preserved and not further intruded upon.

Aww, I'm sorry you feel that way.

NIMBYism is creeping up on you.

Personally, I think anybody who complains about Kennett Pike becoming too commercial is really a kick in the teeth to me, as a Delawarean, who puts up with development in any other area of Delaware.

I would love to have a reason to go to Greenville and do something, and enjoy the beauty as you do, but I don't, because Einstein's bagels get old after a while, and I can't afford that supermarket in Greenville.

At one time, Westover Hills was untouched, and so was Tower Hill, and every single piece of development you see in Delaware. A nice commercial development such as the above one would be great for OTHERS who would like to experience Greenville as people from Greenville, who rape any other area of New Castle county when they need shopping, a car, appliances, hardware, a doctor, etc..

NIMBYs are huge hypocrites in my mind (no offense to you, DoctorJef, I'm sure you're a great guy,) and they really limit nice development in traditionally conservative areas.

Joe, Einstein Bros. has been closed for well over a year. It's now a very nice Cosi. :lol: But point taken.

I live in Greenville, and I would LOVE to see the Barley Mill development come to fruition. It's tasteful and responsible. People should shop and play closer to home instead of contributing more and more to road rage culture we have going now. Those same people who scream "GASP, not in Greenville" are the same ones who will run over you in their SUV on the way to Target or Christiana Mall, on the very road where this is planned! More traffic? The shoppers will be primarily from North Wilmington, Greenville, and Hockessin, many of whom zoom through the area already...on the way to other places. More neighborhood developments would mean LESS traffic overall.

I also don't think of this as a Greenville development. This is West Haven/Westover Hills/Silverbrook area, and is practically at the edge of Wilmington. Neither highway where it's located even goes into Greenville (SR141 bypasses Greenville). Something on this caliber would likely spur some redevelopment along Lancaster Pike--which is in DIRE need of some love.

This also isn't pristine land that needs preserving. It is a redevelopment of a long gone era. You are NOT going to get anyone in that type of office park anymore. It's over, move on. Park land is not feasible, because, God forbid, Greenville people may have to mingle with city folk, then!

By all means, BUILD IT, so we're not stuck with some outdated, run-down office buildings that look like an insane asylum.

(And FYI, I'm not really new. I've been lurking here for years.:lol:)

Well good for you for finally joining ^^ :)

Yes, I've noticed that a great many of those who post on this website are - unsurprisingly - enamoured of tall, shiny buildings, irrespective of their environmental merits. If you like them so much, then move to somewhere that's already been taken over by them. Things like the slum-in-waiting of Justison Landing don't represent progress. Maybe you should get out a bit more. Or grow up, perhaps. I wouldn't worry about Hicksville here having another bagel "shoppe". If you think that your friendly Pennsylvania developer guy is going to bring NNCCo some instant sophistication, think again -- more like Lubbock, TX in a can. The Barley Mill development as proposed would literally be IMBY. People in my street are already contemplating selling up because of that. Me, I can just move back to England and use the Westover Hills place as a N. Am. pied a terre for a few years until the market's right (at which point the new Barley Swill still won't be actually built, of course). :ohno:

A couple things:

Kennett Pike was built by P.S. DuPont with his own money, and he turned it over to the state on the condition that it remains as much of a rural road as possible. Billboards were banned along the road, and the reason why it hasn't been widened to 2 lanes each way the whole way up is to keep the rural spirit. the conditions haven't been followed 100%: Kennett Pike is a standard 4-lane road in Greenville, and I think there might be one or two billboards near that apartment complex. But, I think

I'm guessing that the main concern about generic sprawl coming to the area is the plot of land that's a big field and woodland. That land is owned by Tatnall, which received it in a trust. It won't be developed anytime in the foreseeable future.

Lancaster Pike is actually seeing some development right now. Artisan's Bank built their headquarters at the intersection of Lancaster Pike and Centerville Road, and they're building something else on the other side of Centerville Road from those headquarters (a department store or something?). Centerville Road seems to be becoming a mini Edge City.

(Speaking of Lancaster Pike, does anyone know the story behind that stone house on the hill near the creek and Hercules? It looks like they're doing work on it to renovate it, but it sat boarded up for years and is still boarded up even with work being done. Is it haunted or something, because it owuld make a nice house.)

I think that Doctorjef is right, though. This will attract the lower class from Colonial Heights and Lancaster Court more than it will people from Westover Hills and Greenville, unless they can build something that will "wow" everyone in the county.

I have a neutral position on this development, by the way.

My concerns with Barley Mill:

1) The plans online don't show this high-rise that was brought up in the meeting. There should be a limit of 3 floors throughout.

2) Being built in phases. This rarely works. You instantly lose any "wow" factor you MAY have.

3) Nothing to anchor it. Sure there's a hotel and a movie theater, but the plans don't even show a store large enough for a real supermarket. Include a Wegman's. You won't see much riffraff in there!

Other than that, being mixed-use will help sustain it. Who shops there depends on what stores they attract (the "phases" will heavily impact that). I don't see Colonial Heights and Lancaster Court folks doing much shopping in Greenville, and it's one short drive up Route 100 to 52. We're not talking about a Wal-Mart and Best Buy here. Something WILL be built there--and these days, the only thing going is retail and housing. We need to be more concerned with it's quality and tastefulness.

My concerns with Barley Mill:



Other than that, being mixed-use will help sustain it. Who shops there depends on what stores they attract (the "phases" will heavily impact that). I don't see Colonial Heights and Lancaster Court folks doing much shopping in Greenville, and it's one short drive up Route 100 to 52. We're not talking about a Wal-Mart and Best Buy here. Something WILL be built there--and these days, the only thing going is retail and housing. We need to be more concerned with it's quality and tastefulness.

I agree with this. Though now I don't think a tower would suit well there, the retail component should at least be consistant with the median income in that area, as with any area, therefore IMO stores like Ann Taylor, Talbots, Coach, etc. should be built.

I agree with this. Though now I don't think a tower would suit well there, the retail component should at least be consistant with the median income in that area, as with any area, therefore IMO stores like Ann Taylor, Talbots, Coach, etc. should be built.

Exactly. And hopefully the tacky apartments on Lancaster would be razed when property moves from residential to commercial value. I think there's a good chance of cleaning up that thoroughfare at least out from the cemetery.

Yes, I've noticed that a great many of those who post on this website are - unsurprisingly - enamoured of tall, shiny buildings, irrespective of their environmental merits. If you like them so much, then move to somewhere that's already been taken over by them. Things like the slum-in-waiting of Justison Landing don't represent progress. Maybe you should get out a bit more. Or grow up, perhaps. I wouldn't worry about Hicksville here having another bagel "shoppe". If you think that your friendly Pennsylvania developer guy is going to bring NNCCo some instant sophistication, think again -- more like Lubbock, TX in a can. The Barley Mill development as proposed would literally be IMBY. People in my street are already contemplating selling up because of that. Me, I can just move back to England and use the Westover Hills place as a N. Am. pied a terre for a few years until the market's right (at which point the new Barley Swill still won't be actually built, of course). :ohno:

I see your point, but you forget the point that some people are actually from Wilmington, and from Delaware, and deserve to be able to utilize the whole metropolitan area as one unit, instead of being segregated to their particular highway, or area.

The whole DuPont and Greenville thing worked for its purpose.. it protected some very beautiful areas, and created lots of nice parkland, but, why should anyone be opposed to a nice development like the one posted above. Sure, a few people will move out and run, to their demise. People are entirely childish when it comes to what goes on a block away.

Maybe it's because I grew up on 4th Street, but how can having to sit at a couple traffic lights for a few minutes possibly ruin your life. I just don't get it. It's not going to turn into Manhattan at rush hour or Camden, NJ just because someone puts up mixed-use retail. Boo hoo.

Apparently Lighthouse Construction, which is based in Dover and has built stuff downstate, is going to build a lowrise behind the diner on Main Street in Newark. There's no rendering on the company's website (link (http://lhconstruction.com/)), but a rendering is up on Haines Street in the little diner parking lot.

Just got back to MA from DE today and must say that Route 13 in Camden is very disapointing, it's becoming just like Dover, Seaford, Smryna, no real character to it.

This article is from last week, and there are a lot of ideas on what to do with the UD campus and Newark in general. A main issue brought up is connecting all of the UD campuses: the main camps, the Laird campus, the south campus, and the technology park on Wyoming Road behind the K-Mart. What would everyone do to improve connectivity? Where would everyone put the highrises? What areas seem pretty good right now?

Report: UD campus needs connectivity
Nine-month review reflects inside, outside viewpoints


Constructing taller buildings, moving parking lots to the edge of campus and creating clear points of entry were among the recommendations in a report assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the University of Delaware's Newark campus.

The report, released Thursday, is the result of a nine-month review of the 904-acre campus. The review itself is a component of a strategic planning process initiated by President Patrick Harker after he took office last year.

"We wanted to make sure we understood what we were doing, instead of treating campus like a train set and moving buildings around with no thought to what the opportunities were," UD executive vice president Scott Douglass said.

Administrators and representatives from Ayers Saint Gross, a Baltimore architectural firm, met with more than 50 groups from inside and outside the school to hear criticisms, praise and suggestions for improving the physical campus.

Luanne Greene, a principal in Ayers Saint Gross, said participants emphasized the beauty of the campus' historic areas and surrounding landscapes.

But the firm also identified a need to connect areas of the campus, including the primarily residential Laird Campus, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute on Newark's east side and the academic areas centered around the city's downtown.

Although pedestrians could walk between most areas of campus in fewer than 20 minutes, "many times the perception of distance is affected by the quality of the walk and by the topography and safety issues as well," Greene said.

One of the report's recommendations is that UD add pathways connecting areas of campus and facilitate an increase in pedestrians, bicyclists and bus travel.

Another recommendation is to strengthen the central campus' identity as UD's academic and social hub. One way to achieve that, Greene said, is by adding more gathering spaces.

"As we move forward, we want the campus to be developed in such a way that supports what we want the culture of campus to be," Greene said.

The next step for the university will be to use the report to form a master plan for campus facilities and infrastructure.

Although Douglass said UD officials don't expect to increase the school's undergraduate population, they are planning to add academic space and repurpose portions of campus that are used for housing and recreation.

Among officials' highest priorities is building an undergraduate science facility. Funding is one of the project's greatest challenges, Douglass said.

"The university is prohibited from building academic buildings using our own debt capacity," Douglass said.

UD officials' future plans also include building recreation space on the current site of the Rodney and Dickinson dorm complexes and refurbishing or rebuilding the housing areas on the east side campus.

Another recommendation in the report is that UD maximize the empty space available by constructing higher density buildings.

"I think what we want to do is value land more than maybe we've valued it historically," Douglass said. "We've had an impact on the surrounding neighborhoods and not necessarily for the better. We need to build [taller] buildings so we don't take up as much space and sort of take over the neighborhood."

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080829/NEWS03/808290358/1006/NEWS

I'm all for taller buildings but if they don't them right I think they'll ruin UD's beautiful campus with them.

I'm trying to think of a good place along Main Street for a midrise or highrise. Maybe where the old CVS is, across the street from the Newark Building or whatever it's called? Putting offices there, and having a prominent bookstore or University-affiliated businesses (WSFS branch, for example) on the ground floor could work.

Other than the current locations, highrises for dorms and University-owned apartment buildings might not fit in anywhere else. The Laird campus is growing upward, and the Dickinson/Rodney complex will apparently grow upward. Maybe they can put highrises up where the Perkins dorms are when it's time to replace those.

I like the main st. idea ^^, heard you guys are supposed to get hit with a lot of rain from Hanna, were just supposed to 3-5 in of rain here, and only 25-30mph winds in Westford.

It looks like Delaware will be getting a second cable-stay bridge.

Inlet bridge design gets major overhaul
Ten years in the making, new Indian River Inlet span should be ready for traffic by summer 2011


Ten years, tens of millions of dollars and several thwarted attempts later, the Delaware Department of Transportation is ready to build a new Indian River Inlet Bridge.

The department unveiled the new span's design Wednesday afternoon, with the ailing bridge as a backdrop, and just feet from an RV parking lot built with leftover dirt from the most recent attempt at building a new bridge.

"I hope, in the not-too-far future, the governor and I will enjoy a ride over our fabulous new bridge," Transportation Secretary Carolann Wicks said at the unveiling.

The new $150 million, 2,600-foot bridge will be a four-tower, cable-stayed structure -- "dramatic yet functional," according to Wicks -- with all of its piers out of the water, eliminating the scour concerns of the existing span.

Four of the current bridge's eight piers are in the water, and the inlet's rapid currents have eroded the ground around the underwater supports.

The new bridge also will feature wider lanes, wider shoulders and a 12-foot-wide sidewalk on the ocean side of the span.

Pre-construction already has begun, but heavy work won't begin until early next year.

The new bridge will be opened to traffic by summer 2011, said Peter McKenna, executive vice president of Skanska USA Civil Southeast, the Virginia-based contractor building the bridge.

"Skanska is well aware the citizens of Delaware have been anxiously waiting for the construction of a new Indian River Inlet Bridge to begin in earnest," McKenna said. "We will deliver a bridge that will last at least 100 years."

DelDOT officials say the current structure -- by one report expected to be in danger of failing between 2008 and 2012 -- is the most monitored bridge in the state, and is safe.

In August 2007, DelDOT worked with the University of Delaware to install sensors on the bridge's piers.

The next annual underwater inspection is slated for later this month, and the bridge soon will be equipped with sonar monitors to measure the progression of erosion around the supports.

The current bridge will remain in place until the new bridge is opened. Once traffic is flowing on the new structure, the old span will be demolished.

Officials on Wednesday acknowledged that the path to a new bridge has been fraught with setbacks.

In October 2005, the department called off plans for a state-of-the-art single concrete-arch span over the inlet because, at $200 million, it would have been $80 million over budget. The state spent $14 million on the design, which was similar to the famous St. Louis arch.

Still, crews moved ahead with constructing dirt embankments for the roadway approaches to a bridge, even though there was no bridge design.

In April 2007, the bidding process to select a design-construction team was voided after some questioned why the lowest bidder wasn't selected.

Then, last November, Wicks announced that the $8 million bridge approaches under construction since 2005 were unstable, and the bulk of the faulty embankments would have to be removed. The state had to spend another $1.5 million to haul away 140,000 cubic yards of dirt, worth about $6 million, that will be reused for other projects.

A claims consultant is investigating the embankment construction and geotechnical work of Atlanta-based subcontractor MACTEC to determine whether anyone was at fault for the unstable bridge approaches. Wicks said results are expected within the next few months.

"I can't gloss over what has happened in the past," Wicks said. "We've spent a fair amount of money, and that's not something I'm minimizing, but a lot of that has gotten us to where we are today."

The tens of millions of dollars the department has spent so far -- an exact number was not immediately available -- is not all wasted because much of it has gone toward wetlands mitigation and the permitting process, DelDOT spokesman Darrel Cole said.

"If we didn't have all that in place, we couldn't be building now," he said.

State Rep. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, said his constituents rightly have been concerned about waste on the project.

"But the mistakes just didn't start with this bridge," he said.

The initial mistake was back in 1934, when a timber bridge with its piers in the water first spanned the inlet. That mistake was repeated again in 1938, 1952 and 1965, each time a new bridge was constructed, he said.

"Folks, today we're correcting that costly mistake and we're not going to build in the inlet," said Hocker, whose grandfather was a bridge tender when it collapsed in 1948 because of ice and extreme tides.

Skanska, a company with decades of bridge-building experience, designed the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, S.C. When it opened in 2005, it was the longest cable-stayed main span in North America. That $635 million bridge is a "signature project," designed with diamond towers to resemble church steeples because Charleston is noted for its numerous churches, said Peter Poore, spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

"We're happy with what went down," he said. "They finished a year ahead of schedule and on budget."

During construction, the Indian River Inlet job site will be open for tours. DelDOT and Skanska will work with UD and the Department of Education to showcase construction.

"The engineering profession is in great need of young people, and bridges are one of the most fascinating structures out there, so the opportunity to see one go up will excite a lot of students in Delaware," said Michael Chajes, dean of UD's College of Engineering.

Not only will the new bridge provide jobs and a boost to the Sussex County community, it will serve as a tourist attraction, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner said.

"People will come from near and far to view the construction as it moves forward," she said.

THE PRICE TAG

DelDOT already has spent tens of millions of dollars -- an exact number was not immediately available -- to build a new Indian River Inlet Bridge. Department officials say that money has not all been wasted because much of it has gone toward wetlands mitigation and the permitting process, and some expenses -- such as fill dirt for the ill-fated bridge approaches -- can be redirected to other projects. Here's a look at some of the other expenses so far:

• $14 million for original design, scrapped in 2005 because the bridge would have been $80 million over budget.

• $8.1 million for bridge approaches, scrapped in 2007 when officials realized the embankments were unstable. However, $6 million worth of fill has been reused at other construction sites.

• $1.5 million for removal of fill dirt used in the approaches.

THE NEW DESIGN

• The design/build team is Skanska USA Civil Southeast.

• Construction begins on the new design in early 2009. The bridge should be open by the summer of 2011.

• The current bridge will remain in place until the new bridge is complete.

• It will have four cable-stayed structures. The William V. Roth Jr. Bridge over the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, a similar design, has two cable-stayed structures.

• The vertical clearance will be raised to 45 feet.

• Cost: $150 million.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20080918&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=809180366&Ref=AR&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
The new design by Skanska USA Civil Southeast. Construction of the $150 million span is set to begin in early 2009.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20080918&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=809180366&Ref=V2&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
FIRST DESIGN: Work was started on an earlier arch-cable design, but was halted in 2005 when deemed too costly.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20080918&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=809180366&Ref=V3&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
CURRENT BRIDGE: Major erosion discovered around underwater piers in the 1980s made a new bridge a necessity. The new design spans the inlet without underwater supports.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20080918&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=809180366&Ref=V4&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20080918&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=809180366&Ref=V5&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809180366

I actually liked the first design, IMO it was more unique.

I like the arch design as well, but the cable-stayed bridge looks good and it's still a pretty modern design.

Yeah^^ Hopefully this one gets built.

Has anyone been in Milton lately? They are building a new neighborhood, called Cannery Village. It's not following the grid pattern, but they are building it with the intention of tying it into the town and getting the neighborhood to become a true part of the town. Streets are narrow in some places, sidewalks connect the neighborhood to Chestnut Street and other places on the east side of Milton, and houses are focused either to streets (with parking in back) or onto pocket parks. It looks like it will be pretty nice.


Here's a picture that I took of one street about a month ago:

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8938/img0352zyz7.jpg

Very Nice !!! not as cookie cutter as some other neighborhoods in the area.

More on Cannery Village:

Website (http://canneryvillagemilton.com/index.htm)

Site Plan (http://canneryvillagemilton.com/cannery_siteplan.pdf)

Cannery Village has curvilinear streets, with parkland mixed in with housing. Some housing faces the parkland instead of facing the streets. Houses that are colored in on that site plan are completed, I believe. Parking will be behind the houses, in alleyways.

I just looked at the Washington House condo project website and I think that building looks very nice and is a great fit for Newark.

There are some ambitious plans to update the sports facilities for the University of Delaware, including turning the South Campus into a huge sports complex that would connect to the Main Campus. This plan doesn't even include using the Chrysler property, either.

UD unveils plans to change sports complex
University also drops men's indoor track and field, add women's golf


A long-anticipated and grand strategic plan for athletics and recreation aimed at first benefitting actual participants – University of Delaware students – places immediate focus on building one new facility, enlarging another and adding a women’s golf team, UD announced today.

All it needs now is a lot of money and considerable time, though no projected dollar amount or timetable for any projects has been set, UD president Patrick Harker said.

More than a year in the making, UD’s ambitious Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Services Strategic Plan maps out both short- and long-range goals.

It includes a makeover of the David M. Nelson Athletic Complex on the south end of campus featuring a new football stadium, with possibly as many as 30,000 seats, where the ice arena and outdoor swimming pool are now situated. They would be relocated nearby.

The complex would be redesigned in a layout mirroring the Green, central campus’ signature area, and include a tree-lined walkway to campus with a bridge over the railroad tracks.

The stadium and surrounding grounds, however, are only “conceptual” and “not illustrations of a master plan,” cautioned David Brond, UD vice president of marketing and communications.

Continuing thought will also be given to building a larger basketball arena to supplement or supplant the 5,000-seat Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center, though no site has been chosen for such a structure.

First priority, however, is being given to building an addition on the 66-year-old Carpenter Sports Building and constructing an athletic performance center.

Often called “the Little Bob,” to distinguish it from the newer Bob Carpenter Center on south campus, Carpenter Sports Building is located near Main Street and North College Avenue and is the site of intramural, recreational and fitness activities.

The athletic performance center would be constructed at the corner of South College Ave. and Route 4 at the southwest corner of the Nelson complex. It would house a weight-training and conditioning center, athletic training and sports medicine offices and academic support services available to all of UD’s 600-plus varsity athletes, plus offices, locker rooms and the UD Athletics Hall of Fame.

“The two most important things we do are recruit and develop,” said football coach K.C. Keeler, who has long championed such a structure. “When you recruit, student-athletes look primarily at your weight-training and your academic services facilities. They feel you’re going to bring them in at one level and take them to another level because of this great weight-lifting facility. And having the strong academic support system in place, they can conceptually see how they’ll be monitored academically.”

A second phase would add practice courts for basketball and competition courts for volleyball. Eventually, football practice fields would be moved to outside the building and Rullo Stadium, where UD lacrosse and field hockey teams play, would be relocated to the southeast corner of the complex where the women’s soccer practice field currently stands.

“This plan really is designed around the student-athlete, and their success, on the field and in the classroom and in life,” Harker said.

“Lots of people want a [football] stadium right away. That is not the most pressing need because it’s not the biggest need for our student-athletes, as students and as athletes.”

Harker added that the plan does not include the 244-acre Chrysler site across South College Ave. from the athletic complex. The university is among the bidders for the land where the closing automotive plant operates.

While Harker said it could be used for parking or recreational field space, UD’s plans, should it obtain the land, are for a technical park and improving the train station also located there.

But the athletics plan isn’t just about facilities. It also puts forth a competitive charge to strive for better finishes in the Colonial Athletic Association, specifically in the top one-third in every sport. Also, it pledges to “meet or exceed” statistical compliance with Title IX, the gender-equity law.

With that in mind, Delaware plans to add a women’s golf team “at our first opportunity, but I don’t think earlier than two years down the road,” athletic director Edgar Johnson said.

As a result, varsity men’s indoor track and field will be relegated to club status next year in an effort to meet Title IX standards, Johnson said. It has been a varsity sport since the 1966-67 school year, after the Delaware Field House, with what is now a 200-meter track, opened. The CAA does not, however, sponsor an indoor track championship.

There had been concern among many former UD cross country and track and field team members and those who follow those sports that cross country and outdoor track would also be dropped.

“We’ll still have the highest number of varsity sports in the CAA [23], equal to William & Mary,” said Johnson, who added that indoor track athletes may compete in many of the same meets as varsity teams as members of club teams or simply as individuals.

While pleased to have retained his men’s cross country and outdoor track programs, Jim Fischer, who coaches all three, lamented the loss of the varsity indoor program. With the CAA outdoor meet annually held early in the season, in mid-April, the indoor season provided an adequate preparation period.

“Even though the outdoor season is our main focus of track and field, most of the kids build up during the indoor season for the conference meet, which is the highlight of our season,” said Fischer.

“I’ve always said our outdoor season is so short,” added Fischer, while pointing out there are meets after the CAAs. “Now that’s all some kids are going to have. That’s going to be tough for me to sell to recruits. Even though I think we can do a good job and prepare kids, it just makes it tough.”

Other immediate priorities include improving the softball field, which does not have a pressbox or safe, adequate seating, and putting artificial turf at baseball’s perpetually wet Bob Hannah Stadium. Plans have been temporarily scrapped to put artificial turf in football’s Delaware Stadium, Johnson said, to devote money to other projects.

Harker said all progress regarding new and improved facilities will come down to fund-raising and that Delaware won’t be deterred by the difficult economic times, while realizing it will affect the process.

“This will depend on fund-raising,” he said. “We are going to be aggressive in going out to our fans, asking them to help support us in development of our facilities. When we’re successful, not ‘if,’ then we’re going to move on to the next step. But we’ve got to get this [the performance center] done.”

In fact, Harker calls the performance center the “centerpiece” of the bold – and costly -- plan to re-arrange the south athletic complex.

Delaware coaches have long claimed that the school’s weight-training and conditioning facilities are inferior to their rival schools’. Delaware has separate weightrooms in the Field House and Carpenter Center that, combined, cover 5,000 square feet.

“If you ask every coach, it is absolutely their No. 1 priority,” Harker said.
Likewise, the academic support services for athletes program has operated from cramped offices in the Field House.

Baseball coach Jim Sherman said such a facility answers the primary needs of Delaware recruits and their parents.

“This commitment goes hand-in-hand between the university and students and their parents because it addresses the students’ academic interests, which are first and foremost, and brings into play their physical well-being, which, as athletes, is also very important,” Sherman said.

Said Harker: “It’s the biggest thing we can do to attract great student-athletes.”
The building will be the first university structure those entering campus from I-95 and South College Avenue, heading north, will see. Therefore, it will be visually appealing and serve as a “front door” or “gateway” to the university, Harker said.

At the other end of campus, the 167,000-square-foot Carpenter Sports Building, with its climbing wall, basketball, volleyball and racquetball courts, swimming pool and fitness center inside and tennis courts and playing fields outside, can’t handle the volume, Johnson said. More space is need, in particular, he said, for popular fitness classes. It is also where Delaware’s volleyball team practices and plays home matches.

A student survey last year revealed a willingness to pay more than the present $75-per-semester activity fee, Johnson said. An increase would partially fund the addition. The building had a $14.3 renovation in 2000.

“It’s more than just a place to work out,” Harker said. “It becomes a gathering place.”
A new aquatics center is part of the planned update.

Fixing up Carpenter Sports Building is part of Delaware’s renewed emphasis on answering the athletic and fitness needs of the entire student body, not just varsity athletes. That also includes increasing the opportunity to compete on club teams, Johnson said.

Replacing or refurbishing 22,000-seat Delaware Stadium, which opened in 1952, has been a hot topic among Delaware’s large football fan base for many years.

While the stadium regularly draws some of the largest crowds in NCAA Division I-AA, it lacks many of the amenities of newer or updated stadiums, such as handrails, chairbacks, elevators, luxury boxes and modern bathrooms.

A new stadium, Harker said, would have, or possesses the potential to easily expand to, a seating capacity of 30,000, which is the minimum for Division I-A.

“This will be a stadium that would allow us, at some future date, and I’m not saying we would ever do this, if somebody ever wanted to go [NCAA Division] I-A, we wouldn’t be precluded from doing that because our stadium’s too small,” Harker said.

Delaware has initiated preferred seating and parking programs in football through its UD Athletic Fund and the Blue Hen Club aimed at increasing fund-raising. Basketball seating and parking incentives also exist.

In these difficult economic times, Harker said it may take longer than UD hopes to gather the necessary finances for these projects. But, he stressed, “things will get better,” and when they do, those associated with UD should be ready to reap the benefits.

“We raise less than $2 million a year for athletics. There are comparable institutions raising $14 million a year,” said Harker, who would not name those schools. “We cannot be competitive without increasing our fund-raising. We’d love somebody to come along and give us $100 million, don’t get me wrong. But if everybody can chip in a little bit, do what they can, we can make this happen.”

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20081209&Category=SPORTS07&ArtNo=81209061&Ref=AR&Profile=1028&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
An artist's rendering of proposed student athlete performance center, which would be located at the intersection of Rte. 4 and South College Avenue.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081209/SPORTS07/81209061&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

Wow, that'll be great for the University as well as Newark!

UD is also going to try for the Chrysler property, as well.

UD trustees seek Chrysler site
School now lone bidder for 270-acre property


The University of Delaware moved a step closer to becoming the new owner of the site of Newark's departing Chrysler plant Tuesday.

The school's board of trustees unanimously approved authorizing its executive committee to enter into a purchase agreement with Chrysler "when and if" UD and the automaker can come to terms that are agreeable based on "price, opportunity and risk," board Chairman Howard Cosgrove said.

"We do not have an agreement, it's a very fluid situation," Cosgrove said. "We realize that Chrysler and any other automaker we're hearing about in the news have a lot of moving parts with regard to their financial situation."

Cosgrove said UD and Chrysler are still in the midst of negotiations made more complicated by Chrysler's pursuit -- along with General Motors and Ford -- of a multibillion-dollar government bailout.

Since Chrysler announced in October that the Newark assembly plant would shut down by Dec. 31, UD has emerged as the front-runner to acquire the approximately 270-acre property, which sits across South College Avenue from the school's athletic complex.

The board's passage of the resolution Tuesday paves the way for UD to move quickly -- and privately -- if a purchase agreement is reached. Committees of UD's Board of Trustees are exempt from the state's Freedom of Information laws and would therefore not be required, as the full board would, to hold a public vote to authorize the purchase.

Cosgrove would not comment on how much UD offered Chrysler for the property. If UD does purchase the site, officials plan to borrow against the school's capital reserves to pay for it, he said.

The money, plus interest, would then be paid back over a 10-year period.

"If we've got a price, why would we sit there in a public meeting and say, 'This is the most we'll pay?' " Cosgrove said. "We wanted everyone to know what we're doing and we need flexibility."

Newark Mayor Vance Funk said that after the two initial highest bidders -- Pettinaro Enterprises of Newport and a New York-based real estate company -- abandoned their efforts to acquire the site, third-highest bidder UD rose to the top of the list.

"That's why Chrysler is negotiating with them alone," Funk said. "To the best of my knowledge, there is no other bidder right now. We heard rumors about [a bid from a Chicago-based developer] but we have not heard another word from them. ... It's UD. It's for them to buy or not to buy right now."

Funk said a key issue in the negotiations is who will pay to resolve any environmental issues at the site, which Chrysler initially used for tank production during the Korean War. The automaker began to produce cars there in 1957.

"It's all contingent on them being able to work out the environmental terms of the contract," Funk said. "That's a big 'if' because of Chrysler's financial situation. You have to worry about, even if they do promise to do something, whether physically and financially they can do it."

Cosgrove said any purchase agreement would protect the university in the event of further troubles for the automaker. Chrysler and GM have told legislators that they are weeks away from collapse and need billions of dollars to survive through 2009.

"The university anticipates having the site when it is cleared and ready for use," Cosgrove said.

Several possible uses for the site -- including new athletic facilities and a technology park -- have been circulating since word got out that UD was interested in the land. Cosgrove and UD President Patrick Harker said Tuesday there are no plans to move the university's football stadium to the site.

UD officials have unveiled a strategic plan that includes efforts to upgrade facilities and make the campus more cohesive. Harker also has called for efforts to increase the graduate student population on campus, to foster more high-level research by faculty and to nurture spinoff businesses and partnerships with industry.

If the university buys the Chrysler site, the land would go toward serving many of those goals, including the likely construction of a technology park, Harker said.

"We would use [the site] for the continued growth of the university without encroaching into the neighborhoods. We want to be a good neighbor to Newark," he said. The site "would also be part of space for potential spinoffs of existing businesses or partnerships with businesses attracted to the state that want to work closely with us."

Chrysler announced in October that the Newark auto assembly plant would shut down by Dec. 31. Chrysler said a year ago it would idle the plant at the end of 2009.

A Chrysler spokeswoman did not immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Newark receives about $300,000 annually in property taxes from Chrysler, but the company is not a customer of the city's electric utility, which generates the majority of Newark's operating revenue.

Funk said city officials have talked with UD leaders about their plans for the site. He said university leaders have committed to having Newark supply electricity to the site.

Most of UD's property is tax-exempt, but Funk said that wouldn't necessarily be the case with a remodeled Chrysler site.

"It appears that probably 30 [percent] to 40 percent of the [Chrysler] site would end up being tax-exempt," Funk said. "The rest would be developed into an innovative, high-tech park, which is taxable and would create a lot of jobs."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20081210&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=812100345&Ref=AR&Profile=1008&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Replacing 56-year-old Delaware Stadium is a long-term goal, UD officials say.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081210/NEWS03/812100345

If UD gets that site it could build a new stadium and atletic center there as well as a large student center and at the current stadium area new dorms or classrooms could be built. The dorms and classrooms could be very helpful in expanding the school (student wise)

Could we finally get something in the National Park System?

National park aims to share Del.'s tale
Federal agency to outline proposal tonight in Dover


When Michael DiPaolo thinks of the very beginnings of Delaware, he thinks first of the Dutch traders who landed along the Delaware Bay and set up a whaling and trading station on Lewes Creek in 1631 -- 11 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Mass.

Though the traders were killed by natives sometime within the first year, Swaanendael was the state's first European settlement and would later be critical in establishing Delaware as an independent colony that wasn't a part of Pennsylvania or Maryland.

Despite that, the area that would become Lewes is little more than a supporting cast member in a new federal proposal to create a National Historic Park in the state.

"We think Lewes has a great story to tell," said DiPaolo, executive director of the Lewes Historical Society.

Instead, much of the proposed new park will center on existing nationally designated historic sites with the epicenter in historic New Castle.

The federal proposal, which will be outlined during a public meeting tonight at the Delaware Public Archives building in Dover, is another step toward bringing a national park to Delaware.

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who pushed for the designation, said he is pleased the federal review concluded that Delaware deserves to have a national park.

"I would acknowledge the National Park Service has done a lot of work on the proposal, Carper said. "I believe they have done a thorough study and I'm pleased they have taken our effort seriously."

Still, Carper said, he believes historically significant areas like Lewes need to be included in any historical park that focuses on the beginnings of the state and efforts toward colonization.

"Their proposal isn't what we had hoped for," Carper said. "But I see it as a starting place."

A team of Delawareans proposed a national park that followed the historic sites along Delaware's coast from Lewes north to "The Rocks" in Wilmington.

Carper said he expected some of the stakeholders in Sussex County to provide comments on the federal proposal.

"I think we can do better," he said.

The initial proposal took a broad look at the resources along the coast -- from the history of European settlement to the war years to the Underground Railroad and the area's maritime heritage.

Histories well known

But the Park Service review rejected many of the sites that were included in that Coastal Heritage proposal. Some, like the many forts along the Delaware -- beginning with Fort Miles at Cape Henlopen State Park and ending with Fort Delaware off Delaware City -- have histories that are well represented at other national parks and historic sites, according to the new report.

The key, said Peter Samuels, a National Park Service planner and project manager for the Delaware site, is to find "the story that hasn't been told yet in the National Park Service."

Samuels said the initial proposal included many historic sites with a unifying feature of being along Delaware's coast.

Often, when there are that many sites and resources, the grouping is most suitable as a national heritage area. But those areas aren't national parks, he said.

The legislation that called for the study was specific in seeking a review of a possible national park site for the state. Delaware is the only state without a national park.

Samuels said that during the review they ended up eliminating sites because they didn't meet the federal criterion of exploring possibilities that illustrated Delaware's early European settlement and the role it played in becoming the "First State."

"There's a couple of things that work to our disadvantage, " Carper said.

He said he knew the project would be difficult because the park service has limited funding and can't maintain what it already has.

Delaware doesn't have vast open areas, and one area that was suggested more than a decade ago by U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., for a national park -- the Great Cypress Swamp near Gumboro -- met with opposition by some within Delaware. Much of the swamp is inaccessible and considered by many to be an important and fragile habitat, ill-suited for park use.

Focus on New Castle

The latest proposal showcases New Castle, with its courthouse and large complex of historic buildings.

"I'm pleased with it," said Michael Connolly, executive director of the New Castle Historical Society.

Connolly said inclusion of New Castle made sense because the historic area already is a designated federal historic area and there is infrastructure in place to handle group tours.

The Park Service's two essential guidelines for Delaware: That sites explore both early European settlement and the process by which Delaware became the First State, are well illustrated in New Castle, Connolly said.

"The way the park is designed, New Castle would sort of be the hub," he said.

The park service is proposing a collection of sites that "preserve and interpret resources related to early Swedish, Dutch and English settlement and Delaware's role in the birth of the nation," according to the proposal.

The park service proposes working with state and local governments, nonprofits and private property owners to come up with educational programming. The plan is to provide ranger-led tours in New Castle's historic district and to related sites.

The estimated cost of setting up administrative and visitors centers, exhibits and historic preservation is $5 million. Annual park staffing and operation costs are estimated at $500,0000. A management plan is expected to cost $600,000.

The park includes several sites in northern Delaware centered on early settlement. It extends south to Dover's Green and the John Dickinson Plantation just east of Dover.

Two other sites, the Delaware Public Archives and the Zwaanendael Museum, are suggested as possible satellite locations.

Seen as lost colony

Ironically, the Lewes-based museum is not all that old -- at least by Lewes standards. It was built in 1931 to mark the 300th anniversary of Lewes and is managed as a state museum.

DiPaolo said the federal proposal overlooks so much that is significant about Lewes. The city recently celebrated its 375th anniversary and bills itself as "The First Town in the First State." Many in Delaware look at the Zwaanendael settlement as akin to Manteo, North Carolina's "Lost Colony" -- a precursor to Jamestown in Virginia.

The ill-fated Delaware settlement became an important legal tool when it came to establishing all of Delaware -- as we know it today -- as a colony. Much of Sussex County originally was claimed as part of Maryland -- a dispute that was settled in 1776.

"It's really the legal underpinnings for the existence of the state of Delaware," DiPaolo said.

Beyond that, he said, Lewes was vitally important for trade and shipping from the earliest beginnings of colonial America.

Every vessel that headed to Wilmington or Philadelphia came through Lewes, provisioned there, took on pilots to guide them upriver and went through custom houses and the maritime exchange.

Much of that shipping tradition is alive and well in Lewes today.

"Lewes kind of had an eye out on the world," DiPaolo said. "It had a window seat on world events."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20081215&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=812150341&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Doug Miller fires a reproduction of an 18th century muzzle-loader at the John Dickinson Plantation east of Dover. The home is included in the National Park Service's proposal for a national historic park that would encompass several historic sites in Delaware

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20081215&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=812150341&Ref=V1&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

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New Castle Historic District

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20081215&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=812150341&Ref=V3&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Fort Christina

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Ridgely House on Dover Green

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John Dickinson Plantation

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Zwaanendael Museum

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081215/NEWS02/812150341/1006/NEWS

Some news for Dewey Beach:

Fun center planned for Ruddertowne
BayCenter in Dewey Beach would be converted to play area aimed at children 14 and younger


The owners of Dewey Beach's Ruddertowne complex are working on plans for a "family fun center" at the facility, a summertime venture that will -- at least temporarily -- replace a venue for weddings and other large events.

The project is being planned for the BayCenter, and is tentatively set to open around July 4, said Jim Baeurle of Dewey Beach Enterprises, which owns the complex.

Though details are still sketchy, offerings could include an arts-and-crafts center, interactive gaming studios, a stage or movie theater and classroom space, Baeurle said. It would likely be aimed at children 14 and younger.

Mayor Dell Tush welcomed the idea.

"It would certainly give children that come to Dewey Beach something to do and somewhere they could go," she said. "Sometimes we do have rain, and you can't just do everything on the beach."

The plans are the latest twist in the saga of the Ruddertowne complex. Dewey Beach Enterprises has proposed erecting a new "town center" at the location that would include condominiums, restaurant and retail space, but it is bottled up in court. A controversial, once-planned 68-foot-tall hotel drew opposition from a civic group and a majority of the town commissioners.

The "family fun" concept at the BayCenter could complement a proposed theater complex that could be operated by Clear Space Productions at the new center, Baeurle said.

The plans mean events such as wedding receptions and corporate dinners scheduled at the BayCenter after June 20 have been canceled.

Baeurle said Dewey Beach Enterprises is working with the handful of affected events, trying to relocate them to other venues at the Ruddertowne site. The company will even shut down the popular Crabber's Cove restaurant for receptions if necessary, he said.

Events this spring, including a Feb. 14 gala for Dewey police officers and lifeguards, will not be affected, he said.

The decision was solely a business one, Baeurle said.

"We didn't see the success of the BayCenter long-term the way it's been run previously," with a focus on galas and formal events, he said.

The space has always been used as a flexible venue, having also hosted boxing matches and political events in the past. But mostly, he said, it sits dark and empty for about 70 percent of the year.

"It drives you a little crazy to have a 10,000-square-foot space vacant most of the time," he said.

The company is in talks with an event planner -- which Baeurle would not name -- with experience in such children's entertainment programming, he said.

The BayCenter's 10,000-square-foot space would provide a chance for families to dine at one of the Ruddertowne restaurants, with the children then escaping upstairs to play while parents finish their dinner together, he said.

"There's a lot more strollers than barstools, especially during the week," he said.

It could also be a site for schools to hold events, dances or fundraisers, he said.

The project would not include an arcade, news that Tush welcomed.

"An arcade is going to draw an older crowd," she said.

The success and the possibility of continuing the youth entertainment center will be evaluated in September, Baeurle said.

"A lot of this is gong to be driven by the results of the future use of the property," he said, referring to the outcome of the lawsuit in Superior Court.

The town has worked in the past to market Dewey as a more family-friendly community, offering movies and bonfires on the beach last year.

Though those are not in the current budget, Tush said, she hopes to be able to continue them through donations.

"We do have more families coming to town now, and I think it's good that people are thinking ahead to try to do something," she said.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090127/NEWS/901270329

The Barley Mill redevelopment has been scaled down. It looks like most of it will be office space as well.

Stoltz works with community leaders to cut Barley Mill redevelopment in half


Stoltz Real Estate Partners, the firm set to redevelop DuPont’s Barley Mill Plaza site, announced Monday it is considering scaling back its plans for a mixed-use town center there.

Stoltz has told a group of civic leaders it is considering a 1.5 million-square-foot retail and office center that could also feature some residential units at the site on Lancaster Avenue and Rt. 141, in place of the 2.9 million-square-foot project it has filed with New Castle County.

The group postponed a Feb. 3 Planning Board hearing on the original Barley Mill plan, choosing instead to continue negotiations with the community, said spokesman Tom Gailey.

Stoltz, along with several civic organizations and the newly formed Citizens for Responsible Growth, sent a co-signed letter to New Castle County notifying it of the talks.

“We have had a series of productive meetings and dialogues with Stoltz regarding the specifics of the projects and the concerns of our members,” the letter said. “We greatly appreciate the open dialogue and constructive approach taken by Stoltz.”

The cooperation represents a sea change in the relationship between the developer and community, when just a few months ago, each side sent letters to county officials listing complaints about the other.

Key to that change, is Stoltz’ willingness to back off a “take it or leave it” approach to the scaled down version of the project. Initially, Stoltz indicated it would only pursue the 1.5-million-square-foot plan – which had the building heights capped at six stories instead of the 1 in the original version – in exchange for unilateral community support.

The new plan – which has yet to be filed with New Castle County – calls for about 300,000 square feet of retail space, with the other 1.2 million as office space, or a combination of office, residential and possibly a hotel.

“Today’s action by Stoltz Real Estate Partners is another positive step towards a solution to the redevelopment of Barley Mill Plaza that is responsive to community concerns while still maintaining the overall design and mix of uses proposed by Stoltz,” said Mark Chura, president of Delaware Greenways, a member organization of Citizens for Responsible Growth. “We applaud this decision by Stoltz and look forward to a continued constructive dialogue with them.”

http://www.communitypub.com/archive/x833720482/g1a909c930e26d908d98c3246649c2806e8679c0ecd3e41.jpg

http://www.communitypub.com/news/county/x1596620143/Stoltz-works-with-community-leaders-to-cut-Barley-Mill-redevelopment-in-half

I suspect this is attributable to two factors, neither exactly altruistic. One is a probable recognition on the part of Stoltz that the proposed project would have no hope of economic viability for years, given an economy that may continue to deteriorate or stagnate for unforeseen years to come. At this point, plans can hardly be made on the basis of a pollyanna optimism about the future of such projects. Much existing Stoltz property is currently sitting empty. The second factor, whch I think may be less significant, is the determined opposition of the population of the communities of Westover Hills, Westhaven and West Park to an enormous and intrusive development of the Barley Mill property. At this point Stoltz would do better to wait and see if they can't get some bids on government funded infrastructure projects that may be forthcoming over the next few years.

Barclay's will move into the old MBNA office complex in Ogletown. This news clip must be a follow-up to the story from the Business section about an announcement coming; I assume a bigger article will be out tomorrow.

Barclaycard to open call center in Newark; 300 jobs expected


Barclaycard, the U.S. arm of Barclays, will open a new customer call center outside Newark, the credit card company announced this morning.

The facility, which is slated to open in April, will create an estimated 300 jobs when it opens and 500 in the next five years, according to the company.

"The addition of 300 jobs further fortifies Delaware's financial services industry and brings the company's total impact on our economy to an expected $67.5 million," said Alan Levin, director of the Delaware Economic Development Office, in a news release.

The company will fill the Iron Hill Corporate Center, property that was previously occupied by Bank of America and MBNA.

Joe Purzycki, Barclaycard's chief operations officer, said the company has signed a 10-year lease for the facility.

The company said the center will handle a variety of roles, including customer care, collections, technology, fraud management and human resources.

The company will hold a job fair at the Newark location on March 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090225/BUSINESS/90225028&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

More on Barlcay's moving into the old MBNA property. I wonder where the other 200 jobs will be. Will the call center expand, or will Barclay's look at a third location?


Barclays to bring 500 jobs to NCCo
Call center near Newark could hire 300 in weeks


A season of forlorn economic news turned a bit brighter for Delaware on Wednesday as Barclays bank announced it would add as many as 500 new jobs over the next five years, including 300 in the next several weeks.

The expansion of the bank's Delaware-based U.S. credit card business -- Barclaycard US -- includes the opening of a 70,000-square-foot "customer contact center" outside of Newark in April, and marks its first move outside Wilmington since arriving in the state.

Barclaycard US currently employs about 1,400 in Delaware, and hopes to have about 300 new workers in place at the call center when it opens. The expansion was prompted by soaring growth in the British bank's U.S. card business, which has doubled its lending total to $11.22 billion since the end of 2007.

The new site at Iron Hill Corporate Center, near the junction of Del. 4 and Del. 273 in Ogletown, once housed MBNA Bank operations. It will help boost customer service capabilities at Barclaycard US, which specializes in "co-branding" and marketing credit cards in partnership with travel, retail and financial companies, including L.L. Bean, US Airways and Travelocity.

"The fact is, we need more people, we need more space," said Joe Purzycki, chief operations officer of Barclaycard US. "Newark was a natural fit."

The Ogletown work force will include telephone representatives, managers, technology professionals, fraud analysts and collections specialists. The bank will hold a job fair at the new location March 26, and is working with the University of Delaware on cooperative programs that will help sustain a top-notch talent pool.

"There's a substantial amount of management positions among the 300" new jobs, said Lloyd M. Wirshba, CEO of Barclaycard US. "Don't think of this purely as an operational center."

The expansion comes just three months after student lender Sallie Mae announced it was opening a Credit Operations Center outside Newark, bringing 1,100 jobs to the state.

Sallie Mae conducted a job fair soon after the announcement and was flooded with applicants. Company executives did not return calls Wednesday seeking an update on the status of its hiring for the new location.

State and local officials hailed the Barclaycard news as a welcome development during a time of budget shortfalls and rising unemployment. The new jobs are expected to pay $35,000 to $100,000 annually.

The expansion brings the company's impact on Delaware's economy to $67.5 million, said Alan Levin, director of the Delaware Economic Development Office.

The news inspired a flurry of optimistic assessments of Delaware's economic prospects among the officials gathered for the announcement.

'We're not done growing here'

Word of the possible expansion arose in October when then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner returned from a European trip with news the bank might double its Delaware work force.

No matter how rough things are for all of us, we will get through this, Wilmington Mayor James M. Baker said.

"We'll be out of this shortly," Levin predicted. "We will move forward and do better."

"We have the kind of leadership that we feel will get us through this kind of environment," said Purzycki, who stressed that the bank remains committed to maintaining a strong presence in Wilmington, where its crescent-shaped main building has become a prime fixture on the Christina Riverfront.

"We're not done growing here yet," Purzycki added.

The bank signed a 10-year lease for the Newark-area building. Other U.S. locations were considered for the new center, but bank executives in London were convinced Delaware offered the best mix of a quality work force and accommodating, accessible public officials.

The fact its U.S. business has grown so successfully during its time here helped convince executives that Delaware was suited for greater investment, Wirshba said.

"You can't underestimate that -- the ability to pick up the phone and talk to the governor, today," Levin said. "Companies are not used to that around the world -- they're used to being tied up in red tape."

Gov. Jack Markell said the state continues to work out the details of an incentive package that will be given to Barclays to help with the expansion. The incentives would focus on education assistance, aiding in the training of the newly hired employees.

Purzycki said the company has promised the state that a significant number of its employees in the new center will come from within the state and will not be people transferred from other facilities.

"It's a good investment," Markell said. "It's a shot in the arm because the unemployment rate is going to get worse soon."

A tough negotiation

Markell also thanked former Lt. Gov. John Carney, who was at the announcement, for helping work with the state and the company to negotiate the expansion. Markell said after the election and before he took office, he contacted Carney and asked him to help by working with Barclays, and the former lieutenant governor agreed.

Efforts to convince Barclaycard to expand within Delaware were complicated by the economy's continued troubles, especially when the British pound began slipping sharply in value relative to the dollar, making it potentially more cost-effective to locate more operations in Great Britain, Levin said.

The Delaware-based division of the bank accounted for a significant share of Barclays' profits in recent times.

Barclaycard US posted a profit of $249 million in 2008, more than double the previous year, and represented about 22 percent of the parent bank's overall 2008 profits of $1.1 billion.

Barclaycard US customers are mainly prime credit quality, with FICO scores of 660 or more.

Even so, delinquencies at Barclaycard US have been rising since 2006, though they remain below the average industry rate of 5.6 percent.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090226&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=902260360&Ref=V2&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Barclays will be given an incentive package from Delaware for expanding operations into the former MBNA building in Ogletown.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090226&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=902260360&Ref=V3&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090226/BUSINESS/902260360



With Barclay's moving into Ogletown, business along Route 4 should pick up again.


Ogletown retailers ready for Barclays boon


When MBNA employees filled the company's former office complex in Ogletown, the half-dozen restaurants in the shopping centers down the road were a hot spot to grab lunch.

But when the company drastically reduced its staff, the lunch rush dried up at places such as Tailgates in Harmony Plaza. Now, manager Dave Taylor said, happy hour and dinner are the busy times, with only a few patrons lining the bar Wednesday afternoon.

So Wednesday's announcement that Barclays will be expanding its operations to occupy a portion of the former MBNA complex was welcome news for local businesses.

The 300 people who will be hired to staff Barclays' call center means more than just new jobs, it means a return of potential diners and shoppers to the area.

"If you don't have any customers, you don't have any business," Taylor said.

Jason Warden, manager of the UPS store in Harmony Plaza, said his business benefited from the traffic the restaurants attracted to the area.

"Once MBNA closed down, we took a big hit in business," Warden said.

Warden said employees at MBNA would stop on their way home to mail packages, and many kept personal mail boxes at the store for convenient mail delivery.

"I'm ecstatic," Warden said. "It will do nothing but help us out."

Warden said it's also encouraging to see a large-scale business hiring in the area, especially since he has seen friends recently lose their jobs at places such as Chrysler.

"I've got people who were making $80,000 a year coming in and asking for a job," Warden said, adding the company pays mostly minimum wage.

New Castle County Executive Chris Coons said the benefits for the area will be residual, adding that MBNA was known for being involved in community efforts and Barclays will continue that tradition.

"I think there is going to be more [good news] moving forward," Coons said.

Chris Peters, owner of Nona Restorante in Omega Plaza, said the loss of the banking giant down the road, along with other companies' cutbacks, took a bite out of his business. A new addition up the road, and one that likely won't see the self-contained restaurants and services that MBNA created, could be a boon for his business.

"It's a huge plus for any of the local businesses because we're all shrinking," Peters said.

Every December, Yong Lee, owner of a bridal and formal shop in Omega Plaza, would dress about 80 men in tuxedos for MBNA's formal. Women would come to browse the racks of dresses in her shop.

Lee, while ironing out the wrinkles of a dress from her shop, put down her work and began applauding at the news the credit card company was moving in down the street.

Susan Keigley, 25, who works in the dress shop, added that when she graduated from college she interviewed with Barclays and that the company is often looking for young employees.

"They're all wedding age," she said.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090226/BUSINESS/902260322/1003

Both the Barley Mill project and the Greenville project are meeting some opposition. Where exactly would this Greenville project go? What would it be? The article mentions a single 12-story building, but then later on it mentions a 10-story building and three 8-story buildings.

Greenville residents decry project plans
Stoltz plans residential tower and 96-acre mixed-use complex


Residents of Greenville flooded a New Castle County hearing room Tuesday night to mostly oppose two big development plans they say are out of character with their communities.


The two controversial development proposals are by Stoltz Real Estate Partners of Bala-Cynwyd, Pa., for the former DuPont Barley Mill Plaza office complex, and Greenville Shopping Center at Kennett Pike and Buck Road.

Local business owners and residents called on the county Planning Board to require modifications, or quash the plans entirely. About 150 people attended the meeting.

Stoltz has submitted plans to New Castle County for 2.9 million square feet of shops, restaurants, a hotel, housing and office space on 96 acres along Del. 141 that it bought from DuPont for more than $90 million.

It also is proposing to build a 12-story residential building near the Greenville Manor housing community that would include some office and retail space.

Pam Scott, who represented Stoltz at the meeting, said the company would continue to meet with the communities and take suggestions into consideration. But she said Stoltz already has modified the plans, which meet county code.

Councilman Robert Weiner, R-2nd District, said further improvements are needed.

"While there are different uses which are incorporated into the current site plan, it does not create a well-integrated, walkable neighborhood using the best mixed-use principles that can be incorporated to create the type of neighborhood that is discussed in the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance," he said.

Weiner wants a walkable community and smaller-scale residential buildings, rather than the 10-story building and three eight-story structures in the current plan.

Residents complained that construction would take away from neighborhood character, cramp roads with workers and shoppers, and increase noise.

In July, the New Castle County Department of Land Use called plans that Stoltz submitted unacceptable and expressed concerns about the impact on the surrounding community.

Dozens of residents from the Greenville area urged Stoltz and Land Use officials to reduce the size of the project he has proposed there.

"Are we accomplishing the right kind of transition here when we allow a twelve-story building and a seven-story garage?" asked Richard Beck, of the Kennett Pike Association. "We submit, absolutely not.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090304/NEWS02/903040346/1007

In 100% honesty I don't think even if they were allowed to build neither one of these will even begin to be built for at least a year or two in this economy

The Van Amringe Building on Clinton Street at Battery Park in Delaware City is being renovated. The building was boarded up a couple years ago. I'm not sure what will be going in there.

This is not anything special in and of itself, but I thought that I would mention it because I think that Delaware City is underutilized as a destination (for locals and out-of-staters alike). Fort Delaware is pretty famous in Delaware, and is an obvious tourist destination, but the town itself is ignored. We have our own canal town, with a lot of the historic buildings intact. I think that Clinton Street would make a nice "restaurant row", with the view of the Delaware River and of the end of the old canal. Anyone else see potential in Delaware City?

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/8840/img2249pb.jpg

I think it is true that Delaware City has a lot of potential. That being said most people that live in DE think of Valero when they think of DelCity and any visitors will more than likely see Valero before they see the town and think it's a dirty place even if it is really nice.

I just came across this retail plan in Bridgeville calle Bridgeville Town Center http://www.bridgevilletownsquare.com/index.html and am wondering why this couldn't have been planned for Seaford where the majority of the retail in Western Sussex is.

I just came across this retail plan in Bridgeville calle Bridgeville Town Center http://www.bridgevilletownsquare.com/index.html and am wondering why this couldn't have been planned for Seaford where the majority of the retail in Western Sussex is.

Bridgeville seems slightly better located for retail and whatnot since it is located not only on Route 13, but also on Route 404. State Route 404 (both the Delaware and Maryland ones) are the main way for people to get to Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach from the Bay Bridge.

Also, Bridgeville has been very aggresive with annexation. They have added a ton of land, most of which is going towards random stuff, like fast food places, car dealerships, and low-scale offices (perfect for dentists, etc). That stuff is fine, and it's going to pop up pretty much anywhere anyway, but Bridgeville seems to be a magnet for it. I think it's kind of similar to the new stuff that's built on or near Route 301 in Middletown. It's a huge concentration of things like Dairy Queen, Wawa, furniture showrooms, etc.

Seaford would be better suited to aim a little higher. As the biggest municipality in Sussex County, with Blades across the Nanticoke River, and the little towns along Route 13, Seaford could become a real office hub for the county. Of course, there are some limitations for Seaford. The Distance Theory (I don't think that's what it's called, but I forget the real name) states that a town can't become too big if there's a bigger town nearby. A classic example is that Philadelphia and Boston will never be as big as New York City because New York City is already that big and thus is more dominant, has larger hinterlands, has more business, etc. Anyway, Seaford is about halfway between Dover and Salisbury, so it would never get to be as big as either of those. Add onto that that you have the county seat, Georgetown, a pretty short distance away, and they have the county government jobs. In any case, I am sure that there are some lower-hierarchy businesses that need to service western Sussex County and could be located in Seaford, rather than making people in the area travel to Dover and Salisbury.

Very true but I think that Bridgeville could develop better so that it doesn't look like every other town with retail on Route 13 that it is currently on the path to becoming.

Still some concerns about the spur road that would connect

Residents get another look at U.S. 301 plan


Poring over the plans Monday, Don Cooke tried to balance the pros and cons of a proposed highway that would skirt his neighborhood.

On one hand, the Spur Road connecting the new U.S. 301 with Summit Bridge would run just a few hundred yards from his house in Chesapeake Meadow. But the alternative -- upgrading the existing U.S. 301 -- would mean at least five families would lose their homes.

"If I had my druthers, I'd rather not see the Spur Road put in, but I'm not sure that's going to happen," Cooke said. "And you feel sorry for people who'd have to lose their houses."

He was sure of one thing: "I'm just glad I don't have to make the decision," he said.

Cooke and hundreds of other residents came to the Volunteer Hose Company fire hall to hear the state Department of Transportation's plans for the Spur Road, the new U.S. 301 and reconstruction of a dangerous curve just south of Summit Bridge. The $704 million project is designed to address safety problems and alleviate traffic congestion in the fast-growing region around Middletown.

The General Assembly last summer ordered DelDOT to take another look at alternatives to the Spur Road, get the public's input and make recommendations by May 1. The agency will collect public comment until April 3.

Project director Mark Tudor said officials have also presented the alternatives to community groups at nine meetings in recent weeks.

The Middletown Corridor Coalition, a group of residents opposed to the Spur Road, lobbied heavily for the second look.

"I'm hoping they realize they don't need the spur and just upgrade 301," said coalition Chairwoman Andye Daley, a Chesapeake Meadow resident.

Residents came to the public workshop with a wide variety of questions and opinions on the Spur Road.

John McTaggart lives along Armstrong Corner Road, and the Spur Road would be built along the eastern edge of his property. He'd rather see DelDOT widen existing U.S. 301 to handle more local traffic.

"This road is there already, and it's in bad shape," McTaggart said.

The Spur Road would only be accessible just below Summit Bridge, at an interchange with Del. 15 15 and when it connects with the new U.S. 301 -- most of which won't help local residents get around, McTaggart said.

But Jimmy Ciamaricone said there's too much traffic for a simple upgrade of the existing U.S. 301. He owns Ciamaricone's Professional Landscaping at Armstrong Corner Road and U.S. 301 and said when traffic is at its heaviest during afternoon rush hour, it's nearly impossible to pull into traffic.

"Widening isn't going to cut it," Ciamaricone said. "It might be cheaper, but it's not the best route."

The Spur Road is expected to cost about $105 million. Upgrading existing U.S. 301 in the area would cost about $65 million, and creation of a limited-access highway alongside existing U.S. 301 would cost about $165 million.

Ciamaricone said he's frustrated that DelDOT has to consider alternatives that were dismissed when it settled on the Spur Road.

"It's a waste of time, it's a waste of the taxpayers' money," he said. "So if someone isn't happy with this, what are we going to do? Take another vote?"

The main part of the U.S. 301 project is a limited-access highway from Del. 1 just south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal to where the road now enters Maryland, just west of Middletown.

DelDOT expects to pay most of the $704 million price tag with toll revenues. The main toll plaza will be just east of the Maryland line, with three other plazas at Levels Road, at the existing U.S. 301 and at Jamison Corner Road.

The main road will take four to five years to construct, with ground broken as early as 2011. Officials said there is no timetable for the Spur Road because the General Assembly has kept it in the study phase until after the second review of alternatives.

Kathy Viscount, who lives in Nautical Cove just south of the canal and next to the Maryland line, said she came to Monday's workshop to learn more about the project.

"It's not in my front yard, but it's going to affect me," Viscount said. "To get into Middletown, I'll still be able to take the back roads."

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903240341

I forgot to post the article about the proposed racino in the Georgetown/Millsboro area, if sports betting is passed. The article is now archived, but here's an article that is also on the subject.

The man behind the ambitious idea


Preston Schell says it was no leap of faith to plan a new casino when no one was sure it could be done in Delaware.

Last summer, he proposed a harness racing track just north of Millsboro. But he'd run the numbers and found that only with slot machines could it be feasible.

When Gov. Jack Markell announced Mar. 19 that he planned to allow casinos and sports betting to plug a major deficit, Schell was ready to go. Five days later, Schell's company unveiled plans to add casinos to the project, which also includes an indoor water park, a 12-plex movie theater, an indoor sports complex, retail with residential units, and a paintball park.

It had been quietly in the works for a while, Schell said.

"Any person in their right mind would look toward gaming to provide a substantial contribution toward filling a $750 million budget deficit," said Schell, during an interview at the state Department of Transportation, where he was working with the state to plan roads for his developments.

In less than a decade, Schell, 34, has become one of Sussex County's most active developers.

Schell is co-founder of Ocean Atlantic Cos., a collection of 11 companies based in Rehoboth Beach that develop real estate projects, construct them, and sell the units when they're done. One of those companies, Schell Brothers Construction, is run by his identical twin brother, Chris. Preston Schell estimates the company has built 1,400 homes that have now been occupied. The company has 225 employees worldwide.

The Schells grew up in northern California but spent summers in Lewes. They have deep roots in Delaware on their father's side, where relatives include John Burris, a cousin, who ran for governor in 2000.

The company is especially known for the Vineyards at Nassau Valley, a mixed-use development in Lewes that will bring together 925 homes, retail and a hotel, even a lake. Schell called it "the future of land use," before correcting himself: "It's going back to the 1920s."

Schell, a graduate of Harvard Business School, speaks enthusiastically of "vertical integration." Being involved in all the aspects of residential and commercial real estate has kept his company going during tough times, he said. He can tell the companies to cut their margins if he must, not possible if he were using contractors, he said.

As if to cover all his bases, he is the co-founder of Sussex County Land Trust, whose aim is to preserve open space.

"He's done very well," said Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach. "He asks what a community needs, he's willing to do whatever the community wants to have a community fit in."

The Del Pointe project could be his most challenging endeavor. His co-developer is his longtime business partner and mentor, Gene Lankford. Asked what the biggest obstacle to the project would be, Schell said it's "the tremendous political influence, and capital capabilities, if you will, of the three existing racinos." They have good relations with lawmakers, but at the end of the legislative session, members of the General Assembly will see the wisdom in allowing more casinos, he said.

Schell rejected casino operators' arguments that new venues would dilute the Delaware gambling dollar. No one is going after the Delaware beach market, he said. If Delaware doesn't do it, the revenue will go to Maryland, he said.

"In a sense, we're building our own pie," he said.

Schell was an early supporter of Markell, back when the state treasurer was considered unlikely to defeat Lt. Gov. John Carney for the Democratic nomination. Schell met Markell at a fundraiser at his father's house in Lewes, and was impressed.

But Schell rejected the idea he was close to the governor, saying that outside of his support during the campaign, he has "virtually no relationship with him." He said they discussed the casino project briefly, but the governor did not tip his hand.

"The only time we did discuss it he asked some of the toughest questions and appeared the most skeptical of almost anyone I have ever talked to about it," Schell said in an e-mail. "I walked out of that meeting with my tail between my legs -- big time."

Joe Rogalsky, spokesman for Markell, agreed that Schell had no prior knowledge of where Markell stood on gambling expansion. Markell said during the campaign he would be open to more casinos, but wasn't asked about it much, Rogalsky said. "We didn't tell them what we were going to do before we did it."

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903290323

I don't think it should be built where it is proposed, it should be more of an infill project not in the middle of nowhere.

What do your guys think about this? I found it on the states site. I'm surprised by the numbers but I think the Philadelphia listed should be Wilmington.

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/2036/95038649.th.jpg (http://img128.imageshack.us/my.php?image=95038649.jpg)

This too, look at the Proposed NHS Routes Route 1 is built but does anyone know what the other one is? http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/de/de_wilmington.pdf

Even DelDOT is pulling that crap? They can separate Laurel and Seaford from Georgetown and other Sussex County places, but they can't separate Newark and Wilmington from Philadelphia?

Guess not, kinda sad really

I think I have read about that proposed route. It was supposed to be the northern terminus of U.S. 301, which would connect it with I-95 and thus make it an alternative to I-95, especially if you were heading towards Annapolis or some of those necks in Virginia. That was proposed in the 70s or 80s, from what I remember reading, and it never happened, so 301 was just co-signed with 896 up to some point (Route 40 maybe?) I would think that that proposal is off of the table now that the expressway is going to be built around Middletown and will connect with Route 1.

Ok now I think I know what your talking about, isnt that around the missing exit 2 area on 95? But with the 301 expressway connecting to Route 1 they really should be redoing the 95/1 interchange now to handle the extra traffic the new 301 will end up creating.

It would've been the exit 2 on I-95. I think that Delaware's exits are mileage-based, though, which is why there is not exit 2. Another part of that 301 expressway that was planned to I-95 was an expressway in between Newark and Pike Creek that would connect I-95 with Kirkwood Highway, and continue into Pike Creek. It would've ended somewhere near New Linden Hill Road, I believe.

Everett Theatre in Middletown re-opened. I'll have to get a picture of it some time soon.

It's showtime again at Everett Theatre
A year after a roof collapse, Middletown's historic playhouse reopens with a gala


Last Easter, facility manager Larry Hirsch closed Middletown's historic Everett Theatre after a performance by God's Power & Light Co.

Less than an hour later, the ceiling of the theater -- built in 1922 -- collapsed because its joists were too far apart and "the whole thing fell in," Hirsch said.

"We're lucky no one was there," Mayor Kenneth L. Branner Jr. said. "It's a landmark we all grew up with."

More than a year later, the community is planning to reopen the theater this weekend because of the success of a grass-roots fundraising campaign.

Efforts ranged from bucket-toting volunteers who asked motorists at Broad and Main streets for contributions to schoolkids who raised money. Churches and businesses held benefits while Middletown Town Council pledged $150,000 a year through 2010.

The Longwood and Welfare Foundations each gave $100,000 and Artesian Resources President Dian Taylor helped raise more than $40,000 through events including silent and live auctions of donated store merchandise and services.

"It felt like everyone was doing something," said Hedley Davis, theater spokesman. "Middletown really rallied around the Everett Theatre."

And what they led was not the theater's first comeback.

Middletown grew as a center of trade and hospitality at the heart of a rich farming region, shipping peaches and other crops by railroad to many states. It incorporated as a town in 1861 and thrived after the Civil War.

In 1868, its Town Hall & Opera House opened less than a block from the Four Corners at Broad and Main streets.

For half a century, the hall was the center of town government and a regional hub of arts and entertainment. In 1918, it was destroyed by fire. Its replacement showed the first motion pictures in town. But in 1921, another fire reduced that theater to rubble.

Saving the theater

Fire-resistant concrete was used to build the current theater, opened with art nouveau opulence on Delaware Day, Dec. 7, 1922.

But the theater -- like others in small towns across the country -- fell victim to changing times. Attendance faded with the growing popularity of television and drive-in movies. The advent of malls and multiscreen cinemas was the last straw.

The Everett closed in 1979, the same year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the Middletown Historic District. The once-bustling theater stood empty, deteriorating, for sale with no takers.

As years passed and the wrecking ball became a threat, Ellen Combs Davis dreamed big.

The lifelong resident and artist -- the late mother of current publicist Hedley Davis -- gathered like-minded locals who formed Associated Community Talents Inc.

Their mission: Save the Everett.

The nonprofit group, with the support of town leaders, raised money with stage productions, movie screenings and community programs. Fundraising ranged from grass-roots efforts to foundation grants.

The Everett reopened in 1983 for concerts, plays, movies and other events. The Everett Chorale, a community vocal group, made the theater its home.

Like long ago, the theater fueled Middletown pride, affirmed by its own screen debut. Along with St. Andrew's School and picturesque Noxontown Pond near Middletown, the theater was featured in Robin Williams' 1989 film "Dead Poets Society."

After the fall

After 11,000 pounds of plaster, wood and nails plummeted from the ceiling last Easter, theater supporters saw problems everywhere they looked.

"It's hard to imagine," said volunteer Jay Greene, who led the post-collapse effort.

Many seats were destroyed. All the upholstery was wrecked. Walls, flooring and carpet were damaged, original tin crown molding was ripped and ruined. Gritty dust permeated every inch of the theater, including its two organs, movie projectors, sound and light systems, curtains and stage equipment.

The repair project grew into the start of a long-term, $2.5 million renovation campaign. Fundraising and planning will start on Phase II and Phase III work -- the facade, lobby, stage, dressing rooms and offices -- "after we finish paying for Phase I," Greene said.

EDiS Construction also found the same construction flaws, including the use of low-grade wood and nailing, in the small ceiling remaining over the balcony. That had to be replaced before it fell.

The floor was redone, new carpet installed, walls were refinished with fabric panels, sconces installed where long-covered fixtures were found and a color consultant helped design a dramatic new paint job that blends various periods of the theater interior. Salvageable seats were repaired, painted and reupholstered. Sprinklers were put in.

Friday's gala crowd may first notice that the theater -- for the first time since the 1920s -- smells new. And it has new chandeliers, art stenciling and its first floor lights to help people find their seats.

The celebration's all-volunteer show, "Curtain Up! The Opening Gala," which features songs such as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Don't Rain on My Parade," tells the emotional story of how the community came together to save the Everett.

Middletown residents, most of whom have helped the Everett in one way or another, "really are looking forward to it reopening," Branner said.

Everyone is grateful the ceiling was a close call instead of catastrophe, Hirsch said, but "someone up there was looking out for me, for all of us ... for the Everett Theatre."

Town spokeswoman Kristen Krenzer said, "some people say it was God, but others say it was 'Miss Ellen.' "

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090506&Category=ENTERTAINMENT08&ArtNo=905060357&Ref=AR&Profile=1124&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Theater spokesman Hedley Davis (left) and volunteer Jay Greene stand on the stage in the newly refurbished and restored theater.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090506&Category=ENTERTAINMENT08&ArtNo=905060357&Ref=V2&Profile=1124&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Theater spokesman Hedley Davis (from left), theater manager Larry Hirsch and volunteer Jay Greene are leading the drive to repair and restore the historic theater.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009905060357

Will it be a theatre for plays/concerts/etc or have they made it movie theatre?

I think it's going to be a live theater.

oh ok

Kent County Courthouse addition, Federal Street

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/7981/img3219z.jpg

How tall is that going to be?

Some developments going on in Dover:

~ Kent County Courthouse addition, not sure of the height, probably a few stories high.
~ Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center at the front of Delaware State's campus. Building will be a few stories high, and it might be completed for the next school year.
~ A new overpass is being built where Route 9 ends at Route 1, at the southern end of Dover Air Force Base. I did not get a good look at everything, but I think it will get rid of the at-grade crossovers for Kitts Hummock Road, and thus Route 9, and will also connect to that concrete plant of whatever. I wonder if they are going to get rid of that traffic light for the concrete plant with the construction of the overpass, and thus extend the expressway south pretty much to Barkers Landing and Little Heaven.

^^ They are planning to put an overpass at Little Haven and at the Thompsonville Road inter section.

Interesting. I guess the state is trying to get rid of all of the signalized intersections? The section of Route 1 from Dover to Milford has been mentioned as the break in the connection between the Route 1 expressway from Dover to I-95 and the proposed expressway that would replace Route 113. I don't know if they can make that part of Route 1 expressway, though, since there are houses and businesses located on the road. As long as the drive is quicker, at least, people will be happy with it.

I've always thought that the CVS site was the perfect place for a new midrise in Newark, since the Washington House condos have gone up, and since that building with the GrassRoots store is also there. The developer is talking about a four-story building, but I think he could've gone higher. I think a 5 or 6 story building would've been fine, and that that place is maybe a good spot for Downtown Newark's tallest (as long as there is enough room in back for other stuff like parking or loading docks or whatever is needed).

In Newark, Main Street to be updated
Old CVS site to grow upward; changes don't please everyone


A transformation for the former CVS drugstore in the heart of downtown Newark has been approved, but some residents are blasting the intended makeover.

City Council members also had some criticism for the Main Street project before voting unanimously to approve its redevelopment plan.

Developer Jeff Lang plans to recess the front of the existing building and add two overhanging stories, with second-floor commercial space and 10 apartments on the third.

After the recent final plan approval, he said he expects the cost will be $4.5 million to $5 million, but he doesn't have an exact figure.

Lang, of the Newark-based Lang Development Group, said he is "very excited" about transforming the eyesore, adding he is determined to keep a regional ballet group that now rents space there as one of the new building's main tenants.

The old CVS, next to the post office at Center Street, is a squat single story, snug to the sidewalk, unleavened by its bunker style and massive sign slab.

Councilman Paul J. Pomeroy said Newark is fortunate, in hard economic times, to get such a major investment, especially at "a marquee location, a crucial piece of Main Street."

He sparked a ripple of laughter and murmur of agreement at council's recent public hearing on the plan, when he said everyone in the city knows the old CVS is "a really bad, big, butt-ugly building."

Councilman Stu Markham, whose district includes the site, said, "I'm ready for this building to be replaced."

Pomeroy, Markham and fellow councilmen, however, hit the brakes on an arrangement city planners sought with developer Lang to improve downtown parking by razing a Center Street house to link two lots.

With only seven houses left on Center Street, Markham said that if one is bought and deeded to the city by Lang for razing and another gets blocked by parking lot changes, "it doesn't take much to kill that street."

Councilman Jerry Clifton agreed, saying, "I think one house can change a neighborhood's dynamics."

To let the project go forward, council members agreed for the city to accept the Center Street house and the former store site's few parking spots instead of having Lang pay a standard parking waiver fee, assessed on plans that fall short of standard on-site parking requirements.

Councilman Ezra J. Temko questioned if the city was making its best possible decision, in a time of budget shortfalls, to forego the parking waiver fee, estimated at about $250,000.



However, he joined the rest of council voting to protect 15-17 Center St., a house divided decades ago into two rentals. Removal of the house was forbidden "without further action by City Council" -- in advance.

Calling such housing vital to downtown's health, they voted to conduct a study of the endangered house's small residential pocket off Main Street.

Roy H. Lopata, director of planning and development, said such a study can be prepared in council's six-month time frame, but he added, "what I'd like not to do is spend a lot of time on workshops and outlines."

Residents already voiced objections to razing the house during wide-ranging criticism that dominated the plan's hearing held in late May by city council.

"It would have a huge, negative impact on Center Street," said homeowner Niles Norton, who lives on the street.

Longtime council watchdog Jean White bluntly said the city "should be ashamed of itself" for the razing-for-parking plan.

She and others complained of the building's 42-foot height, which is tall enough to need a variance and is two feet taller than noted at an earlier stage of the plan, as well as the first floor's 8-foot setback, which is also less than expected earlier.

Developer Lang and his associates explained how the existing building's structure and utilities forced those changes.

Lang also said razing 17 Center St. was not part of his original proposal, but arranged after Lopata asked him to do so.

But Lang and his team grew frustrated as the litany of criticism -- blasting the building as too massive for Main Street, suggesting limits of two stories and four apartments, criticizing its small balcony as incongruous, complaining its front windows were just a sheet of glass and slamming its suspended sun shades, which one critic said made the building look like a layer cake.

Project engineer Joseph Charma, admitting the team's frustration, said he was "a little bit puzzled as to why we're going through all of this now."

Charma, a volunteer with the private-public Downtown Newark Partnership who chairs its Design Committee, said the project incorporated comments, complaints and suggestions from residents and city leaders as the plan was reviewed earlier by the design committee and planning commission.

He urged residents to participate in the design committee's new project, seeking public input on aesthetics and design in the downtown historic district as the first step to develop new guidelines for the panel to use as it reviews future plans.

But Pomeroy said council's public hearings are part of the process and, for those elected to council, "our one chance to chime in with our opinions."

Councilman Clifton said he agreed with most residents' comments, adding he hopes the new building's aesthetics can be improved to make it "a charming property, not just an OK property."

Resident David Robertson, a founding member of the Downtown Newark Partnership Design Committee, said he and others raised many of the same issues as the plan was reviewed by the design committee and planning commission.

Robertson, who predicted the plan's approval, said he was surprised and relieved council balked at razing the Center Street house, where he lives.

Project engineer Joseph Charma, admitting the team's frustration, said he was "a little bit puzzled as to why we're going through all of this now."

Charma, a volunteer with the private-public Downtown Newark Partnership who chairs its Design Committee, said the project incorporated comments, complaints and suggestions from residents and city leaders as the plan was reviewed earlier by the design committee and planning commission.

He urged residents to participate in the design committee's new project, seeking public input on aesthetics and design in the downtown historic district as the first step to develop new guidelines for the panel to use as it reviews future plans.

But Pomeroy said council's public hearings are part of the process and, for those elected to council, "our one chance to chime in with our opinions."

Councilman Clifton said he agreed with most residents' comments, adding he hopes the new building's aesthetics can be improved to make it "a charming property, not just an OK property."

Resident David Robertson, a founding member of the Downtown Newark Partnership Design Committee, said he and others raised many of the same issues as the plan was reviewed by the design committee and planning commission.

Robertson, who predicted the plan's approval, said he was surprised and relieved council balked at razing the Center Street house, where he lives.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090604&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=906040355&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
The site of the former CVS on Main Street in Newark will be getting a facelift, thanks to the Newark City Council and Lang Development Group.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090604&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=906040355&Ref=V2&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090604/NEWS02/906040355/1006/NEWS&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL

Seems like that'll be a nice addition, he(developer) should try to get CVS again.

I caught this in the Sports section yesterday. The last sentence is most relevant.

Pike Creek closing


Pike Creek Bowling Center will close for good on Saturday.

Pike Creek manager Dan Sandridge said this week that he was notified via letter from Louis Capano III, part of the center's ownership group, that the 32-lane center was closing.

Sandridge, who managed Price Lanes in Wilmington for many years before taking over at Pike Creek for the last 10 years, pointed out that the center has been home to a pair of former state average champions in Joe Yeager and Michelle Johnson.

The Pike Creek Bowling Center could be torn down to make way for a town center that would feature a grocery store.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009906090343

I saw that yesterday on the Community Pub website, I think that it would be great to have something like that but I personally wouldn't want it done with anyone that concerns Capano.

A small building with ground floor retail and upper level apartments is being built on Main Street in Newark, next to Bing's Bakery. It should be 3 stories tall, I think.

Speaking of Main Street, Newark wanted to extend the conception of Main Street; most people think of the core of Main Street being everything between Chapel Street and Elkton Road. With the mixed use building that houses Buffalo Wild Wings (which has been pretty successful, I hear), and more buildings going up along Elkton Road down towards Apple Road (like the apartment buildings, and something ont he Friendly's site), is Newark really starting to extend it's business district onto Elkton Road? Or, do you think that Elkton Road still needs some more work done to really be considered an extension of Main Street?

What will it take to make Main Street from Chapel Street to Library Avenue a part of the core business district? Hopefully this one building next to Bing's helps, and new buildings apparently have made the core business district creep from Chapel Street to the Newark Shopping Center, but it stops there.

Does anybody have any informaiton on Darley Green and the Claymont Rennaissance? They've started turning the old Dollar Tree on Philly Pike into a Food Lion, but that's all I've really seen.

For "Main St." Newark to extend to Library Ave, that intersection would need ALOT of improvements. It really doesn't look too appealing to the pedestrian. That intersection would need lower speed limits and wider sidewalks/crosswalks. The phone lines on the entire street (MAIN) need to be put underground IMO. Also more pedestrian friendly lighting needs to be installed along the whole street (think Downtown Wilmington's street lights). I also think that if the area that already isn't vibrant with street life (i.e. Near Lib Ave) need much more mixed-use which will almost force those residents to walk for food, shopping, etc.

Some casino news. I have not been paying attention to this stuff recently; are there multiple proposals from several developers? It seems like everyone wants a casino and a few places have been mentioned as a site.

Casino developer targets Delmar
Proposed gambling, hotel complex would join with existing speedway


Tucked away in Sussex County's southwestern corner, tiny Delmar is known for its state-straddling status, its historic highball railroad signal and its close-knit community.

If a Wilmington developer has his way, though, Delmar will become home to something quite different: a casino, drawing visitors from across the region.
The proposal for a 131-acre parcel of land along U.S. 13, within town limits, would have the casino, hotel and retail operation join forces with a 46-year-old racetrack across the highway.

Developer James Rostocki acknowledged the political challenges ahead in getting a slots license, but said the venture would pay off big by drawing visitors from Maryland into the tax-free First State.

"Their idea sounds great if they can make it a reality," said Charlie Cathell, whose family owns the Delaware Motorsports Complex and has had discussions with Rostocki's group about purchasing the track.

Rostocki and his partners are in negotiations to purchase the parcel for the casino, and have the right of first refusal for the speedway property should another buyer come forward in the meantime.

Many details of the project are still up in the air, including the square footage of the complex, the number of slot machines that would be sought and the overall price tag, Rostocki said.

"This type of project isn't something like a large Vegas hotel," he said.

One mile north of the state line, the site is also close to the northern edge of the growing Salisbury, Md., metro area and near U.S. 50. The proposal includes a hotel, retail use and an indoor convention/entertainment center.

The parcel was annexed into the Delmar town limits more than a year ago, and is zoned highway commercial, Rostocki said.

The speedway now draws in between 3,000 and 4,000 people on a good weekend to watch races on its 1¼4-mile drag strip and 1/2-mile dirt track, Cathell said. If the casino project were to go into play, it could draw 15,000 to 20,000, he said.

"There would have to be a lot of changes, updates to the facility and grandstand, to facilitate that," he said.

As talk of adding casino venues in Delaware has gained strength over the last year, Rostocki said, he and his partners moved from talking about a solely retail complex to a slots operation.

The proposal is the second such to come forward this year, following the Del Pointe complex in Millsboro, on U.S. 113.

State officials are studying the impact of adding new casino venues on Delaware's three existing operations, which have strongly opposed the idea of granting new licenses, saying they would hurt their existing operations. A report is due out later this year.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090630/NEWS/906300344/1006/Casino-developer-targets-Delmar

Delmar does NOT need this. It should be near Route One, beach goers (tourists) are not going to go from 404 to Delmar about a 20 minute to 30 min ride or from Route 50 to Delmar about 20 minute ride for a casino in the middle of a small town thats a good 40 minutes from their intended destination. Also there aren't that many people going to the drag races and a small casino IMO isn't exactly going to make it a big deal to go again.

It makes you wonder who is being targeted by these casinos. Is the target market Delawareans, or out-of-staters? Will the revenues and taxes from these casinos come from in-state paying customers?

yea ^^ IMO Delaware should focus on bringing higher paying jobs to Kent and Sussex Counties and improving retail/entertainment centers for local residents instead of always seeming to do everything to appeal to out of staters. That is why I think so many people want out of DE because there is isnt a huge draw to keep them here.

Developer files suit against Dewey
Ruddertowne claims obstruction


The developers of Ruddertowne -- a complex of stores, restaurants and a convention center -- allege in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court that Dewey Beach officials stalled, delayed and obstructed their right to use and redevelop the property along Rehoboth Bay over the last two years.

The lawsuit comes as the developers and town officials are awaiting a decision on a Superior Court filing in which Ruddertowne Redevelopment Inc. alleged they were improperly denied a building permit to redevelop the site. They contend their latest plan, which included a building height limit of 35 feet, complied with the municipal zoning code.

A third suit, challenging the adoption of a new municipal zoning code, is pending in Chancery Court.

The three suits have their roots in a dispute over building heights and a series of proposals offered by Ruddertowne owners to redevelop the property along the Rehoboth Bay front.

In this latest suit, the developers allege several town officials, including Mayor Dell Tush, stood to lose financially if the project was approved because she and others have rental properties in the town. They allege that Tush and three other town officials abused their powers and worked to thwart the redevelopment proposal.

Tush referred calls to Town Attorney Glenn Mandalas. Mandalas said although he has not had time to thoroughly review the court papers, he believes the latest suit is entangled in the height limits and the developer's desire to build in excess of 35 feet on the property.

"The town feels strongly about this 35-foot height limit," he said.

Last year, voters in the town approved a plan to seek a charter change that would establish a 35-foot building height limit within the municipal charter. State lawmakers did not act on the proposal, amid concerns by some that zoning issues should not be part of a municipal charter.

The existing 35-foot height limit is "a core value" for the town, Mandalas said.
Ruddertowne is a landmark in Dewey Beach and is just south of the Rusty Rudder restaurant off Del.1.

Ruddertowne and the Rusty Rudder were owned by Dewey Beach Enterprises until Ruddertowne Redevelopment Inc. purchased the Ruddertowne property in 2007.

Prior to that, Dewey Beach Enterprises had received a building permit to construct 48 townhomes on the property.

That project never materialized and by the time Ruddertowne purchased the site, the developer was in negotiations with town officials for an alternative redevelopment plan.

The developer initially proposed sweeping changes to the property in a plan that included a welcome center, a bayside boardwalk, public restrooms, a 120-room five-star hotel and condominiums along with public parking, a convention center and an attraction for children. The proposed building height: 68 feet.

The project was embraced by some in Dewey but raised concern among other residents and property owners.

Ruddertowne and the redevelopment proposal became a key talking point in the municipal election in 2007.

At issue for some was the height -- far taller than other residential and commercial buildings, save for the Crabber's Cove Lighthouse -- in the town. For others, it was the size of the complex in relation to the land area. And for others, who supported the proposal, it was an opportunity to redevelop a prime commercial property and create a business district in a town where the current business district straddles the coastal highway.

A second proposal was presented with a height limit of 42 feet. That plan included a mix of residential and commercial uses but no hotel. That plan also prompted concerns.

A third proposal was for structures that would not exceed 35 feet.

Among the concerns raised in the lawsuit are that town officials used stall tactics in 2007 to allow a change in administration prior to a decision on the first Ruddertowne redevelopment proposal, that town employees were intimidated into not providing a building permit for the most recent project and that some town officials with conflicts continued to participate in the discussions and did not recuse themselves.

The suit alleges that what the town did amounted to a taking because the developers were prevented from using their property.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090717/BUSINESS/907170327

Funny, something like that happened here in Westford. A developer wanted to build a 200,000sqft+ lifestyle center and the town basically came up with every excuse to prevent it from happening, and the developer sued. Now 3 years later the development was passed on July 5th i believe.

Catherine Rooney's is going to open a site at that renovated building on Main Street at the Academy Street intersection. It used to house City of Newark offices back a few years ago. it's good to see another restaurant open up on Main Street, and one that can sell alcohol as well. Too bad they have to have a midnight last call.

I saw this stuff coming a mile away from the Washington House residents. You have old people move into the very middle of a college town and then they complain about the late night noise. What did they expect? They're going to put up a fight whenever any bar tries to expand or open up or anything. Clearly, it is in Newark's best interest to run with the college town concept and encourage more abrs and restaurants and liven up the street.


Irish pub gets OK to sell alcohol in Newark


Joe and Gerry McCoy, owners of Catherine Rooney's Irish Pub & Restaurant in Wilmington's Trolley Square, plan to open a second site on Main Street this fall.

But getting permission to sell alcohol proved to be a fight.

City Council voted 4-2 in favor, over some neighbors' objections, after a long debate on issues such as Main Street's nature, the city's business mix and the bad behavior of some late-night drinkers.

It was no surprise a restaurant will open in the historic Bank of Newark Building at 102 E. Main St., built in the mid-1800s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In January 2008, council approved Newark-based developer Jeff Lang's proposal to renovate and expand the long-vacant site for use as a restaurant and apartments. The McCoys said they were attracted by Newark and the historic building, particularly its location and size, as well as its front patio, rebuilt and railed to accommodate outdoor dining.

James Dunlap of the Washington House condominiums, across Main Street, gave council a petition signed by 29 residents opposed to the project and one who is neutral. His adult daughter, Anne Dunlap, said a busy pub so close by would harm the quality of life she loves in the heart of the city.

Jimmy Flynn, among three more residents voicing opposition, added levity by saying that, as an Irishman, he felt a bit pained to say, "We don't need another bar or another Irish pub."

Concerns rose when Joe McCoy said they applied for liquor sales until midnight, but would ask for 1 a.m. "at some time in the future ... after we've established a track record."

Council members said that extra hour causes most of the problems with tipsy patrons, and asked about entertainment, unruly conduct and food vs. alcohol sales at the Wilmington site.

McCoy said the 5,500-square-foot Newark restaurant will have live Irish music and "customer service representatives" -- not bouncers. The Wilmington restaurant has "maybe five police calls a year," and liquor is 50 percent to 55 percent of income, he said.

"But we charge $5.50 for a pint of Guinness ... [not] $1.50 beers and shooter nights."

He said the Newark restaurant -- with an interior built in Ireland -- will be a good neighbor that will host benefits for worthy causes, as the Wilmington pub does.

Council discussed the need for varied businesses and the city as an entertainment destination. When talk turned to music volume, crowd noise and behavior after closing time, city Planning Director Roy H. Lopata reviewed city noise limits and council's authority, unique statewide, to revoke permits for alcohol sales.

Councilman David J. Athey called the situation as "a bit of a conundrum," saying "we want people on Main Street," but those who bought condominiums there "have made a commitment to Newark also."

Councilman Ezra J. Temko said, despite the issues, he is happy for "a local business ... not an 'Anywhere, USA' chain" that is "willing to come here in this economy."

After the vote, McCoy said, "We're very excited about coming to Newark."

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090729/NEWS02/907290339/1007/Irish-pub-gets-OK-to-sell-alcohol-in-Newark

Also, there was a little piece in the News Journal saying that Newark is going to renovate the apartments at 44 and 46 E. Main Street, above the Peace A Pizza and National Guard Recruitment Office.

the student center and wellness center are nearing completion on the Delaware State campus.

Wellness center gets DSU in shape
Officials hope larger, more modern facility will lure more students


When Delaware State University students wanted to work out on campus in years past, they headed to a double-wide trailer.

Starting this summer, the campus community traded the 5,000 square-foot trailer for a 68,000 square-foot facility that includes new equipment, room for exercise classes including spinning and yoga and, by next year, an indoor swimming pool.

Administrators are hoping the wellness center complex, along with a new student center that is set to open by early next year, will become the epicenter of student social and recreational activity on campus.

"This wellness center is not just about exercise," said Paul Bryant, vice president of student affairs. "It adds to our commitment to health and wellness. We want the students to be academically prepared, but also mentally and physically prepared."

All students pay a $200 fee that goes toward paying back a $48 million revenue bond DSU acquired to pay for construction costs of the wellness center and the student center. The fee also entitles all students to use the facilities without any other charge. A pricing structure is being worked out for paid wellness center memberships for faculty and staff and community members.

DSU previously received $9.9 million from the state for the wellness center project and raised about $1.5 million on its own. School officials had hoped to obtain more money from the state to pay for the facilities. After those requests went unfunded, administrators under former president Allen Sessoms decided it was necessary to move forward using the bond proceeds.

"The costs weren't going to go down, they were only going to continue to go up," spokesman Carlos Holmes said. "We did not get the commitment we felt we needed to follow all the way through with what the state gave us, so we had to find another way to get it done."

Administrators are hoping the new facilities will serve as a recruiting tool in attracting students, which will in turn increase enrollment and the proceeds that come from the $200 student and wellness center fee. DSU's enrollment numbers have been flat in recent years, a trend school officials attribute to the state's SEED scholarship diverting prospective DSU students to Delaware Technical & Community College and University of Delaware, schools that participate in that program.

The extra room that comes as a result of the wellness center allows DSU to begin offering aerobics, yoga, pilates and other group fitness classes. Student intramural teams will also use the space and there are plans to add intramural teams in dodgeball, indoor and outdoor volleyball and, once the pool opens, in water polo and water basketball, said Matt Fortune, director of wellness and recreation.

"We desperately needed to add this particular element to the university," Holmes said.

The new student center, which like its predecessor will be named after Martin Luther King Jr., replaces a facility built in 1968 and will house a bookstore triple the size of the old, a copy center, a game room, study areas, a lounge for commuters, offices and meeting rooms and additional space for student organizations and events for faculty, staff and the community.

"In trying to do all of that with the small MLK, we did what we could, but now we'll be able to do so much more without shorting all of the people we had to before," Holmes said.

On Wednesday, several students were working out, lifting weights and playing basketball and volleyball. The center is currently open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. After Aug. 31, the hours will extend to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

High school student Jasmine Wiley, 16, is taking the bus from Bear to Dover every day this summer to take college classes at DSU. The center allows her to work out while she waits for the bus that will take her home.

"I come here every day after class," Wiley said after finishing a jog on one of the treadmills.

DSU senior Lamar Weaver, 21, and graduate student Maurice Smith, 23, used the old workout room in the double-wide trailer. They said the new facility provides needed space for students to unwind.

"I think the social networking will be better than what it used to be," Weaver said. "Before we didn't have a place where students could come and talk or a space where they could come and do an aerobic workout."

"This definitely competes with a big school, like the University of Pennsylvania has something like this," added Smith. "It's definitely what the big schools have."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090806&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=908060363&Ref=AR&Profile=1008&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
A new wellness center at Delaware State University offers students like Tiffany Williams, 26, a place to work out, take exercise classes and, by next year, swim in an indoor pool. The 68,000-square-foot building replaces the 5,000-square-foot double-wide trailer that used to house the exercise facilities.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090806&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=908060363&Ref=V2&Profile=1008&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
DSU officials say the wellness center, along with the soon-to-be-completed student center, will become the center of student social and recreational activity on the Dover campus.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009908060363

Thats good^^ I wish Dover could better incorporate DSU, Wesley, and DelTech with downtown and make it have a real college town feeling. IMO Dover has a lot of potential with DAFB and the colleges to be much better than what it is now.

The service plaza will close tonight:

High-class rest stop to replace I-95 relic
Service plaza visited by millions closing its doors after 45 years


Most people stopping at the Delaware Service Plaza on I-95 are headed for a vacation, a wedding, a family visit, maybe a business meeting.

Harry Maurancy and Odetta Johnson are headed for a new life.

When the sour economy pushed Maurancy out of his job as an air-conditioner technician in Rockland County, N.Y., the couple decided to start over in Orlando, Fla.

"I do air conditioning, and in New York, not everyone needs it," Maurancy said. "In Florida, they do."

Every year, about 3 million weary travelers like Maurancy and Johnson shuffle into the plaza looking for a restroom, a slice of pizza, a cinnamon roll, a cup of joe to keep them going. The 29,000-square-foot, low-profile building, with its stone facade and 1960s architecture, has offered a respite from the road for more than 45 years.

But at 1 a.m. Tuesday, the rest stop will close.

An auctioneer will sell off its ovens, refrigerators, tables, chairs, pots and pans later this week. Crews will tear down the buildings, salvaging some materials, recycling others. Then, workers will start building a new, glassy, 47,000-square-foot facility and a 21-pump gas station.

When it opens next summer, the Delaware Welcome Center will offer more than restrooms and fast food. Instead, look for a Mexican restaurant, a French cafe, a handbag and jewelry shop, and a store devoted to all things Delaware.

"It's not supposed to look like any other rest stop," said John Sisson, the Delaware Department of Transportation's projects and facilities manager. "It's going to be something new."

HMSHost, which has operated the plaza since it opened in 1964, won the bid to build a new $32 million facility and run it for the next 35 years. The Maryland-based company operates more than 80 highway rest stops in North America.

"They're doing all this work on their dime," Sisson said.

HMSHost will pay DelDOT $170,000 a month in rent during the 10-month construction period, he said. Once the facility opens, the company will pay the agency 3 cents for every gallon of gas it sells and 5 percent to 8 percent of its gross sales on other items.

"They're responsible for cutting the grass, removing the snow, all that stuff," though the state retains ownership of the land and facility, Sisson said.

The plaza -- which some longtime Delawareans still call the Hot Shoppes, after its original restaurant -- is the only rest stop along Delaware's 24-mile stretch of I-95.

President John F. Kennedy visited Delaware on Nov. 14, 1963 -- eight days before he was assassinated -- to cut the ribbon on the highway between Wilmington and Baltimore, the first section of I-95 completed. The rest stop opened about four months later.

Its closing will leave I-95 travelers without a rest stop for 95 miles, between the Chesapeake House rest stop in Maryland and the John Fenwick Service Area in New Jersey.

Outdated, dilapidated

The plaza is clearly showing its age.

Much of the exterior paint is either faded, chipped or peeling. Inside, a tarp hangs from the dining room ceiling to catch drips from a leak, while other ceiling tiles are stained from old leaks. Floor tiles are scratched and mismatched.

Green-and-white signs hang from the ceiling to designate the non-smoking section, even though all eateries in the state been smoke-free for several years.

All that's left of a bank of pay phones are some wires poking through the wall. A sign above them tells travelers there are more phones around the corner, but all that's there are a couple of cash machines and racks of motel coupons.

Signs and posters explaining the closing and construction project are everywhere, but most travelers are too distracted to notice them.

"I guess we won't be stopping here next time," said Gwen Privott of Washington, who was heading to Atlantic City with her husband, Curtis, for a day of shopping, gambling and people-watching on the boardwalk.

"An upgrade will be nice," Curtis Privott said. "But what about all the people who'll be out of work for the next 10 months?"

About 175 people work at the plaza, all employees of HMSHost. About a third of them have moved to jobs in the company's facilities in Maryland or New Jersey, said company spokeswoman Susan Goyette.

The rest of them are out of luck during the construction project. They'll be given priority for the 225 positions available when the plaza reopens, she said.

"Every effort is made to place them, if we have available positions," Goyette said. "But other than that, it would be a 10-month process before we begin to rehire."

Manuel D. Rodrigues of Connecticut has been stopping at the rest area since he was stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland in 1971 and 1972.

"That's when the toll was 50 cents, instead of five bucks," Rodrigues said.

The other day, Rodrigues stopped with his daughter, Jessica Lima, and her husband, Jose Lima, and their 1-year-old son, Jaden. They were driving six hours to a wedding in Maryland.

"I used to plan to stop here; you had to do that if you had kids," he said. "It's a good spot to stop, get something to eat and stretch your legs a bit."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20090907&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=909070326&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Delaware House on I-95 will close at 1 a.m. Tuesday for reconstruction.


http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090907/NEWS/909070326&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

Commuter rail in Delaware? The idea was floated aruond a few years ago

I don't have the time to do it now, but there are pictures of the old rail cars on the link.

A one-man mission for commuter rail
Light on money, details, businessman pushes for north-south line


Meet Tom Povlitz, railroad buff and contender for the title of World's Greatest Optimist.

He's walking down the aisle of a grimy, graffiti-covered passenger rail car, nearly every window either shattered, missing or covered with plywood. It is coupled to four more cars, all in the same condition.

The overhead lights are smashed, seats unbolted and overturned. The cars smell of mildew and age.

But Povlitz sees beyond the mess.

He sees the makings of a commuter railroad, with gleaming steel cars ferrying passengers between Middletown and Wilmington as early as next spring.

"If you look at the amount of traffic that moves along that corridor, it's amazing," Povlitz said. "Everybody is in agreement that this is desperately needed."

Indeed, the idea of a north-south commuter railroad in Delaware has been tossed around for decades, ever since passenger service to Dover ended in 1965. Six years ago, a General Assembly task force concluded ridership would be high enough to make it work but construction and operation would cost too much. The state Department of Transportation wants to take another look at it and last month applied for federal stimulus money for another study.

The question is whether Povlitz's plan for a private railroad will work, since every commuter line in the nation is government-supported.

State transportation officials doubt it can.

Official pessimism isn't Povlitz's only hurdle: He doesn't actually own the cars yet, and he doesn't have permission from the state, the federal government or Norfolk Southern Corp., which owns the track, to run a railroad.

At least the rail cars actually work, right?

Well, the optimist says, they were working when Metro-North Railroad retired them -- 15 years ago. Amtrak towed them to a stretch of unused track in Glasgow last year.

Whatever the challenges, Povlitz said it's time to make the railroad a reality.
"This thing has been studied into the ground," he said.

Many share the dream

Commuters, railroad fans and transportation officials have long dreamed of hopping on a train in a bedroom community like Middletown and riding to work in Wilmington. Or taking a train to Dover for business or down to the beach for the day.

Think of all the vehicles that would take off the roads, they say.

"We've been talking in this state for years and years about going down to Dover and beyond," said Tom Crowley, an owner of Delaware Car Co. in Wilmington, which repairs and refurbishes passenger rail cars. "It's a great idea."

Povlitz, whose full-time job is selling and installing heating and air-conditioning systems, envisions commuters paying $8 or $9 for a round-trip ticket between Middletown -- he's not sure yet where riders would park their cars or board the train -- and Wilmington's Riverfront area, including a shuttle trip downtown. He'd start with two round trips a day, and expand as ridership increases.

Former state Rep. Nancy Wagner led the last task force that examined the possibility. It found that building a commuter rail line between Wilmington and Dover would cost $249 million to $290 million, with ridership estimated at 247,000 trips a year.

"About that time, the budget crunches started to hit, and there was no money," Wagner said.

But demand for such a service was probably strong enough to make it viable, she said, especially between Wilmington and Middletown.

Wagner still believes it's a good idea.

DelDOT is approaching the idea differently in an application last month for $900,000 for another study.

Instead of building a new commuter rail line with dozens of trains a day, DelDOT wants to see if an intercity service could succeed with two to four trains a day on existing rail lines.

J. Brett Taylor, DelDOT's legislative and financial policy adviser, has said the study would consider starting with service between Wilmington and Middletown. If that succeeds, service could be extended to Dover, Sussex County and Berlin, Md.

An old idea

Funny, Povlitz said, but that's what he's been suggesting for almost 20 years.

Over the years, Povlitz has formed a couple of businesses, the latest incorporated in 2007 as Delaware Rail Project (Delrail) Inc. He has pitched his idea to dozens of people and agencies.

"We've had conversations with him off and on for the past 15 years," DelDOT spokesman Darrel Cole said.

Povlitz talked to the Delmarva Rail Passenger Association recently, president Tom Posatko said. Members loved the idea.

"I'm glad to hear he's still around," Posatko said. "But it seemed like a pretty brave venture to go out there on your own."

Povlitz also spoke with Sen. Tom Carper's staff, who referred him to DelDOT and the Delaware Economic Development office, spokeswoman Emily Cunningham said.

"He's talking to anyone who will listen," said DEDO's Jeff Stone. "He's a guy with a vision, and he's on a mission to get there."

One convert has been Warren Vanderslice, a retired chemist whose Delrail business card describes him as head of marketing.

Vanderslice said he saw the traffic congestion in northern Delaware and knew it wasn't going to improve unless commuters had an alternative. Over time, Povlitz convinced him a small railroad would work.

Finding a way

The first thing Povlitz would need is railroad tracks, or at least access to them.

A few years ago, he stumbled upon a 2004 report from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, that gave him hope.
The report mentions how Delaware paid to reconstruct a bridge for Norfolk Southern. In exchange, the report says, the freight railroad gave DelDOT free access to its rails for commuter service for 20 years.

"The critical thing is the fact that there's an existing agreement with the state," Povlitz said. "Assuming we can piggy-back on that, that reduces the cost dramatically."

That's a big assumption, DelDOT and Norfolk Southern spokesmen said.

DelDOT won't discourage Povlitz, Cole said, but it's almost impossible for a private enterprise to run a commuter railroad.

"It doesn't make money," Cole said. "Even in densest corridors of the Northeast, the best it does is break even."

Fares generally cover only a third of the cost of public transit services, said Virginia Miller of the American Public Transportation Association.

Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband is more straightforward.

"We had one conversation and told him we really aren't interested," Husband said. "Any type of commuter service in Delaware on Norfolk Southern lines would have to be done through DelDOT."

Povlitz is undeterred.

"That's pretty much the standard message" from Norfolk Southern, he said. "They'll come to the understanding that this is a mutually beneficial proposal."

The next thing Povlitz would need are rail cars, so he went shopping on the Internet.

In June 2007, he found five 109-passenger SPV 2000's for sale by the New York Susquehanna & Western Technical & Historical Society. Built in 1981, the self-propelled diesel cars had been used by Metro-North Railroad around New York City until they were retired. He won't reveal the price he negotiated.

So far, the cars haven't cost Povlitz anything, because he hasn't paid for them.

"He's never come across with any money or anything," said Wayne Nilsen of the historical society. "He's waiting for some family to send him money."

Povlitz also hasn't paid Amtrak the $75,000 it billed him to move them from New York to Glasgow last October.

All the bills will be paid very soon, Povlitz said. His silent partner, a local businessman from Jordan, is settling an estate there and will have the money soon, he said. He wouldn't name the man.

"He asked to be kept in the background," Povlitz said.

Povlitz hopes to move the cars soon to a stretch of track near Delaware City, where they can be restored.

A complete overhaul of a rail car can cost up to $1 million, said Crowley of Delaware Car Co., which did some refurbishing work on these cars when Metro-North operated them. Though the SPV 2000 was known to have problems with an overheating engine, Crowley said they should be workable.

"They have a stainless-steel body, so if they're maintained, they'll last
forever," Crowley said.

Povlitz hopes to get the first two cars restored and spiffed up by Christmas.
He would also need approval from the Federal Railroad Administration, which looks at safety issues, and the federal Surface Transportation Board, which oversees all rail operations.

Despite all the hurdles he faces, Povlitz is convinced the railroad will be carrying passengers by early next summer.

In fact, he expects to be overwhelmed by riders. He's already shopping around for more cars.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090915/NEWS/909150355&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

i would love to see that work, but its got to be fast and reasonably priced if its going to get passengers

Yeah, if it's at Amtrak prices then it's going to fail. Prices like MARC or SEPTA are reasonable (Perryville to Union Station was $22 round trip for me a couple years ago, and Wilmington to 30th Street Station is $10 or $20 round trip, I can't remember which). A Newark to Stanton to Wilmington train and back would be a good start for commuters (basically what SEPTA offers, but much more service). If prices are cheap, maybe $5 a ride or less if possible, then you can expand from there. Or, maybe a Middletown to Red Lion to Bear to Stanton to Wilmington line would be a nice place to start. Of course, I'm just making all of this up based on very limited commuting patterns.

Yeah, if it's at Amtrak prices then it's going to fail. Prices like MARC or SEPTA are reasonable (Perryville to Union Station was $22 round trip for me a couple years ago, and Wilmington to 30th Street Station is $10 or $20 round trip, I can't remember which). A Newark to Stanton to Wilmington train and back would be a good start for commuters (basically what SEPTA offers, but much more service). If prices are cheap, maybe $5 a ride or less if possible, then you can expand from there. Or, maybe a Middletown to Red Lion to Bear to Stanton to Wilmington line would be a nice place to start. Of course, I'm just making all of this up based on very limited commuting patterns.

I love hearing my dad tell me stories about Street cars from when he was a kid and how they went everywhere.. Its sad that we "progressed" away from them to the traffic messes that we have now

i was reading the article about delaware sports betting and what i read it doesnt seem the court that ruled delaware out didnt fully read the arguement. If this is true Delaware should have been allowed to offer more then Football Parlay bets:

Article From "The News Journal" Tuesday Sept. 15
In the motion, the state’s attorneys made two basic arguments.

The first contention was that the panel failed to apply Supreme Court precedent requiring Congress’ “unmistakably clear” expression that Delaware could not offer single-game and non-NFL bets. The second was that the panel decided the case before any full factual record was developed.

On the issue of Congress’ intent, state lawyers cited some of the same documents previously provided to the three-judge panel. One was a Senate Judiciary Committee report on the federal bill that said “Oregon and Delaware may conduct sports lotteries on any sports” and that the legislation did not intend to prevent either state from “expanding their sports betting schemes into other sports as long as it was authorized by state law” previously.

Delaware’s lottery law was amended in 1974 to allow for bets on any college or pro sports, but only multigame NFL bets – commonly known as football pools – were offered in the failed 1976 experiment that ended in controversy over low revenues and bad point spreads.

After losing nearly $200,000 the first year, the sports lottery was scrapped, but advocates for years have pushed to revive sports betting in Delaware.

The UD bookstore will be moving to Main Street. The building on Main Street in question is the one set back from the sidewalk, next to the Grassroots store.

UD bookstore to fill old Christina school building
Official announcement reveals plans to preserve current structure, house offices


University of Delaware administrators are planning to relocate the school bookstore to the former Christina School District building on Newark's Main Street.

School officials announced Wednesday that the university officially acquired the property at 83 E. Main St., but the deal has been in the works for more than a year. In addition to the bookstore -- currently in the Perkins Student Center on Academy Street -- UD plans to use the space for offices and other university programs.

Plans call for constructing a building that preserves the current structure.
"This is an opportunity for the university to expand the services of our bookstore with additional space," UD Executive Vice President Scott Douglass said in a news release.

The Christina School Board voted in June 2008 to sell the unused building to UD for $1.6 million as a way to raise money to complete construction of Porter Road Elementary in Bear.

The board sold to UD over a counteroffer made by Newark United Methodist Church, which is located nearby.

But UD's purchase was held up by an esoteric roadblock in the form of a law that was on the books when Christina's predecessors acquired the property in the 1880s.

One of the parcels that make up the site was acquired through condemnation. At the time, Delaware law allowed school districts to condemn property for use as a school building but stated that ownership of the property would revert back to the original owner if the site ceased to be used for school purposes.

UD asked the state Chancery Court to rule if heirs of the land's original owner could assert their right to the property, which housed a school from the 1880s to the early 1900s but was most recently used for storage.

Before the court could rule on the issue, however, a settlement was reached with heirs of original owner Albert G. Lewis, UD attorney William E. Manning said. He would not divulge the settlement amount.

The university's sale agreement with Christina included a provision that UD was not required to close the deal unless all title issues to the property were resolved. UD officially took ownership of the property in late August.

"The business deal made by UD and Christina was consummated and, by virtue of the settlement agreement, the title which the university received was clean," Manning said.

The 15,300-square-foot building is on about one acre. UD expects to complete construction and renovations in 2011.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090924/BUSINESS/909240320

This is from today's News Journal. As per the article, it looks like Collegian Plaza is officially cancelled.

Dover's downtown looks for a boost
Business owners, developers and agencies focus their energies on heart of the capital


Barry Crawford is old enough to remember the heyday of downtown Dover, a time when families filled the aisles of Sears, J.C. Penney and Montgomery Ward.

That all started to end in the mid-1960s, when one department store after another -- "big-box stores," as they're called now -- set up new operations out on the highway, destabilizing the retail vitality of downtown Dover.

City officials and some downtown merchants never gave up the fight, but, despite a newly fortified revitalization effort, they say there are still too many vacant storefronts and nagging questions about the future. A quick count found 22 vacancies among 63 storefronts along a three-block stretch of Loockerman Street between State and Queen streets.

"It has kind of slowed down a little bit, but it's beautiful," said Crawford, breaking off his morning walk to point out antique-style streetlights, flower beds and hanging planters that lend a pleasant feel to a walk along Loockerman Street, the downtown's main drag.

"I really like the flowers, but what we need downtown is more people."
Each morning, Crawford, 56, a semi-retired landscaper, walks from his home on Kirkwood Street to the Dover Newsstand at 25 W. Loockerman. The newsstand opened a little more than a year ago and is one of downtown's recent success stories.

"Great coffee," said Crawford, still finishing the last of it, "and a great breakfast."

About 15 months ago, the city established a new economic development division, which absorbed the Main Street program, the city parking authority and the nonprofit Dover Development Corp., agencies that all had separate approaches to downtown redevelopment.

The resulting organization, the Downtown Dover Development Partnership, recently observed its first anniversary, and Bill Neaton, hired last year as city economic development director, says initiatives have begun to take root.

Recipe for success

Neaton cites the newsstand when he talks about what downtown Dover could become. It's modeled partly after a venerable downtown business of the same name that closed in 2006 and offers homemade soup, Yiddish eggs and free WiFi.

Owner Diana Welch employs a time-tested strategy for keeping a business afloat in downtown Dover: Offer a product that people want and can't get anywhere else.

"I'm a longtime downtown merchant, so I understand the rhythm," said Welch, 49, who formerly owned Bell, Book and Candle just a few doors to the west. Welch owns four downtown buildings that have been renovated and reoccupied.

She pointed to the Dover Army Navy Store that has been run by Frank Zaback and his family at 222 Loockerman since 1964. The business, in an old movie theater building, has thrived as dozens of other merchants moved into and out of neighboring storefronts.

"It has a Mayberry RFD feel to it," Welch said. "You have to create a place that doesn't have that corporate feel, a place where everybody is comfortable."

After 22 years downtown, Mike Sullivan, owner of Colonial Barber Shop at 136 W. Loockerman, knows what initiatives work. He says allowing left turns onto downtown streets from Governors Avenue is an example of what not to do, noting traffic backs up for blocks.

"What you do is alienate people, and they don't want to come downtown," said Sullivan, 64, sitting in one of his two barber chairs and gently petting Coco, his hairless Chihuahua.

"You almost witness fistfights out there. To me, it's a big pet peeve. You watch people in cars out there, and you can read their lips."

"I do think we have a future left here," he said. "I hate to give up, but it makes it so hard when we have all that competition out on [U.S. 13]."

Traffic concerns

In May 2008, DelDOT and the city completed a $3 million project to improve the flow of traffic and decrease congestion downtown. Signals at 18 intersections were linked to the state's Transportation Manager Center, but did not include Loockerman Street intersections downtown.

"That situation and the left-hand turns are mutually exclusive," said Michael Williams, a DelDOT spokesman. "You have to have left-hand turns off of Loockerman because you don't have any one-way streets."

Sullivan, a native of Newport, R.I., who's lived in Dover for 27 years, says officials of the Dover Downtown Development Partnership have their hearts in the right place. But he challenges them to come up with some way to increase foot traffic, which he sees as a key to successful redevelopment.

New initiatives

Neaton said the partnership is making big strides in that direction.

"The first Friday of each month, we have an event where merchants have artisans in their buildings from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.," he said.

"The businesses stay open later and people come down and walk the streets, listen to the artisans and utilize the merchants. Hopefully, their cash registers are ringing."

Neaton also pointed to Saturday's grand opening of the Golden Fleece Tavern at 132 W. Loockerman, named for the tavern where members of Delaware's Legislative Council unanimously ratified the U.S. Constitution on Dec. 7, 1787, making Delaware the First State.

"It's been phenomenal," said Welch, the owner, of the first two months.

Neaton noted other improvements: the Center for Mental Wellness and Bel Boutique benefited from a facade improvement fund financed by the state and replenished with $35,000 from the downtown partnership, and a group of nonprofit agencies are set to move into the old Wachovia Bank building.

Then, there are the sore points. The biggest is over the Collegian Plaza, where developer Mike Zimmerman hoped to build a seven-story, 213,000-square-foot building that would have retail shops on the ground floor and 136 apartments on the upper floors. Buildings housing three of downtown's most venerable businesses -- Capital Office Supply, Dover Hardware and the original newsstand -- were razed to make way for the project.

Zimmerman, who introduced the project as a proposal for a 52-room hotel, fought through nearly a decade of regulatory barriers that included objections from preservationists who saw his project as out of character with downtown Dover's commercial district.

By the time the project received final approval, financing for residential construction had dried up and, Zimmerman says, he had no choice but to put the one-acre site up for sale.

Long-term strategy

A five-year strategic plan embraced in 2006 called for more mixed-use developments like the one proposed by Zimmerman -- along with loft apartments, single-family dwellings and town houses -- throughout downtown Dover. Zimmerman had plans to knock down the 145-year-old Bayard Hotel to make way for a six-story retail and apartment complex called Jackson Hall. Zimmerman said he has since ceded his ownership stake to Constantine F. Malmberg and another developer that Neaton declined to name.

"You wait this long and you can't get financing after the market changed completely," Zimmerman said of the downtown site, which still displays a "coming soon" sign announcing the failed project.

Zimmerman, developer of several shopping centers featuring Food Lion supermarkets and Walgreens drugstores, says he's one of the owners of a new Redner's supermarket in Dover and another to be built in Camden.

Sullivan, the barber, said Zimmerman's project would have been just the ticket to spur foot traffic in downtown Dover.

"I really think they should have let Mike go ahead with his plans," said Sullivan, who cuts Zimmerman's hair. "It's very sad that there's been that big hole there for all these years and nothing in its place."

Neaton said the partnership would continue to work with absentee owners to bring their buildings up to code, and would do what it could to lure tenants to the empty storefronts.

Changing perceptions

Merchants said any revitalization plan needs to include efforts to counter notions that crime runs rampant downtown and the area offers next to no parking.

"I don't know where that came from," Welch said of talk of crime and parking shortages, noting six publicly owned parking lots in the downtown area and on-street spaces in front of most downtown shops.

Lt. Steve Getek, a Dover police spokesman, said Monday that a review of 28 news releases issued on various crimes city-wide during September and October turned up four burglaries -- three of them at residential locations -- and a marijuana bust in the downtown area.

"If the perception is there, it's not going away even if you don't have any crime," Getek said.

Privately, some merchants say the perception of crime stems from the fact that downtown backs up to a poor, mostly black neighborhood along New and Queen streets to the north.

"There's really not any serious crime that goes on downtown," Stanford A. Smith Sr., said as he and his son, Timothy, tended to a customer at their specialty advertising shop, Nu Generation Images, at 237 W. Loockerman.

"The people here are very warm, and they don't pose a threat to anyone."
Smith, 70, is a member of the board of the downtown partnership and chairman of its organization committee. He said he and his son are downtown to stay.

"It's a good place of business, and we're trying to help enhance downtown Dover," Smith said. "We're trying to encourage people interested in starting a business to come downtown and join us."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091006&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=910060356&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Mature trees, planters and antique-style streetlights make the view down Loockerman Street from New Street a pleasant one, but shop owners crave more business.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091006&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=910060356&Ref=V2&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
The Dover Newsstand, which doubles as a restaurant, has been doing good business since opening about a year ago. Owner Diana Welch is behind the counter.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091006&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=910060356&Ref=H3&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Despite longtime efforts to bring new businesses to the downtown area, all the storefronts in this block of Loockerman Street -- the old Bayard Hotel building -- are empty. There is a plan to replace the building with a new complex.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091006&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=910060356&Ref=V4&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Barber Mike Sullivan, owner of the Colonial Barber Shop on Loockerman Street, has been in downtown Dover for 22 years. He's holding his pet Chihuahua, Coco, in his lap as he makes a point about the future of the area.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910060356

Here's another project in Dover. This is replacing a surface lot, right near all of the state office buildings. I didn't even know about this library project until this article about funding came out.

Fund drive launched for library
Carla Markell, Stone lead effort to help Dover project


First lady Carla Markell and former Rep. Donna Stone will head an effort to raise $4.1 million to round out funding for a new Dover Public Library.

Construction of the $24.7 million library is due to begin in spring on Loockerman Street between City Hall and the city's lone post office, and the fundraising drive -- formally called the 21st Century Campaign -- is intended to fill in a funding shortfall for the project. The money-raising effort is due to begin early next year.

"We want to give each and every person in our region the opportunity to support this wonderful project," said Stone, a Dover Republican who lost her re-election bid last year.

"We recognize that, in the current economy, some people will be able to support the library now, while others may need more time for recovery to occur. Because of that, campaign leaders will be as flexible as possible in helping people provide support. We know that everyone will want to assist the library."

Stone said the campaign will begin with solicitation of major donations, then move on to individual drives among Dover's business, financial and medical communities and other sectors.

Mayor Carleton E. Carey has signed on as honorary chairman of the campaign's business committee, leading efforts to recruit businesses to the library cause.

The campaign will be coordinated by Horizon Philanthropic Services of Lewes, and will be based in the current library at Reed and State streets and office space made available by the institutional development office at Wesley College.

Earlier this summer, Kent County Levy Court aggravated the anticipated funding shortfall by rejecting a call for a contribution of $3.7 million, which would have seen the county's own library absorbed by a regional library district that would be anchored by the new Dover facility.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091010&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=910100354&Ref=AR&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
A model of the proposed new library sits in the current library in Dover. Construction of the $24.7 million library is due to begin in spring.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091010&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=910100354&Ref=V2&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
An artist's rendering depicts the proposed $24.7 million new Dover public library.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910100354

That looks verrry similar to another building in Dover, but I just can't put my finger on it.

Soo... what do you think about this?

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091024/NEWS03/910240360/1006/NEWS

I hope they expand what majors the university offers. I wanted to go to UD really bad next year but they don't offer Architecture.

I hope they expand what majors the university offers. I wanted to go to UD really bad next year but they don't offer Architecture.

I'd love to see them go forward with a medical campus and build a hospital to compete with Christiana... I hate that place :-P

Do you guys think that a new football stadium will go there?

From what the college has been saying about wanting to have better research and technology facilities, I doubt it, but that would be great.

What would happen to the Delaware Technology Park, then?

I don't know.

Small article on UD's purchase of the old Chrysler plant http://www.communitypub.com/business/x1520365266/UD-to-buy-Newark-Chrysler-site-for-24-million

Here's a few pictures of the Chrysler site, as it sits nowadays:


http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6743/img5999pb.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/2346/img6000pb.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/8134/img6001pb.jpg

Hopefully, they get a really good architect for whatever they do with it so it looks state-of-the art

Agreed, and I hope that it's not all built at once, since that would probably mean that every building would look the same. It will be a disadvantage enough that this parcel will be pretty cut off from the rest of UD and the rest of Newark due to the train tracks and development along Route 4 and 896.

Here are some pictures of construction projects in Dover:


Martin Luther King Student Center, on the Delaware State University campus

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3581/img5848z.jpg

Kent County Courthouse Annex

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/11/img5863z.jpg

Merchants Square will be used for something, after much speculation.

Food Lion to open Merchants Square supermarket near Wilmington


The Food Lion chain said Thursday it will build a new supermarket north of Wilmington in the largely vacant shopping center known as Merchants Square on Governor Printz Boulevard in Edgemoor.

It could open as early as the end of next year, said Christy Phillips-Brown, spokeswoman for Food Lion LLC in Salisbury, N.C.

Phillips-Brown said a lease has been signed for space in the nearly 60-year-old center, a woebegone landmark for 20 years. Jim Oeste, vice president of real estate with Allied Properties, which owns the 25-acre property, said the deal calls for a freestanding 35,000-square-foot supermarket on the site of the center's former Strawbridge & Clothier department store. The building was torn down earlier this year.

A store of the size Food Lion proposes generally employs about 60 people, Phillips-Brown said.

New Castle County Councilman John Cartier, who represents the area, called the project "a long overdue, much-welcomed development to revive the long-dead center."

"It's a huge deal, believe me. My constituents will be shopping there every day," Cartier said. "One of the top things my constituents complain about is the lack of a supermarket to serve their community."

The area around the center has not been served by a full-service supermarket for years, said C.R. McLeod, communications director for New Castle County. A supermarket that opened in the mid-1990s at what was once a Sears, Roebuck & Co. store at Market Street and Lea Boulevard closed earlier this decade.

"It's wonderful news. We need choices. In that particular area we have one of the most dense populations -- the numbers speak for themselves," Wilmington City Councilman Charles Potter Jr., who represents northern Wilmington and has been pushing for a supermarket in the area.

Oeste and others said new construction at the shopping center, which has been without a major tenant since 1986, could be the anchor needed to revive the entire property.

When the shopping center opened in 1952 as the Merchandise Mart, it was the largest shopping center in Delaware. Conceived in 1949 by George T. Weymouth, the development involved a group of Wilmington's most prominent businessmen.

It was regional retail draw for years, with sales of $300 million in 1967. At one time, the shopping center had two Acme supermarkets -- one at either end.

But its fortunes changed soon after with the appearance of enclosed shopping malls such as Concord Mall and Christiana Mall. Major stores in the Merchandise Mart began to close by 1971, citing poor sales and increased crime.

Today, Merchants Square has just one permanent, long-time tenant, Total Fitness, a gym and health club, Oeste said.

Chain moving north

Food Lion LLC, a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group, has been making a push into New Castle County this year, said Ray Gates, manager of the Claymont store, which opened on Philadelphia Pike at Darley Road in August.

Earlier this month, another store opened on U.S. 13 near New Castle, Gates said. A third store is scheduled to open in December on U.S. 40 in the Bear area, he said. The chain has had stores in Kent and Sussex counties for years, Phillips-Brown said.

Food Lion has more than 1,300 supermarkets, the company says. It operates them either directly or through affiliated entities, under the names of Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Harveys and Reid's.

In the Delaware market, it operates only under the Food Lion banner, Phillips-Brown said.

It employs approximately 74,000 associates in 11 Southeast and mid-Atlantic states.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091120&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=911200358&Ref=AR&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091120/BUSINESS/911200358

This is good news for me.. I live about 5 min away from here :)

You probably could include this on the Wilmington page, its essentially on the line between Wilmington and Edgemoor

Merchants Square will be used for something, after much speculation.



http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091120&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=911200358&Ref=AR&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091120/BUSINESS/911200358

The city limits are actually around 32nd Street, which is a few minutes away. This is pretty moreso Edgemoor's news than Wilmington's news. I put it in here, in any case, since suburban stuff belongs in here, and city stuff belongs in the city thread.

I don't know how much the supermarket would help turn the Northeast neighborhoods around, anyway. Northeast Boulevard goes past some bad neighborhoods, like Riverside, and the entire area needs to see a rise in property values before anything significant happens.

By the way, on the subject of Edgemoor, has anyone ever lived in or at least been to the Paladdin Club Apartments? There is a really good view of Wilmington's skyline from there.

The city limits are actually around 32nd Street, which is a few minutes away. This is pretty moreso Edgemoor's news than Wilmington's news. I put it in here, in any case, since suburban stuff belongs in here, and city stuff belongs in the city thread.

I don't know how much the supermarket would help turn the Northeast neighborhoods around, anyway. Northeast Boulevard goes past some bad neighborhoods, like Riverside, and the entire area needs to see a rise in property values before anything significant happens.

By the way, on the subject of Edgemoor, has anyone ever lived in or at least been to the Paladdin Club Apartments? There is a really good view of Wilmington's skyline from there.

According to the neighborhoods map on the city webpage, the line runs pretty close to where they want to build this. Its essentially where that little bit of land juts up on the northeast side of town

http://76.12.60.78/pdf/maps/City_Neighborhood_Areas.pdf

Plus its considered close enough that it was talked about being annexed for a casino. I'd mostly consider it Wilmington

A walkway/bike path will be built in Hockessin to connect Swift Park and the Old Lancaster Pike area to Lantana Square, in order to further encourage more alternative transportation. I saw that in the Community News, no link for now.

Here's a couple articles on the hard times in Middletown. The second article confirms the cancellation of the Promenade project, which would've been a mixed use project that would include a cinema, condos and apartments with ground floor retail, etc.


Economy slows Middletown's Westown
Halted construction, empty homes delay mapped metropolis


Chasity Washington of Townsend had high hopes for the vast tract of farmland west of Middletown when developers three years ago unveiled their vision for Westown.

More than 2,000 acres straddling U.S. 301 would one day host 3 million square feet of retail and office space, more than 3,000 homes, two new schools and a large town park.

The vision was more tangible for Washington and other residents. Stores such as Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Kohl's and a movie theater meant no more long drives to Dover or Glasgow for shopping or entertainment.

It hasn't happened yet -- at least, most of it hasn't.

Walmart, Kohl's, Lowes and Home Depot are open today, but Target and a movie multiplex are still just concepts.

Unfinished developments and empty business lots are common sites along Bunker Hill and Middletown Warwick roads. Wooden signs announce coming projects. They also advertise available space -- lots of available space.

Developers talked of a 10-year build-out back in 2005, but today, Rick Woodin acknowledges the recession has slowed the project, even as he affirms his commitment to Westown.

He said Woodin + Associates is running a few hundred housing units and about 100,000 square feet of retail space behind what they had hoped to have in place by now.

"We have to wait. We have to be patient," he said.

Washington and others say they understand. As she filled a cart at Walmart, she said she has been thrilled by Westown's progress, calling economy-related delays "understandable." She said she still looks forward to future additions.

"That will be wonderful when they open," she said. "We won't have to drive so far."

Kristen Krenzer, spokeswoman for Middletown, said the city has received notice of only one abandoned project during the recession -- the proposed Promenade on Main Street that would have included 273 condominiums above an assortment of retail shops and a movie multiplex.

"Everybody is kind of watching and waiting, and we just have to wait until they [Woodin] feel bold enough to take a step forward," Krenzer said.

Neither town officials nor Woodin would speculate about a possible completion date for the Westown project and related road improvements, once expected to be finished next year.

"Everyone feels the economy," said Woodin, whose other Middletown-area projects include the Parkside, Back Creek and Westside Hunt residential developments. "As every month goes by, the signs are getting better" for the economy.

Brian Arnold, who owns U.S. Male Modern Barbershop along U.S. 301, said business hasn't been hurt by the development slowdown.

"There's definitely a lot of room for growth," the 23-year-old said as he worked on a customer Thursday evening. "I definitely see a lot of improvement in the next couple of years."

An area hit hard

The economic slump hit the area south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal particularly hard.

Concerns about fuel prices started a slide in housing prices 18 months ago that accelerated as the market went bad.

The number of homes sold there dropped 37 percent between 2007 and 2008, compared with 29 percent in the rest of New Castle County, according to Prudential Fox & Roach's analysis.

Middletown-area houses spent an average 98 days on the market last year, a 56 percent increase from 2007 and a month longer than most of those in the rest of New Castle County. In the Smyrna area, sales volume dropped 24 percent and the median price dropped 10 percent.

Construction slowed markedly, contributing to a rapid deceleration in the growth that had swelled Middletown's population from 6,200 in 2000 to 14,500 today as town officials annexed open land and commuters flocked to the mcmansions popping up on former corn and soybean fields.

Middletown's comprehensive plan projected the bedroom community's population could reach 30,000 by 2020 if growth continued -- and Westown was a big part of those projections.

But the project also offered something more -- a mix of retail stores and office space along with a mixture of new housing ranging from duplexes and condos along Bunker Hill Road, to luxury single-family homes at the Estates at St. Anne's along Levels Road.

Woodin planned a town center style community just north of Levels Road with a mix of houses and shopping.

Developers came together with city leaders and state transportation officials to construct a comprehensive master plan for the project's land use, road improvements and amenities.

Even residents who had opposed what they saw as runaway growth fed by annexation came to support a plan that would also bring commerce, jobs and infrastructure improvements.

Chuck Mulholland, president of the Southern New Castle County Alliance, said the new commercial retailers would be welcome for the tax base and provide some relief to the Appoquinimink School District, which had been flooded with new students by the housing boom.

"You really need a commercial tax base to offset the houses being dropped into the Appoquinimink School District," Mulholland said.

The Westown project contributed 200 acres at Bunker Hill and Choptank roads for construction of a new high school and elementary school, now both completed.

State Rep. S. Quinton Johnson, D-Middletown, sees the biggest advantage coming not from property taxes, but from jobs for area residents.

"Anything that is going to bring new jobs to the state I think is a welcome issue," Johnson said.

Woodin said the slowdown won't change that aspect, and the project still will deliver both short-term construction jobs and long-term retail jobs.

"While the state has surely taken a few large hits in the employment sector, there recently has been significant positive developments that should allow for the wounds to begin healing," Woodin said.

Looking to the future

Woodin said he is confident the economy will begin to heal in 2010 and thinks residents will see building pick up in Westown.

A new 14,000-square-foot Walgreen's store recently opened across U.S. 301 from Home Depot and Woodin said the firm is planning to start Phase 1 of the 150,000-square-foot Town Center retail project nearby as early as this winter.

"We are currently also in discussions with several tenants for approximately 60,000 square feet of retail space between the Kohl's and Walmart," he said.

Housing construction continues at the Parkway and Spring Arbor 55+ project off of Bunker Hill Road and Woodin said he expects the Westown residential community along Levels Road will break ground in the spring.

The attempt to bring a movie theater to Westown -- Middletown has no first-run, multiscreen cinema -- remains part of the plan, although it still is just a concept.

"We don't have the movie theater deal in place yet," but an agreement "is only a matter of time," Woodin said.

A Target deal also remains a goal.

"We have agreed with Target to sit tight until the overall economy improves and becomes predictably stable," Woodin said. "I would suggest that our discussion with them will renew in mid-2010. At that time we will be able to better assess whether Target is coming."

Other high-profile parts of the Westown Master Plan are on shakier ground, including several planned hotels and what was to be an "auto mall" featuring several car dealerships on a large parcel on the east side of U.S. 301 across from Kohl's.

That project was planned by the Silicato Development Group and officials and observers say it may not come to fruition because of the deep auto industry slump. Silicato officials did not return phone calls this week.

Krenzer said the Walmart has been well-received, a sign Woodin reads as an affirmation of the strategy behind the master plan.

"We wouldn't trade our Middletown location for any other location in the state for a project like Westown," he said. "The area is ideally located to support a large growth area and the retail needs are currently undeserved."
The construction slowdown has had one beneficial effect -- the roads needed to support traffic from development now will be in place before the project is fully built.

DelDOT last summer began work on two miles of U.S. 301 directly related to Westown from Levels Road north to Doc Levinson Drive. The dualization of U.S. 301 is nearly finished, Bunker Hill Road has been rebuilt, the Merrimac Avenue connector road has been constructed and reconstruction of Levels Road, with a new railroad bridge, is expected to be finished by the end of 2010.

Many of the project's interior roads also are finished and residential areas' infrastructure construction have kept pace with development, Woodin said.
Mullholland said the road improvements are a step toward alleviating traffic congestion in the area.

"Traffic out there is onerous at best," Mullholland said. "But they are making an effort."

Westown business owners said they remain optimistic.

"Honestly, the original plan was probably a little too fast with everything coming in," said 55-year-old Steve Ridenour, who owns the Play N Trade video game shop off Middletown Warwick Road. "So I honestly didn't expect it to be that fast."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091204&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=912040356&Ref=AR&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Developer Rick Woodin, of Woodin+Associates, acknowledges the recession has slowed Westown's concept, but he affirms his commitment to the project, saying "we have to be patient."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091204&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=912040356&Ref=V2&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20091204&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=912040356&Ref=V3&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
New homes are shown for sale along Bunker Hill Road. The slumping housing market has hit the Middletown area hard, with houses staying on the market longer than in the rest of the county.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091204/BUSINESS/912040356/Unfinished-business-in-Middletown


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Promenade site up for sale again


One clear casualty of the economic downturn in the Middletown area is the much-promoted Promenade project -- a mixed-use complex planned on 18 acres bounded by Main and Catherine streets.

The project's developer, Carl Chetty, planned 55 upscale boutiques and restaurants on the ground floor with 282 luxury condominiums above.

When the developer broke ground on what was to have been a $100 million project in February 2008, real estate agents said 85 of 141 residential units on the Promenade's western side were under contract.

The first phase of construction was to include the western portion and a a stadium-style movie multiplex operated by Dallas-based Starplex Cinemas, with eight screens and seating for 1,350.

But work at the site faded after the ceremonial ground-breaking and most preliminary site preparations. The owner notified the town earlier this year that it had lost its financing as the money markets collapsed.

Kristen Krenzer, spokeswoman for Middletown, now is offering the property for sale. She said "a new owner would have to come to the town with a new plan."

The town code in Middletown gives big projects such as Promenade 18 months to move dirt and get going before town leaders would require submission of a new plan, Krenzer said.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091204/BUSINESS/912040355/1003/Promenade-site-up-for-sale-again

Does anyone know what's being built at Choate & New Streets in Newark? A few houses were torn down, so it seems like an apartment building is going to go up there.

No new stadium will be built on the Chrysler site, but an atheltic center will be built, and Delaware Stadium's upgrades are a little clearer.

University of Delaware scales back plans for athletic facilities
Training center still top priority


One year ago this month, the University of Delaware announced a grand plan for a completely redesigned athletic campus.

It would have started with a new athletic performance center for sports medicine, athletic training, strength and conditioning, and academic enrichment purposes, constructed at the corner of South College Avenue and Del. 4.

A dreamy new football stadium also was part of the concept.
But this week, Bernard Muir, who became athletic director in July, revealed the first steps of what he considers a more attainable and economically sensible solution to UD's needs.

Muir said this plan will "maximize this footprint," meaning the location of present athletic facilities would not change.

It will begin with that athletic performance center being constructed between the north end zone of Delaware Stadium and the football practice fields, a new pressbox/luxury suites structure atop Delaware Stadium, flanked by an expansive concourse, and a Carpenter Center annex for practice basketball courts.

The athletic performance building would close off Delaware Stadium, which is open at the four corners, at its northwest and northeast sections to accommodate seating atop and around the new structure, Muir said.

Capacity could grow by several thousand.

"We've spent the last six months here exploring other opportunities," Muir said, referring to those apart from last December's blueprint, "and there's ample space to do it."

He called it a "business model," meaning there are neither formal architectural blueprints nor financing plans in place yet. Coaches have been shown artist renderings, however.

It does mean that 22,000-seat Delaware Stadium, where the Blue Hens regularly play in front of some of the largest crowds in NCAA Division I-AA, will continue to serve as UD's football home.

"What we need," Muir said, "is right here."

Football coach K.C. Keeler agreed, saying that Delaware Stadium, which opened in 1952, deserves to remain the historic centerpiece while adding modern needs.

"It's taken us a little while to get here, but from what I've seen we got it right," Keeler said. "This plan ties in the past, the present and the future."

The recently acquired Chrysler site across South College Avenue was never considered as a potential site for a new football stadium, officials said.
Muir would not provide any timetable or cost estimates on potential projects, or what might happen thereafter. Each would have to be approved by the UD board of trustees, which would require completed funding and building plans first.

None are small in scope, however, and, therefore, have "huge philanthropic needs," Muir said.

Financial gifts from individuals, foundations and corporations will be sought to complement university expenditures.

Muir termed the three 1A, B and C on his priority list.

UD coaches have been unanimous in their wish for the athletic performance center, in particular to improve Delaware's weightlifting facilities, which are inferior to their Colonial Athletic Association counterparts. It would be available to all varsity athletes. Offices, locker rooms and the UD athletics hall of fame could also be located there.

Men's lacrosse coach Bob Shillinglaw said the thought of an athletic performance center becoming closer to reality is welcomed.

"This is a much more reasonable approach," Shillinglaw said of placing such a facility adjacent to existing structures. "It looks like we're definitely staying up with the Joneses, or getting ahead. That end zone will be fantastic for us to show recruits, with windows looking out onto the practice fields."

This coming season, the men's lacrosse team will switch its home games from Rullo Stadium to Delaware Stadium, where workers recently began the process of replacing the grass surface with an all-weather turf field. Work could be completed by March.

The existing outdated pressbox atop Delaware Stadium's West stands would be removed and replaced with a stand-alone structure, built from the ground up and reachable by elevator. It would house modern media and coaching facilities and luxury suites.

Luxury and corporate seating built alongside, above or below media work areas and coaching boxes have long been a source of revenue for college and pro teams. But that potential income stream has never been tapped into at UD, despite football's popularity.

A concourse surrounding the area will add to the ambiance.

"One of the things we're trying to enhance is the overall game-day experience," Muir said. "If we can start in the parking lots, go into the games and continue that experience and allow people to have other opportunities to enjoy the atmosphere, a renovated pressbox with club seating and suites ... We've done some market research and we feel we can support that."

Similar structures exist at the football stadiums of Delaware's CAA rivals Maine, Towson and Villanova. James Madison's $62 million renovation of Bridgeforth Stadium will have similar perks.

"We wouldn't have to touch the grandstand. Just make a complete, separate structure," Muir said. "Again, we're talking several million dollars, so you have to have a sound business plan to get that done."

Basketball practice courts were part of the original performance center plans. But they are best suited for the Carpenter Center, where Delaware's locker rooms, varsity court and offices are located for its men's and women's teams.

Muir foresees an addition to the building's south side, where there is presently a little-used walkway and landscaping across the fire lane from Rullo Stadium.

UD basketball teams are sometimes forced to train on the synthetic surface at the neighboring Field House or travel two miles up campus to Carpenter Sports Building because of conflicts with other events at the Carpenter Center, which has just one hardwood and one synthetic court. Sometimes, they've even gone to local high school gyms.

"This is a great facility for the community, but that means sometimes we are moved out," said Delaware women's basketball coach Tina Martin, who estimates that happened more than a dozen times last season. "The new facility Bernard is talking about would be a tremendous boost for us in our recruiting and just because everything else we have is right here."

"Recruiting is non-stop," Muir said, "and for our basketball programs it's really important we can say they have access to the floor whenever they want."

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091217/SPORTS07/912170358/1028/UD-scales-back-plans-for-athletic-facilities

Some casino news:

Report calls for two new casinos
Del.'s current venues would see funds fall


Building two new casinos would be "most advantageous" for Delaware's revenue picture, but would siphon money from the state's three established racinos, a study commissioned by the state says.

To counter potential competition from Maryland and Pennsylvania, the new gambling venues should be in the northeast and southwest corners of the state, it says.

That recommendation bodes well for backers of a proposed casino in Wilmington, but may work against the Del Pointe casino in Millsboro in south central Delaware -- a proposed $520 million resort that includes a hotel, water park, indoor sports facilities and harness racing track.

The report was sponsored by the Sports and Video Lottery Commission, which was created by the last session of the Delaware General Assembly to study the economic impact of adding new casinos and stand-alone sports betting parlors. Gov. Jack Markell appointed Dennis Rochford, a Republican, to chair the commission, which includes seven legislators.

Del Pointe developer Preston Schell bristled, though, at TMG Consulting's recommendation that any new casino not have a racetrack because an increase in races would diminish purses offered by the established racinos and harm the racing industry overall. Schell noted that his proposed casino would be pitted in horse-racing competition with Ocean Downs, a harness racetrack in Berlin, Md.

"TMG seems very predisposed to come out with a report in which it favors no additional racetracks," Schell said after Suzanne Leckert, TMG project manager, discussed the report Tuesday with commission members from New Orleans via a videoconference hookup.

"We're going to stick with our racetrack," Schell said. "We're not afraid of Ocean Downs. We think we can be competitive."

Total gaming revenues -- what's left from wagers after winnings are paid out -- are expected to come in at $565.8 million for 2009, drop off to $481.5 million when new competition is fully implemented in 2013, then increase to $754 million once the two new casinos are on line in the same year, according to the report.

At the same time, the new competition is expected to cut revenues of established casinos by $422 million, or 12.4 percent, as of 2013, the year when TMG expects competition to be fully stabilized.

TMG estimates that the two new casinos would generate $332 million a year in gambling revenues and account for about 5,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2013.

Because of competition from other states, the study says, Delaware's direct tax collections would be expected to drop from $257.8 million in calendar 2009 to $215.7 million in 2013. Two new gambling venues without racetracks would increase the 2013 take to $340.7 million.

Rochford said he expects the commission will decide at a meeting slated for 10 a.m. Tuesday whether to embrace TMG's report.

Several commission members expressed skepticism at the study's findings.
Sen. Colin Bonini, D-Dover South, said TMG usurped a commission prerogative by deciding to assess the impact of just two additional casinos, noting at least five pending proposals. Rochford said, though, that TMG's conduct of the study was in keeping with the state's request for proposals from prospective contractors.

"The point is, my understanding was I'd like to see what those numbers are with the five proposed casinos," Bonini said, prompting a pledge from Leckert to compile such figures as soon as possible. "I was under the impression it was our call."

Leckert said one casino would provide too little new money and that more than two would "splinter the market so much that existing facilities don't have money to invest" to remain competitive.

Given competition springing up in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, doing nothing is not an option, she said.

"Maintaining the status quo is not the answer," Leckert said. "The status quo won't work. The new competition is going to open up, and it's going to start sucking revenues from Delaware."

Last week, the three established casinos -- Dover Downs, Delaware Park in Stanton and Harrington Raceway & Casino -- reported that a poll they commissioned indicated that 56 percent of 600 Delawareans think three casinos is the right number.

Ed Sutor, who runs Dover Downs, dismissed the TMG study Tuesday, contending that the firm's methodology was flawed.

He criticized the company's use of a "gravity model" -- which, in TMG's case, was intended to "estimate where a population will shop or gamble based on travel distance and the size and quality of competing facilities."

Sutor also questioned the $332 million revenue estimate for the two new casinos, given that TMG's poll of 500 residents indicated that 46 percent of respondents would be willing to drive no more than 30 minutes to patronize a casino. "It's inconsistent," he said.

William Fasy, president of Delaware Park, was drawn to figures showing that 39.5 percent of adults polled by TMG had visited a casino within the last 12 months. That number dropped to 21.8 percent when respondents were asked if they were regular visitors to Delaware casinos.

House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, a Del Pointe backer, dismissed the study commissioned by the established casinos as skewed.

He questioned TMG's decision to call for a casino in southwest Sussex County rather than Del Pointe's site in central Sussex. He said the consultants had given too little weight to 7 million people counted by the local chamber of commerce as annual visitors to the state's beaches.

TMG, Leckert said, employed an estimate of 3.2 million people by the Delaware Economic Development Office, saying experience showed that "most people who are going to the beach are going to the beach" and are not likely to stop at a casino.

Sen. Nancy Cook, D-Kenton, said the projected impact on the established casinos -- which Leckert described as "very significant to their bottom lines" -- would loom large in her vote.

"I think it's something the state has to look at closely, the impact on existing facilities," Cook said.

Several commission members questioned why proceeds from table games -- which Schwartzkopf described as a "foregone conclusion" -- were not included in the Delaware revenue figures, given that they could soften the impact of competition on the established casinos. Table games have been authorized by the Legislature, but have not been implemented. Leckert said TMG could come up with such figures, but probably not before the Delaware General Assembly convenes Tuesday.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101060345

I support the Del Pointe Casino design and its proposed location near Millsboro. A design similar to the once proposed Riverfest complex on the Wilmington Riverfront would be successful. These and only these two additions to the current lineup are the right way to go.

Delaware State center has same name -- but a whole new facility
Expanding student population outgrows original MLK building


The name is the same, but everything else is brand new at Delaware State University's Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center.

In place of the original one-floor building is a new three-floor student center with high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling front windows and expanded space for activities and community events.

"It's a major difference," said Emmanuel Lalande, director of student activities and leadership and a 2005 DSU graduate. "It's a difference in quality and in size."

The original Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center opened on the Delaware State University campus in 1968, when student enrollment cracked the 1,000 mark for the first time. Over the next four decades, the campus outgrew the space. This fall, enrollment is 3,609.

There are more than 70 registered student organizations on campus and the groups hold more than 400 events each year. In the old building, "one of our biggest issues was space," Lalande said.

The new facility was built in tandem with a 68,000-square-foot wellness center that includes new equipment and an indoor swimming pool. All students pay a $200 fee that goes toward paying back a $48 million revenue bond DSU acquired to pay for the two projects. The wellness center officially opened in August.

"It's exciting," to have both facilities up and running, said Kemal Atkins, interim vice president of student affairs. "Not only for students and the community at large, but it's also something great to showcase for enrollment purposes. These are the types of facilities that students expect when they come to a college campus."

The student center includes a bookstore triple the size of the old one, a copy center, ticket booth, game room, study areas, a lounge for commuters, offices and meeting rooms and space for student organizations and events for faculty, staff and community. Administrative offices focused on student life are housed on the third floor. Before the new building opened, the offices were scattered in different buildings on campus.

"This generation of students grew up with being able to access everything in one place," Atkins said. "They expect to be able to eat, study, have entertainment, buy books and find administrative offices in one place."

On Thursday afternoon, a DJ was playing music from the stage in the first-floor lounge area, while students lined up to order food from the grill. A crew was setting up food displays inside a soon-to-open snack bar. Students browsed through aisles of textbooks, DSU-themed apparel, greeting cards and knick-knacks inside the bookstore.

Inside the auditorium on the second floor, staff members were preparing for a financial aid presentation scheduled for later in the afternoon. The auditorium was designed with movable dividers, so it can be used by one group, or several at the same time.

"Our old auditorium held about 450 --- if that," Lalande said. "This auditorium holds 900 to 1,000 students standing; seated, it holds about 700."

Also on the third floor are office spaces for the student government organization and The Hornet, the student newspaper. Hornet editor-in-chief and DSU senior Aaron Bell was in the newspaper office Friday, using one of the new computers that came as part of the new building.

"The old Martin Luther King Center was very homey. It felt very warm and it was very much a place where the students could come and hang out," said Bell, 24, who is originally from Trenton. "In comparison, the new Martin Luther King Center is very much still in the baby phase. But it seems as though people are looking to occupy the space in the same way as the old MLK."

Student Government Association Vice President Devin Wilkins, 20, said the organization's new space is "more businesslike" than its former digs.

"There's more technology -- we have our own computers now," said Wilkins, a junior from Baltimore. "We can do things faster and more effectively."

The new student center will be officially dedicated Feb. 11. The ceremony is to include a speech by Walter Fauntroy, a civil rights activist who worked with Martin Luther King Jr. as part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100131&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=1310339&Ref=AR&Profile=1008&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Delaware State University's rebuilt Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center includes three floors with high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling front windows and expanded space for activities. The original building by the same name -- built in 1968 -- was just one floor.

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Delaware State University junior Samantha Myers eats lunch between classes at the new center.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101310339

Very nice, I like the openness

Elkton Road in Newark continues to grow.

New Eagle Diner on the way
Newark City Council approves plan to demolish and rebuild


City Council on Monday approved a proposal to demolish and rebuild the Eagle Diner building on Elkton Road.

Owners Angela Tsionas-Matulas and father Gus Tsionas plan to tear down the two buildings on the property where the diner, the Happy Garden Chinese restaurant, a Papa John's pizzeria and a site for the Christina School District's Networks career program are located.

"Right now the building we have makes great money and we have great tenants," Tsionas-Matulas told Council. "But everything on Elkton Road is beginning to redevelop, and our building doesn't look quite as nice."

In recent months, several retailers have opened along redeveloped properties on Elkton Road, including Buffalo Wild Wings, the Victorian Tea House, Saxby's Coffee, Amstel Barber Shop, Chompie's Bagels and Deli and a Newark location for the Claymont Steak Shop.

Council voted 6-0 in favor of a zoning change and special-use permit to allow the Eagle Diner project to move forward.

Councilman Jerry Clifton was absent.

"I'm impressed at how fast we're moving down Elkton Road," Councilman Stu Markham said. "It's not been that long ago that we said we wanted to improve Elkton Road."

Replacing the Eagle Diner structure at 136 Elkton Road would be a three-story building with about 10,600 square feet of retail space and room for 14 apartments on the upper floors.

The current space is about 15,000 square feet on two floors.

"You're talking more people living in your downtown," Councilman Paul Pomeroy said. "If you want density, you want your density downtown."

Tsionas-Matulas said she hopes to retain all of the current tenants, but has not had serious discussions with any of the business owners.

She said the timing of the project depends on if the tenants agree to be part of the development.

Some of the businesses have up to two-year leases and, if owners choose not to be part of the new building, demolition of the old structure would have to wait until the lease terms expire.

"They'd have to be willing to agree to their business closing for six to eight months [while the new building is constructed]," Tsionas-Matulas said.

If all the tenants agree to move into a new building, the project could begin this spring. But Tsionas-Matulas said a more realistic timeline is to begin construction in spring 2011.

"The only reason we began this project was because everything's changing on Elkton Road," she said. "We want to keep up with the changes."

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20102090338

Here are some pictures from a little more than a month ago of Cannery Village, the New Urbanist residential neighborhood (with some other uses, including the Dogfish Head Brewery) in Milton.


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A few articles on Newark:

University of Delaware plans Main Street bookstore
Some Newark merchants fear impact of new Barnes & Noble


The University of Delaware campus wraps around Newark's downtown area. But plans to relocate the school's bookstore to Main Street would be the first time in recent memory that UD has had a retail presence along the city's main drag.

The plans are getting mixed reactions from business owners and public officials who want to see the retail strip grow without harming the small businesses that already reside there.

"The only drawback I see, at least superficially, is it's almost an unfair competition to the merchants on Main Street," City Councilman Jerry Clifton said last week. "There may be a balance, depending on whether Barnes & Noble specializes in textbooks or offers other books that are available. It could be a hard hit for merchants."

UD officials are planning to build a Barnes & Noble bookstore and coffee shop on the site of the historic Christina School District building, 83 E. Main St. The brick facade of the old building would remain, but an extension would be built on the back of the current structure. Customers entering from Main Street would walk into a coffee shop and lounge. The bookstore would sell current bestsellers, fiction and nonfiction, but also textbooks.

The bookstore would be housed on the first and second floors of the three-story structure. University offices would occupy the upper floor.

The new store would be bigger and "more like the Barnes & Noble at the [Christiana] mall" than the current space, said Margot Carroll, associate vice president for auxiliary services at UD.

"The difference between this store and the one at the mall is this one will have university textbooks to serve students and a lot of logo merchandise," Carroll said.

Clifton's district includes the proposed bookstore site. He said he has not seen the plans for the building but has received calls from constituents concerned about the future of the building.

City Planning Director Roy H. Lopata said the university has applied for a major subdivision and parking waiver. The project, which UD hopes to complete by 2011, will be presented to the Planning Commission on March 2. The commission will make recommendations to the City Council, which will have the final vote on the plans. The date of the council vote will be determined later.

The proposal to the Planning Commission includes plans to preserve the historic school district building but to tear down surrounding university properties and incorporate those footprints into the bookstore facility.

UD Executive Vice President Scott Douglass said he thinks the bookstore will have "a very positive impact on Main Street," though he expects some resistance from residents.

"I think any time you do anything in a small town, you're going to have a few people who will wish things had not changed," he said.

Douglass declined to say how much the project will cost, saying the university is negotiating with contractors. The university purchased the building for $1.6 million in late September after more than a year of work on the deal, which required resolving an ownership issue created by an old property law.

Newark Mayor Vance A. Funk III said he thinks the addition of a major chain store on Main Street will spark more development downtown and will be beneficial in the long term.

"I'm not concerned about it bringing in more competition to Main Street," said Funk, who also said he has not seen the plans. "You're not going to get any major retail stores until you can get a few in there that can make money."

There already are several coffee shops on Main Street and several stores, including Leiberman's University Books and Delaware Book Exchange, that sell UD textbooks and merchandise. UD's bookstore, which is managed by Barnes & Noble, is currently located three blocks away in the Perkins Student Center on Academy Street. The bookstore also has a satellite location in the Trabant University Center.

More foot traffic

Leiberman's Assistant Textbook Manager Steve Antonis, 23, said the addition of the campus bookstore would likely increase foot traffic, particularly among UD freshmen, who he said are most likely to buy books from the campus bookstore.

"Obviously, if you bring the store closer to Main Street, you're going to attract new customers," Antonis said.

Interest in attracting a conventional bookstore downtown is frequently mentioned in the city's resident surveys, planner Michael Fortner said.

"I think if it wasn't for that, there would be more resistance to the idea of UD opening up a bookstore," Fortner said. "If it was just a textbook store, I don't think people would be excited about that. People want things for the residents, for nonstudents as well as students."

Rainbow Books & Music manager Chris Avino, 36, said a Barnes & Noble would not likely affect his business, which specializes in used books but not textbooks.

However, some think UD is driving out local businesses by bringing in a large chain, rather than asking local business owners to provide the same services.

"You know the college is going to subsidize [the bookstore] to give them prices we can't compete with," said Andrea Fakis, 31, who manages Brew Ha Ha coffee shop a few doors down from the proposed bookstore site. "They want to take over the area."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100221&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=2210340&Ref=AR&Profile=1008&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
An artist's rendering of the proposed UD bookstore on East Main Street in Newark.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20102210340


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University of Delaware builds its future
Research park at old Chrysler site could power state's, university's growth


The ghosts of Dec. 19, 2008, linger inside Newark's old Chrysler plant, where everything is just as it was the day the last car rolled off the assembly line and 1,100 newly unemployed workers walked out the doors into an uncertain future.

Empty water bottles, soft-drink cans and ketchup packets are strewn across tables in employee lunch areas. Christmas cards are still pinned to bulletin boards. Union fliers about coping with unemployment lie on the floor.

Soon, any evidence of the almost-60-year-old landmark will disappear. In its place will be a sprawling, 272-acre hub for high-tech research, business and academics.

The project would be the largest-ever expansion of the Newark campus, fitting into a grand vision for the university to become a national leader in science and technology development and a major job-creating engine in the state.

"If you look at the site 10 to 20 years from now, I think what you'll see is that the university used this opportunity to emerge even stronger as a major force of economic and social development in the state," said university President Patrick Harker, who believes the site represents "the next 100 years of growth for the university."

"The first thing people talk about when they go on the site is, 'Wow, this is really big,' and then they start talking about all the things we can do and start thinking about how we can really make an impact in a big way," Harker said. "I've heard conversations evolve from 'President Harker, we can't do that' to 'Why can't we do that?' "

The site is to include a business incubator -- space for startups and for companies that want to capitalize on research relationships with the university faculty. At the center of the plans are partnerships with regional health care leaders and the U.S. Army, which is dramatically expanding employment and research at nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland because of the Base Realignment and Closure Program.

The demolition and salvage phase is expected to take up to two years. The initial push begins this week, with a Thursday auction of machinery and equipment from the plant. Environmental cleanup will proceed in stages, as different sections are targeted for development.

"It's a very large site ... on the part away from South College Avenue, we would be open to leasing to companies that want to do other things, [such as] light manufacturing," Harker said. "We envision collaborating with a lot of different kinds of companies. The site will have more of a mixed-use feel with housing, retail, academic space and transit."

Harker would not say how much cleanup, redevelopment and construction would cost.

Kevin Byrne is chief operating officer of the University Financing Foundation, an Atlanta nonprofit that helps institutions with development efforts. He estimated that one 100,000-square-foot, top-flight bioscience research facility could run up to $50 million.

Key to success

There are roughly 200 research parks in the U.S., many of them built from the shells of shuttered industrial facilities like the Chrysler plant. Often, the key to success for the parks is finding the right balance of tenants.

"There's a tipping point along the continuum where a research park works. It works with both university investment and private-sector investment," Byrne said. "A university research park doesn't work if it's 100 percent university basic research and a university research park doesn't work if it's purely driven by the private sector. ... The key is the university has to recognize immediately what its role is and how much participation it's going to have in the research park. Once they have that determined, the next steps are easy to lay out."

The housing and academic component on the site will come from the clinical campus of the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance, a partnership between the university, Christiana Care, Nemours and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Medical, nursing, physical therapy and pharmacy students will live on campus and take classes there while serving in clinical rotations in the state's hospitals and doctors' offices.

UD and Army officials recently signed a cooperative research-and-development agreement to share laboratories, personnel, facilities and equipment.

Researchers from UD's Center for Composite Materials have been working with the Army since 1986 on developing lightweight materials for military vehicles. The university is hoping to expand that partnership by establishing additional Army research centers at the former Chrysler site.

University leaders have not been shy about their ultimate goal -- to win a contract to establish a national Army research center on campus.

"We are going from [Aberdeen Proving Ground] as a relatively low-tech base with a training and a testing center work force to a much more high-tech work force that does basic research, applied research, training and testing," said Michael Lombardi, director of outreach for the Research, Development and Engineering Command at Aberdeen.

The agreement is not exclusive and has caused several Maryland universities to show interest in partnering with Aberdeen, Lombardi said. He believes there is enough need at Aberdeen to keep multiple universities busy, but acknowledged that how schools proceed will determine who gets more business.

"This didn't happen overnight," Lombardi said. "We sat down with UD and talked about what they think are multiple levels of expertise, where they had professors and staff willing to engage with us. Some people don't want to do anything that would change the status quo, but UD really saw this as an opportunity. ... They were very, very responsive to us and that helped."

High-tech jobs

With at least a year until the first shovel breaks ground, it's hard to predict what the final layout of the research park will look like or how many jobs it will generate.

Most likely, there will be positions for faculty members, researchers, lab technicians, information technology and facilities maintenance.

"I find that at research parks, a lot of the leads on tenants are not coming from a typical commercial real estate operation, they come from faculty who might be working with a company or know of a company that might be interested," said Brian Darmody, associate vice president for research and economic development at the University of Maryland-College Park and president of the Association of University Research Parks.

The University of Arizona opened a technology park on the site of an old IBM facility in Tucson in 1994. The 1,345-acre, 2-million-square-foot park is much larger than the 272-acre Chrysler site. By 1998, the park had 17 tenants that employed 4,173 people, according to a study done by the school. The park currently has 40 tenants, including businesses, a high school, and a community college campus, and employs 6,938 people. Tenants at the park paid $593.3 million in wages to their employees; the average annual salary is $85,515.

About 70 companies, with an estimated 12,000 employees, have set up shop in the surrounding area since the park was established, said Bruce A. Wright, associate vice president for university research parks at the University of Arizona.

At 40 acres on Newark's edge, Delaware Technology Park is much smaller than the Chrysler site. Since 1998, about 16,000 jobs have been created directly or indirectly by investment at the facility, positions that run the gamut from research jobs to FedEx drivers who handle the increased volume of deliveries, said Mike Bowman, the park's chairman.

"People want to look at the Chrysler site through the old lens of corporate jobs and big manufacturing," Bowman said. "That's not what we're doing and not what we expect to find. We expect to find high-paying jobs, including direct jobs and service jobs."

Delaware Technology Park's tenants include the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, which houses 25 UD faculty members and research from five of the school's colleges. There is also the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology, a nonprofit research lab that recently received a $5.3 million government contract to create a vaccine to protect against anthrax and plague.

The Fraunhofer center started with two people working in a lab. Now, it employs more than 100 and occupies an entire building at the park.

"What will really attract companies to come to Chrysler is the intellectual environment the university will offer," said Vidadi M. Yusibov, executive director of the Fraunhofer center. "They are also looking for some kind of support system that allows startup companies to access infrastructure and to have a beneficial coexistence with the university and other companies."

Partners, donors needed

The university used more than $24 million in working capital -- borrowing against the school's capital reserves -- to purchase the Chrysler property. Gov. Jack Markell's state budget for fiscal 2011 earmarks $2 million toward building out the site.

Harker said the school needs partners and donors to complete the project, which will begin with redevelopment of the land across the street from the current campus area along South College Avenue.

In an era of declining state appropriations and slumping endowments, UD's emphasis on turning the Chrysler site into a hub for research with national and global implications appears to be a strategic move. Federal money is one of the few growing sources of funding and those are the kind of projects that agencies like the National Institutes of Health or the U.S. Department of Energy are looking for when handing out multimillion-dollar grants.

"The federal government is spending money. There are a lot of basic research dollars and advanced research dollars as part of the budget and the stimulus. There's also a lot of state money ... in the sense of stimulus money that came to the states for research," said Byrne, of the University Financing Foundation. "Right now, funding projects is very difficult, but projects are getting done and the way they're getting done is for smart people to figure out how to integrate all that together and come up with the right mechanics to finance the project in a nontraditional way.

"The challenge is ... how are they going to build this? This is going to be millions, multimillions, if not billions of dollars in an economy where there is not a lot of traction," Byrne said. "How are they going to get that done? It's a silly cliché, but when you run a marathon, you've got to start ... right now, it's going to be little, bitty baby steps until [the economy] straightens back up. Once everything straightens back up, UD can be a major factor in university research with this huge site that can accommodate a lot of different activity."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100221&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=2210355&Ref=AR&Profile=1008&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
The former Newark Chrysler Assembly Plant remains just as it was when the last car rolled off the assembly line in December 2008. The University of Delaware plans to turn the old plant site into an expansive research park.

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Steve Koellhoffer and Jenny Mueller work with an ultrasonic welder at the UD Center for Composite Materials, where researchers have been working with the Army since 1986. The university is hoping to expand that partnership at the former Chrysler site.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100221&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=2210355&Ref=H3&Profile=1008&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Researchers at the UD Center for Composite Materials work with the Army on developing lightweight materials for military vehicles.

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A banner left by autoworkers hangs alongside an assembly line at the Newark Chrysler Assembly Plant. The property will be demolished and cleaned up in stages as it becomes a University of Delaware research and medical facility.

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A hard hat with a former employee's name lies inside the empty plant. Future jobs at the research park will go to UD faculty members, researchers, lab technicians and IT people.

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These empty assembly-line racks and everything else at the former Chrysler Assembly Plant in Newark will be for sale in Thursday's auction at UD.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20102210355


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Delaware transit: There's a lot riding on future of rail service in Newark
More track, new station would boost UD, military and economy


The rail stop adjacent to the former Chrysler plant is one of the site's most significant assets -- but the trains could cease stopping there if one of several proposed Newark station locations gains the support of transportation officials.

Next month, the Delaware Department of Transportation is expected to release a study identifying the best place to build a new train station to support increased rail service in Newark. The station would support traffic from SEPTA and Amtrak, but officials also are hoping it would be on the route of expanded service by Maryland's MARC commuter rail system and part of a new passenger route connecting Wilmington and Dover.

"This is a very important project, and it's one we think is the future of Delaware and one that people are passionate about," said Stephen Kingsberry, executive director of the Delaware Transit Corporation.

One of the options under consideration by the state is building a new station on the Chrysler site, which the University of Delaware recently purchased with plans for a research and technology park. Kingsberry would not name the other Newark locations being considered, but Newark Mayor Vance Funk said one is along Library Avenue (Del. 72).

City and university leaders want the station to be built on the 272-acre Chrysler site.

"The state is trying to get better rail service from the north and south," UD President Patrick Harker said. "You can almost go from Richmond, Va., to Boston at a low cost -- one of the two missing pieces is Perryville, Md., to Newark. There's a lot of interest in Amtrak and commuter rail because it's a very low-cost means of transportation."

Kingsberry said the stop at the Chrysler site lacks a station that meets modern standards for safety and capacity. He said the parking area and surrounding roads also would need upgrading.

"There's only one track going into Newark currently, and we need to add at least another track so you could add more trains," Kingsberry said.

The Transit Corporation is pursuing an extension of MARC service and the funding to begin passenger service between Wilmington and Dover.

"As more and more people move to Delaware, especially that Middletown-Dover area with a lot of jobs being in Wilmington, having rail service is crucial to making transportation work, and this Newark station plays a big part in how we do a downstate rail service," Kingsberry said. "It's all interrelated, and the way we do it makes this better or worse and we're looking at that as part of the Newark station project."

Although the study is expected to determine the best location for the station, Kingsberry said, the state's budget problems make it hard to give a timetable for construction.

The U.S. Army is expected to have a major research presence at the redeveloped Chrysler site, and UD officials also are developing master's degree programs for employees at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Md.

If Maryland and Delaware work out an agreement to extend MARC service from its current end point in Perryville, Md., to Newark, personnel from Aberdeen Proving Ground could travel back and forth by train.

Funk said city leaders would like to see the rail stop stay put. He said relocating the station to Del. 72 would create traffic challenges because the route to get there winds through residential areas.

"The train station should remain where it is presently located," Funk said. "No. 1, [the station is located at] a major intersection. No. 2, we feel that if the MARC line is extended to Newark or beyond, that will be a focal point for travel between Aberdeen and Newark, since there's going to be a lot of Army research being done at the Chrysler site."

Increased service by Amtrak, SEPTA and other providers would be an important advantage in attracting tenants to the Chrysler site and to other parts of the city, said Vidadi Yusibov, executive director of the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology. The Fraunhofer center is located at UD's Delaware Technology Park on the southeastern edge of Newark, but Yusibov said the company often has to meet outside contacts in Wilmington because more trains stop there.

"You're dealing with a category of people who count the minutes in their schedules," Yusibov said. "For them, [the question of] 'Do I have to fly' and 'Does someone have to meet me at the airport?' or 'Can I fly to BWI and take the train to campus?' means a lot."


http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20102220351

Lots of good stuff happening in Newark I see.

Lots of good stuff happening in Newark I see.

Indeed. I guess it's true what they say, college towns are recession-proof.

On that note, I have not seen an article for it recently (or maybe I posted it and forgot that I did see it), but the old CVS was torn down and something new is going up there. I always thought that that would be a good place for a midrise or small highrise in Newark. Reisdential units are still in demand in Newark, for college students and others.

More on Newark. The city had a public workshop notice tonight (I did not attend, nor did I know about it until going to this website to get renderings), and they have three options for what they would like to do with the Curtis Mill land, and land south of/down the hill from the reservoir. Here are the options, in pdf form:

Option 1 (http://www.cityofnewarkde.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1509)
Option 2 (http://www.cityofnewarkde.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1510)
Option 3 (http://www.cityofnewarkde.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1511)

Link, including comment form (http://www.cityofnewarkde.us/index.aspx?NID=630&ART=2759&admin=1)

It’s great to know things are moving along with the old Curtis Mill site. I think the additional recreational facilities are the only choice to best complement the reservoir area. The city of Newark is doing right by making such an area along the White Clay Creek directly north of downtown.

I can’t say one of the proposed options is superior in design to the others, although if it were my decision, I would go with option #2. :yes:

A new oil recycling plant is planned for a currently unused industrial site north of Delaware City. The new plant may allow for the closing of a similar business on S. Market Street in Wilmington.

Riverfront oil recycler could shut under plan
'Green' facility near Del. City would open

By JEFF MONTGOMERY • The News Journal • March 7, 2010

A recently troubled oil recycling plant on Wilmington's waterfront would shut down under a Baltimore-based company's plan to build a new, larger operation in a vacant factory north of Delaware City.

FCC Environmental notified the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control that the new, $40 million operation at the shuttered Kaneka Corp. site along River Road would replace the former International Petroleum Co. plant along the 500 block of S. Market St.

The current business stands along the the Christina River opposite Frawley Stadium.

DNREC is taking public comments through March 16 on the need for a Coastal Zone Act permit for the new operation. State law bans construction of new heavy industries inside a 275,000 acre tract along the Delaware River, Delaware Bay and Atlantic Coast.

In recent letters to DNREC, FCC said its used oil processing and recycling center would use a new process but would not qualify as a heavy industry. The new site would, however, handle about 24 million gallons of used oil and 30 million gallons of industrial wastewater annually at full production, collect used oils, antifreeze and oil filters by truck and rail car from Delaware and parts of surrounding states.

Fifty-eight above-ground storage tanks would be placed on the new site, totaling about 4 million gallons, compared with the two million gallon-plus storage tanks at the South Market Street operation.

"FCC's proposed facility at 1685 River Road would give Delaware a 'green,' sustainable recycling operation that only five other states in the country presently have," the company said in its application.

Closing the Wilmington plant "will reduce congestion and industrial activity in the urban areas of Wilmington and help the Christina Riverfront in Wilmington become a new center for leisure and conference activity," the company said. "The net impacts on the environment will be minimal."

Lorraine Fleming, a Delaware Nature Society member who served on a panel that drafted the regulations that now guide Coastal Zone decisions, said she wanted to review the proposal in detail.

"In this case, I'm afraid there might be a fine line between heavy industry and a recycling plant," Fleming said.

FCC's proposal notes that the company would use a new technology that would yield a "more sustainable" recycling operation. Its application lists tanks, distillation columns, chemical processing equipment and scrubbing towers among its equipment, all part of the inventory of manufacturing and heavy industry operations.

Company managers said the new plant would allow retention of 48 jobs now in Wilmington, and could hire another 25 workers. Failure to open the Delaware site could shift work to Pennsylvania, costing the Wilmington site 23 jobs.

International Petroleum, now Hydrocarbon Recovery Services, spilled 2,100 gallons of oil from a ruptured hose into the Christina in 2006. The spill affected 7.2 miles of the tidal Christina's shoreline and 1.5 miles of the Brandywine. DNREC early last year proposed a $194,011 environmental damage settlement for the mishap.
delawareonline
March 11, 2010
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20103070356

Here's another idea on a site for a casino.

Gambling in Delaware: Builder pitching a bayside casino
Seashore State Park proposed site for venue


The son of a Delaware state senator is proposing to build a casino in a popular state-owned park along Sussex County's beaches.

The plan by Clinton Bunting -- son of state Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, who represents the area and is opposed to expanding gambling in the state -- would turn an area on the bay side of Delaware Seashore State Park near the Indian River Inlet Bridge into a casino, hotel, restaurant, retail and conference center.

Clinton Bunting, a real estate developer involved in several commercial and residential projects along the coast, mentioned Atlantic City and Las Vegas as inspiration for the casino. Those gambling destinations draw mostly visitors from outside the area, not year-round residents, he noted.

"Having it in the heart of the tourist region, being able to draw from Ocean City, Md., all the way to the Lewes beaches, is just common sense," he said.

The $35 million project faces substantial hurdles beyond winning approval from the General Assembly to add more gambling venues in the state. It also would have to get an OK for the lease of state parkland.

Sen. Bunting said he'll recuse himself from any vote or debate on his son's project should it come before the Legislature, but acknowledged he's been feeling heat about the proposal nonetheless.

"It's a difficult situation to be in," he said. "I'm not going to go out there and bad-mouth my son."

Reaction among coastal residents is divided. Some are concerned about increased traffic and effects of gambling while others welcome the jobs and business it would bring.

Some local leaders in towns flanking the park, a long strip of scenic waterfront on both sides of Del. 1, say they're worried about how the project would transform the resort area.

Dewey Beach, with a raucous summer reputation, sits to the north, and the quieter towns of Bethany Beach and South Bethany are to the south.

"Dewey is a parking lot in the summer," said town Commissioner Diane Hansen. "The last thing we need is a thousand more people going through all the way down to Indian River to a gambling casino."

Developers estimate 5 million visits to the casino annually, based on national gambling figures and coastal visitor figures. Gross revenues are estimated at between $434 million and $630 million annually.

The 47,000-square-foot casino would have 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games, plus off-track and sports-betting parlors.

Bunting and partner Ken Simpler Jr. also propose increasing the government's take of revenues from 43.5 percent to 65.25 percent.

The area is hugely popular with summer visitors. The 2,825-acre state park drew just over 1.1 million visitors in fiscal 2009, said Melinda Carl of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

"Delaware Seashore State Park has some of our most precious state parklands," she noted.

She said the agency has not taken a position on the project because the Legislature and Gov. Jack Markell have not decided on whether to expand gambling in the state.

Clinton Bunting said building on the site -- now being used as a staging area for the Indian River Inlet Bridge construction -- would not have any adverse environmental impact, and said he would preserve and expand access to the area by fishermen and surfers.

"We understand the sensitivity of the environment and state parks. ... We would never be putting this on the open space where there's trees and bushes and environmentally sensitive dunes and things of that nature. That's not what we're advocating. We're putting it next to an over $150 million industrial bridge."

Sen. Bunting not involved

Bunting's firms, Coastal Property Investments and Quality Life Consultants, have been involved in several commercial and residential projects along the coast, in Fenwick, Bethany, Dewey and Rehoboth. He also founded and is a past president of the Delaware Seashore Preservation Foundation.

Simpler, his partner, is chief financial officer for a family-owned property management company in Rehoboth Beach, running hotels in the coastal region and in North Carolina.

Clinton Bunting emphasized that his father has had nothing to do with his project and is not associated with it in any way.

"He is my father, and he happens to be state senator, and he's going to do his job for the citizens that he represents regardless of who I am and what I do," he said. "I can't not come out with a good idea that I think is good for the citizens of Delaware."

State Rep. Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley, said as long as his colleagues know about George Bunting's relationship to his developer son, it shouldn't pose a problem.

"Awareness upfront takes care of issues down the road," he said. "I think that's something Sen. Bunting and his son have to work out. As long as everyone knows, I think that's the important thing."

Alan Rosenthal, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University, said the appearance of a conflict, even if Bunting recuses himself, could hurt the project.

"It all depends on what the opposition can make of it," said Rosenthal, who has been active on ethics issues in New Jersey. "You could always suspect that a legislator whispered in his colleagues' ears, vote this way."

He said the senator's solution seems to be the best one. His only other option, Rosenthal said, would be to resign from the Senate entirely.

"That seems to me to be rather extreme action to avoid the appearance of a conflict," he said.

George Bunting said he does support his son's ideas to open up the process for expanding gambling through a bidding system or request for proposals, rather than back-room negotiations.

Jerry Dorfman, a Bethany Beach councilman, said there's been some local debate on the casino.

"Personally, I don't understand why they're putting it in" with other casino projects already proposed in the county, he said. "I'm not so sure it's a great idea."

Lavelle said the location will likely draw strong opposition.

"It would certainly be an unorthodox use of a state park," he said. "Is that a great site? I don't know. I imagine a lot of people would understandably object to the use of a state park."

Could bring visitors, money

George Metz, owner of the Sea Esta motels in the Dewey Beach area, said he likes the idea, even though it would be competition for his lodgers.

"It will definitely attract year-round business -- it would become a destination in itself, and anything that is pro-beach, to me, is a good thing," Metz said.

He said the site at the state park is attractive because it won't lead to sprawl around the casino.

"It's in an area where nothing can really expand too much around it," he said. "That's a big plus."

Many visitors who come down from the north to visit the beaches already schedule in a stop in Dover or Harrington to play the slots, Metz said, so having an outlet for that at the beaches would just keep them -- and their money -- here.

The project would not need a zoning change or use permit from the county, as it would be in a marine district that includes commercial use, said County Councilman George Cole, R-Ocean View, who represents the area.

With several casinos proposed across the county, Cole has proposed the county examine the possibility of an overlay zone for casinos, racinos or racetracks to govern infrastructure impacts, such as was done with big-box retail stores years ago.

"They attract large numbers of people, they have impacts on water, sewer, roads, highways, the quality-of-life issues," he said.

County staffers are exploring the possibility and working on details of such a law, which could include the county taking a cut of the revenues. But any new ordinance would not apply to Bunting's project, and was not spurred on by that project, Cole said.

He said casino projects in Millsboro and Delmar have wooed the towns, which don't have the county's experience in dealing with land-use issues.

"The zoning codes aren't as sophisticated as ours," he said.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100312&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=3120363&Ref=AR&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
The site Clinton Bunting has proposed for a new casino, hotel, restaurant, retail and conference center is now being used as a staging area for construction of the Indian River Inlet Bridge.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100312&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=3120363&Ref=V2&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100312/NEWS02/3120363/1007/Builder-pitching-a-bayside-casino

Lots of stuff going on in Newark. The old CVS on Main Street at Academy Street was torn down, and a lowrise or maybe a midrise is going up there. The lowrise on Main Street next to the bakery looks complete, and the tuxedo shop is now there. The old house-turned-retail-store where the tuxedo shop used to be, next to the Main Street Plaza (itself next to the old Stone Balloon and now Washington House condos), was demolished. No doubt something bigger will go in its place. Finally, a couple of houses on Choate Street were demolished, and it looks like an apartment building is going in there.

Speaking of the old tuxedo shop, be sure to take a good look at the Main Street businesses. The houses-turned-stores will slowly be demolished as they fill the needs of the city less and less. One of these days, I'm going to take pictuers of them. I wish that I had done that for the tuxedo shop, it was a nice example of American Gothic.

News from UD:

Athletic upgrades high on University of Delaware agenda
Student fee hike is part of funding


A three-phase athletic facility upgrade will benefit varsity volleyball and basketball athletes and thousands of University of Delaware students and staffers, athletic director Bernard Muir said Thursday.

Some of the money to pay for the upgrades will come from a significant increase in the UD comprehensive student fee.

It was $234 for the 2009-10 school year for both in-state and out-of-state students but will rise to approximately $450 for 2010-11, though an exact figure has not been determined, said David Brond, UD vice president for communications and marketing
.
It had been $180 in 2008-09. It is $25 each for winter and summer sessions.
The mandatory fee supports the student fitness center at Carpenter Sports Building, recreational programs, student activities, concerts, performing arts and activities sponsored by registered student organizations.

Major improvements to Carpenter Sports Building -- beginning with an artificial turf field and an annex for basketball and volleyball courts at the Carpenter Center -- are slated to begin this year, pending Board of Trustees approval.

Work on the $20 million Carpenter Center project could be completed during the 2011-12 basketball season, Muir said. At least half of the 12 Colonial Athletic Association schools have a basketball practice facility separate from their game court.

"I'm very excited," UD women's basketball coach Tina Martin said. "I think it would be a great addition for the development of our players and from a recruiting standpoint. We've been at a disadvantage in not having that here. I can't wait to see it start to develop.''

But some students believe raising the fee should not be the only means of paying for the projects.

"Tuition is already kind of high," said Cory Savoy, a sophomore from Middletown who is a physical education major and spends most of his time in Carpenter Sports Building. "I'd like to see them [administrators] take a couple cuts in their paychecks. Instead they're making it harder on the students and their families. But if students want these things done, they have to pay the extra little bit."

Muir said the fee hike will not pay for the entire project.

"We're going to be out there trying to raise money," he said. "There are a number of naming opportunities within the two buildings, so we'll be soliciting gifts for those as well as other projects."

Playing field comes first

The Carpenter Center project is the second of what Muir termed a "three-prong" project that will begin this summer when a 440- by 320-foot, lighted artificial turf playing field will be constructed behind Carpenter Sports Building on the main campus. The tennis courts there will be removed.

Eventually, Muir added, more FieldTurf surfaces will be added to that expanse, known as Frazer Field, which covers nearly six acres and is used for intramural and other extracurricular activities.

"By the time students get back in the fall, that [initial phase] will be complete," said Muir of a project that will exceed $3 million.

The third part will be a $20 million-plus refurbishment and expansion of Carpenter Sports Building, where UD students and staffers engage in recreational, intramural and club sports and activities.

"It's too small a gym for a school of this size," said UD sophomore Shane Sabert of Westchester County, N.Y. "It's always really crowded."

"It'll be nice to see those improvements," said George Parsons, a UD marine science and policy professor who frequents the employee fitness center. "For a university of this level, it doesn't really measure up."

The timing of that project hasn't been determined.

"We're going to get a tremendous amount of student input for that, because it's for them and they're going to benefit from this directly," Muir said. He added that opinions will be sought from various student groups, and town-hall style meetings will be held.

Courts a priority

Carpenter Sports Building had more than 450,000 individual visits in the 2008-09 school year, Brond said.

The basketball/volleyball addition will also be used for club and intramural participation, Muir said.

Practice courts and improved locker-room and meeting space have been on UD wish lists for several years, as the men's and women's teams have practiced on their game court at the Carpenter Center, which is flanked by another playing surface that is not hardwood.

The teams sometimes had to practice at the neighboring Delaware Field House or at Carpenter Sports Building because of other events taking place inside the Carpenter Center.

The addition would be built at the southern rim of the Carpenter Center, facing Rullo Stadium, which presently contains a landscaped hill and rarely used walkway.

The university also hopes to build an athletic performance center in the north end zone of Delaware Stadium that would house weight training and conditioning, athletic training, sports medicine and academic advisement areas.

In addition, a new press box/luxury suite structure is envisioned, surrounded by a concourse, at Delaware Stadium. The two additions would likely result in the north end of Delaware Stadium being enclosed and capacity being increased from its present 22,000 to between 25,000 and 30,000.

"We've gotten some seed gifts," Muir said, "but we need some flagship gifts to make it happen."

Plans for the basketball/volleyball addition are still in the "conceptual" stage, Muir added, and UD is not prepared to release architectural designs.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100430/SPORTS07/4300332/1002/SPORTS

An update on the idea to make Lewes a port-of-call for cruise ships:

Cruise concept needs work
Full Delaware River, Bay itinerary needed


State tourism officials seeking to make Lewes a port of call for small cruise ships now believe the plan is possible but will take longer than anticipated.

And they've found it likely will be advantageous to package Lewes with other ports of call -- including nearby destinations such as Cape May, N.J., and Delaware City, where Fort Delaware would be a considerable attraction, to draw cruise lines into the Delaware Bay and River, said Linda Parkowski, the state's tourism director.

"We have realized, doing our research, that this is a work in progress," Parkowski said.

Parkowski said state officials and local partners in coastal Sussex have revised their timeframe from a target of a 2011 cruise stopover to 2014.

"A lot of itineraries are already in place," she said, so it could take additional time to make it onto cruise line schedules.

Amy Norgate, general manager of the Tanger Outlets just outside Rehoboth Beach, said she was pleased that state officials were thoroughly researching the proposal.

"No great project happens overnight," she said.

By tackling the cruise tourism market slowly and deliberately, state officials "end up creating a richer end project," she said.

Norgate still supports the plan.

"It could easily pay off," she said. "I do think it's definitely feasible."

The benefits could be significant for area businesses.

Heather Kenton, a state tourism development leader who gave a presentation on the proposal last year in Lewes, said a financial analysis of the impact of small cruise ship traffic shows local businesses could see a direct impact of $300,000 and another $276,000 in indirect impact.

The typical cruise passenger is similar to visitors the area already sees: 45 years old, college graduate, household income of $79,000. The typical passenger would spend $85 to $100 in port.

The typical day visitor in Delaware's coastal resort area spends about the same amount, but the difference would be that cruise visitors would likely come in the spring and fall -- the fringes of the peak season, state and local officials believe.

State tourism officials made their pitch to local officials in August. Since then, they sent a representative to a cruise trade show and began to gather more information on the types of companies they should target.

Parkowski said they are limited in the size of ships because the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal pier in Lewes has a depth of 8 feet.

That means ships calling at Lewes would have to be 350 feet long or less and have a maximum draft of 8 feet, she said.

"No Carnival. No Royal Caribbean," she said.

But Lewes fits nicely into the market of smaller cruise companies, she said. That target includes fewer than five cruise lines.

Many of those companies are already sailing in the Chesapeake and calling at small towns on the Eastern Shore.

The challenge is to come up with a Delaware Bay and River itinerary to sell to the cruise companies, Parkowski said.

"We have to really make a good business argument," to the cruise companies, she said.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20105030327

I think it's going to be a live theater.

Live as in? Real national touring bands or instrumental theater?

By the way, on the subject of Edgemoor, has anyone ever lived in or at least been to the Paladdin Club Apartments? There is a really good view of Wilmington's skyline from there.

Ugh Edgemoor, all those wonderful kids go to my school.......

Do you guys remember how a couple years ago the state said that they wanted to upgrade U.S. 113 from Milford south to the Maryland border to relieve traffic? This appears to be their new plans for that area. Do you think this is better than making the entire thing from Milford to Selbyville limited-access? Would using the current road be the better option after all? Should a bypass around Milford still be included?


Delaware roads: 113 bypass aims to fix perpetual bottleneck
DelDOT says traffic can only get worse


During the summer, the cars line up like ants on U.S. 113 in Millsboro.

Just ask June Taylor and Jim Smith, who have been crossing the dual highway through downtown for nearly 30 years.

"In the summertime, it's a nightmare," said Smith. "You wait 20 minutes just to cross."

Congestion along the highway is only projected to get worse. By 2030, traffic along the north-south corridor between Millsboro and the state line at Selbyville could increase by up to 53 percent -- almost 20,000 more cars a day. By 2025 on Del. 24, an east-west route through the city, driving will be so slow it'll be more like walking.

To ease those snarls, state Department of Transportation engineers this week unveiled an $839 million proposal to construct a limited-access highway to bypass U.S. 113 and the towns of Frankford, Dagsboro and Millsboro.

The new 12.7-mile stretch, from north of Selbyville to north of Millsboro, would require the construction of a new bridge over the Indian River and the purchase of all or portions of 420 properties. DelDOT said the state will begin acquiring property in two years.

U.S. 113, privately funded by industrialist Coleman du Pont, at first helped connect farmers and the rural countryside with larger markets for lumber and poultry. The first stretch was built in Sussex County, connecting Selbyville to Ellendale when it was completed in 1917.

Today, the dual highway is a main corridor for residents who commute to work in Georgetown and Dover from smaller towns farther south. Truck traffic hauls poultry from processing plants, and the chickens are joined during the summer by a huge flow of beach traffic.

Tourists can head directly south to Ocean City, Md., or use Del. 24, 26 or 54 to connect to Delaware's southern beach resorts, bypassing often-clogged Del. 1 around Lewes and Rehoboth.

As traffic has increased, so has commercial development, especially in the Georgetown and Millsboro areas, moving closer to the highway from the traditional town centers.

The volume of traffic between Georgetown and Millsboro could swell even more if the proposed Del Pointe racino resort is built on the eastern side of the highway.

Officials compared the proposed new 12.7-mile highway to the stretch of Del. 1 from Dover to New Castle County. Drivers can expect limited access at certain exits, instead of residential and business driveways dotting the shoulders, project engineer Monroe Hite III said.

The speed limit will be around 65 mph, but unlike Del. 1 it's not being designed as a toll road. That may not be the case in the future, however -- "If that does change, that's above and beyond us," Hite said.

The road is in the planning stages and nowhere near construction, meaning residents and drivers will have to wait decades before seeing any actual relief -- also similar to the construction of Del. 1, Hite said.

"Route 1 was over 30 years -- as sections were done, they were opened for the public, and then we completed the other segments," he said.

Misunderstood

DelDOT spokeswoman Tina Shockley said that's one part that's been difficult for people to understand.

"It's hard for people to get their heads around the fact that this is a long-term project," she said. "This isn't going to happen two or three years from now. This is going to happen in 20, 30 years."

But if all goes as planned, land purchases could begin as soon as 2012, once the federal government gives its blessing and funding becomes available.
Those right-of-way acquisitions are the first priority, so DelDOT can "protect" the pathway until construction funding comes through, piece by piece, Hite said.

And that worries people such as Andrew Cress.

If the preferred route comes to fruition, he'll have to sell several acres of his farmland to the state.

"I wish they'd go west of 113, where there's not farmland and homes and chicken houses," Cress said, standing outside the Millsboro fire hall after a public workshop this week.

He acknowledged that traffic is a huge problem in the area, but isn't so sure that a project this big is what's needed.

"Millsboro seems to be the bottleneck -- it takes 15 minutes to get through town," he said.

Hite said the preferred route, known as the "Blue Alternative," won the backing of a Millsboro-area working group, and affects the fewest properties of all the five alternatives. He said it also will attract the greatest volume of traffic while having the least impact on travelers during construction.

Other alternatives included a western bypass and an "on-alignment" option, using the footprint of the existing dual highway and converting it to a limited-access road.

DelDOT's preferred route does use part of U.S. 113 for the southern portion, from south of Frankford to the state line at Selbyville. But the plan has been changed so that residents and business owners won't lose their access to the highway, Hite said. They'll still be able to get on U.S. 113, but will have to use an overpass to head in the opposite direction.

The Millsboro-south route is only one part of a U.S. 113 project that's already been years in the making. The state has proposed expanding the existing highway in the Georgetown and Ellendale areas, turning the bulk of the highway into limited-access.

An environmental assessment of the Ellendale-area improvements will be available for public review in June, and the Georgetown-area component will be ready by late summer.

There's still a big question of what to do in the Milford area, where fierce local and legislative opposition several years ago led to the state dropping a bypass proposal there. In 2007, the state legislature's Joint Bond Bill Committee, which sets capital spending priorities, barred DelDOT from building a bypass to funnel traffic east of Milford through Lincoln.

Back to old highway

At present, DelDOT says, there is no plan, meaning the high-speed, limited-access U.S. 113 will simply transition into the old U.S. 113 in the Milford area, with a much slower speed limit and multiple stoplights.

"Unfortunately, that's what we're left with at this point," Hite said. "We decided we weren't going to do any work there, and wait for the community to come back to us."

Opinions among some Millsboro-area residents who attended a public workshop Monday were almost uniform in agreement that traffic is awful and something needs to be done.

Steve McIlvain, who lives outside Millsboro, said traffic on U.S. 113 is terrible, "especially when there's a holiday or any event in Ocean City," he said.

But, he said, east-west congestion along routes such as Del. 24 is the biggest problem. "When you're coming west at 3 or 5 o'clock, getting through Millsboro's a bear," McIlvain said.

State officials said work on expanding the east-west connector roads -- Del. 24, 26 and 54 -- would be the first priority, before any construction begins on the north-south highway.

"We've heard from Day One -- if you want to address the north-south issue, you've got to address the east-west issue," Hite said.

Large amounts of federal funding are expected; highway projects such as this are generally financed with 80 percent federal money. "We're not going to build this with all 100 percent state funds," Hite said.

Some money has been earmarked for the project in DelDOT's capital transportation budget for both early-stage land acquisition and project development -- $1 million in the current fiscal year, which would increase as time goes on, Shockley said.

Millsboro Mayor Larry Gum, who is also the town's fire chief, said he was pleased that the state has narrowed its focus to the east bypass option, a route supported by Town Council for two years.

He said simply converting the existing highway into a limited-access road would have severely hurt Millsboro businesses and hampered access for emergency vehicles.

Like many town residents, Gum said downtown Millsboro -- which is bisected by Del. 24 -- needs help immediately.

"It's a constant traffic jam," he said. "This way, they could kill two birds with one stone."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100527&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=5270362&Ref=AR&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100527/NEWS02/5270362

My dad lives in Millsboro and he absolutely HATES the traffic there.. He said its constantly a mess.. I think anything to relieve that would be a step in the right direction

I wonder if anything similar will be done for the part of Route 1 between Milford and Dover. This area bottles up as well, with both 113 and Route 1 traffic joining up at Milford. The plans thrown around a couple years ago called for making everything from Dover to Selbyville limited access, and that would've been a help.

This is a edited Google Map of what highways I think should be built in Lower Delaware and the Eastern Shore of MD.
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2293/65147074.jpg (http://img189.imageshack.us/i/65147074.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

I think there was a plan to build a highway or expressway due east from Kent Island to the Dover area to carry traffic to the Delaware beaches. Obviously the plan never went through. Your approximate U.S. Route 9 idea reminded me of that.

You guys might know this as well, but Route 1 was considered for being west of Dover et al, then continuing south into Sussex County somewhere (can't remember those plans). The state passed on that idea since it would spur development to the west, and all of the farmland would get eaten up. East of Dover et al, development would be retrained by the natural barriers that the marshland create.

I do remember reading about that, I think someone even posted the old map on here. I used a few of the plans that DelDot already wants/ed to implement such as the bypass around Lewes and Rehoboth, 113, and the bypass around Milford. I added the highway around Route 18 and 9 because the area really needs a limited access route East-West.

Things are getting bigger and supposedly better because of it :)

A bigger, better VA Hospital
By Lee St. John

Updated Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 4:13pm


More improvements for the 60 year old facility
The VA Medical Center in Elsmere is growing again.

Ground is broken on a pair of of projects that will be the start of a $30-Million expansion over the next two years.

One part of the project will enlarge the Center's Emergency room, while the other will expand facilities for female veterans and soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Together, they represent over $7-Million in new construction at the 60-year old facility.

Things are getting bigger and supposedly better because of it :)

Weird.. i thought I posted this in the Wilmington Development Thread.. oh well

News from Newark:

Chrysler site could get a hotel
UD floats new ideas for redevelopment


University of Delaware officials are exploring the possibility of building a hotel and retail stores as part of their plans to redevelop the Chrysler site in Newark.

University President Patrick Harker discussed ideas for the hotel, restaurants and a convenience store during UD's Forum & Reunion Weekend earlier this month. His latest vision for the location marks another potential evolution in a project that aims to turn the 272-acre industrial site into a hub for research, medicine and transportation. UD wants expanded rail service to the site, which will be connected to the rest of the campus via shuttle.

"We want to build this with a more urban feel, that is more walkable, so people can get off a train, walk to work or walk to a restaurant," Harker said, according to UD's student paper, The Review.

The June 5 townhall-style address was open to the public, but UD officials did not publicize some of the potential projects Harker mentioned in his presentation, including expanding the school's football stadium and other athletic facilities. They wanted to introduce the ideas to visiting alumni at the event before rolling it out to the broader public, said David Brond, vice president for communications and marketing.

"It's all still conceptual at this point," he said.

However, the idea of a new hotel and various retail businesses fits nicely with the university's vision for the project, Brond said.

"The nature of the businesses that will be there -- with medical professionals, entrepreneurs and researchers coming through -- it's natural that you might need conference space, you might need to bed down, you might want to go to a restaurant," he said.

The university does not foresee changes in its partnership with the Courtyard Marriott on its Laird Campus, Brond said, and UD has not located a partner for the proposed hotel at the Chrysler site.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20106160319

More news from Newark:

UD unveils sketch of new stadium
I]Athletic director says drawing is 'conceptual' and doesn't include any actual plans[/I]


An artist's rendering of a modernized Delaware Stadium revealed during a University of Delaware alumni function June 5 is purely "conceptual" and was done for "developmental purposes," UD athletic director Bernard Muir said Tuesday.

Muir confirmed that plans to upgrade and enlarge the Blue Hens' popular 22,000-seat football home, which opened in 1952, remain a high priority and are consistent with past declarations. Should such a project be completed, stadium capacity would increase to roughly 30,000.

The drawings revealed during UD president Patrick Harker's "A Vision of Excellence" speech during Alumni Forum and Reunion Weekend were the first made public by the university.

But Muir cautioned that Delaware is still in the fundraising stage of the project and no actual plans, costs or timetables have been formulated.
"We're not there yet," he said.

The endeavor is tied in with the construction of an athletic performance center in the north end zone, between the stadium and football practice fields. It would house football offices and locker rooms, facilities for athletic training, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and academic enrichment for all sports, as well as a UD Athletics Hall of Fame.

A new pressbox/luxury suite structure atop the West stands is also planned.
Harker also discussed other proposed improvements around campus, including, according to UD, a new science and engineering building, the coming Barnes & Noble bookstore in the old Christina School District building on Main Street, plans for the recently purchased Chrysler site and the closing of west campus residence halls and opening of new dormitories on east campus.

The stadium illustrations were trotted out before alumni, who remain UD's greatest source of financial assistance.

"This was a chance to re-energize our graduates," Muir said Tuesday in his Carpenter Center office, where he showed a three-minute video that was also viewed by alumni June 5 and has also been shown to prospective donors and others with a strong interest in "improving our athletic footprint," he added.

It reveals a refurbished Delaware Stadium with the north end bowled in by a 7,500-seat section with an exterior of red brick. The athletic performance center structure, covering 96,000 square feet, would be housed within, its large windows on the north side and corners providing ample views and incoming light.

The multi-level pressbox/luxury suite area, covering 50,000 square feet, would provide choice seating and state-of-the-art media facilities. Delaware Stadium presently has neither.

"This is only a snapshot of what the future will hold," Muir said.

Delaware recently announced plans to build an annex on the south side of the Carpenter Center for practice basketball and volleyball courts and accompanying offices and locker and meeting rooms. Construction is expected to begin this year. That project is being partially funded by an increase in the student comprehensive fee.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100616&Category=SPORTS07&ArtNo=6160332&Ref=AR&Profile=1028&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
This rendering of proposed renovations for Delaware Stadium includes a 7,500-seat addition.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20106160332

Article in the news journal today saying the I95 rest stop should be all finished up this week.


http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100619/NEWS02/6190344/1006/NEWS

Looks really really good.

I drove by it today and it looks pretty nice. It's nice contemporary architecture, and the sweeping roof will be a distinctive landmark for years to come.

A good amount of construction is going on in Newark right now. Two lowrises/midrises? are being constructed on Main Street, with one next to the Learning Station and one where the CVS used to be. The Barnes & Noble has started with the destruction of the part of the old Christiana School Board building's back. Finally, work has started on the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory on Lovett Avenue at Academy Street.

I feel like Newark could have a skyline, even if its a low one, same with Dover

expanding the stadium would be sweet... every game gets sold out like wtf

I feel like Newark could have a skyline, even if its a low one, same with Dover

Agreed. I aleways thought (and might have mentioned here) that the center of Newark, where lowrises and midrises should go, is the intersection of Main & Academy. The Washington House condos had already begun then, some larger older buildings were already there (like the apartment building with the Grass Roots store, and others), and the CVS lot was prime for a fairly tall building. The city seems to be going in that direction, with both low/midrises going up a few doors down from that intersection.

Indian River Inlet Bridge construction from earlier in the week:

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/7061/img8830de.jpg

New Castle has submitted proposals to the public for urban renewal of two areas: the Ferry Cut-Off Development Area (where 273 meets with Route 9), and the 7th Street Development Area (where Washington Street ends). The proposals can be seen at the New Castle Library. Among other things, they want public input on the type of use, type of architecture, etc.

The old Three Little Bakers country club closed, and now we'll see what is done with the land. It looks like all options will be put on the table. What would you guys like to see? Development? Keep the golf course? Parkland? Personally, I at least want the land adjacent to Upper Pike Creek Road preserved as open of for golf, to keep that road feeling like a back road and more importantly to keep the floodplain open.

Golf in Delaware: Pike Creek course closes after 35 years
Lawmaker says residents fired up to fight development of site


Pike Creek Golf Club closed on Monday, ending more than 35 years of continuous operation and likely ratcheting up the long-running battle over potential development of the property.

Ron Schaeffer of Onix Group, the Kennett Square, Pa.-based company that owns the course, did not return a telephone message on Tuesday. But the golf course's website said "operations are temporarily suspended until further notice."

Onix Group purchased the golf course, formerly known as Three Little Bakers Country Club, and the adjacent Three Little Bakers Dinner Theatre from the Immediato family in August 2008. The theater was razed, and a 120-bed nursing facility was built and opened in its place.

Onix Group had pledged to continue operating the golf course at the time of the sale, but changed the business model from a semi-private course to a public course this spring due to declining membership.

State Rep. Joe Miro, R-Pike Creek, said Tuesday he was "shocked" by the closing.

"I've been receiving e-mails and phone calls, and my constituency is very upset that they have taken that step," Miro said. "We are just trying to determine what the intentions of the Onix Group are.

"We certainly do not want to see the development of homes in the area, because it is such a pristine area. It is the only true open space we have in the Pike Creek area, and we have to maintain that at all costs."

The 174-acre property includes the 18-hole golf course, clubhouse, a swimming pool and four tennis courts. The pool and courts did not reopen this spring.

The property has gone through several ownership groups and has consistently been rumored to be a target for commercial or residential development since the golf course opened in the early 1970s.

"[The closing] doesn't surprise me, because Onix said quite frankly, if they didn't get enough golfers, they were going to close it," said Chuck Quinlan, president of the Linden Knoll Homeowners Association, one of three groups that represent communities around the course. "It was just a matter of time."

Dick Matthias, Pike Creek's head professional since 1994, said in April that the course's membership had declined from 325 about 15 years ago to 122 last year. The course dropped memberships and went public this year, but was almost deserted during a round last Thursday. The greens remained in good condition, but the tees were choked with weeds and much of the grass in the fairways had burned out.

"We want all of our member clubs to be successful, but we're not immune to what is going on around us," said Bill Barrow, executive director of the Delaware State Golf Association. "We've seen courses closing in Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey."

At least 11 golf courses have been built or changed their policies to open for public play within a 30-mile radius of Pike Creek over the last 11 years. "That adds extra supply, and demand hasn't changed," Barrow said. "It just spreads everything a little bit thinner."

Barrow said he had heard the course was struggling, but he was surprised by the timing of the closure.

"It's a pretty quick trigger to pull to close a golf course by the end of July," he said. "You still have quite a bit of golf season left. You don't normally close golf courses in July. You wait until you can milk as much money as you can out of them, then close them maybe in November."

Miro said when he last spoke to Onix Group officials about six months ago, they offered no hint of a potential closure.

"I intend to fight very strongly for the land to remain open space, and for trying to find someone that wants to come in and operate the golf course," Miro said. "The people in the area bought their homes back in the '70s and beyond that with the understanding that it would always be a golf course.

"If the Onix Group thinks that the community, and I as the representative, will not rally to do the best we can to retain it as a golf course, they're going down the wrong path. If necessary, we will go to court."

Linden Knoll's Quinlan said he would prefer the property remain a golf course or open space.

"We certainly can't allow the golf course to be sold for development, because that's against the deed restrictions that are now in place," he said. "I would like to see it be open space and be turned over to the local associations to maintain it, with county help. I just don't see anything else that we can do at this point."

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100728/SPORTS11/7280353/1032/Pike-Creek-Golf-Club-closes-after-35-years

It looks like I had the News Journal beat by about 5 weeks as far as noticing the towers for the Indian River Inlet Bridge (see my picture above).

Look, up in the sky! It's that new bridge
Tall support towers attract lots of interest


From a distance, the 250-foot-tall towers of the new Indian River Inlet Bridge rise above the cedars, the dunes and even the rigging on the sport-fishing boats at the local marina.

They are taller than the houses and even taller than the 13-story high rise at Sea Colony. They come in slightly shorter than the University of Delaware's wind turbine at Lewes.

"I was wondering what that was from a distance," said Larry Notestine, a vacationer from Hagerstown, Md., of the bridge construction project. "I'm interested to see what it's going to look like."

All in all, the construction of the new bridge has become quite a tourist attraction, said Carrie Subity, executive director of the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce.

Subity said the area, known as the "Quiet Resorts" because it attracts mostly families to single-family resort homes, doesn't get a lot of big construction.

In fact, the last really big project was probably in 1970, when construction at Sea Colony began.

But the bridge is so big and so unusual people ask lots of questions about it, she said.

"It's actually a piece of artwork," she said. "They really tried to make it fit in with the landscape."

Some folks aren't surprised at all by what they see.

Norman Fedder, a visitor from Bloomsburg, Pa., has been following the progress through the state's website (www. deldot.gov/information/ projects/indian_river_ bridge/index.shtml).

Before he arrived at Delaware Seashore State Park, site of the bridge, he knew the towers -- also called pylons -- were well under way.

So far, the project -- which was started, scrapped and restarted -- is running on schedule.

Installation of the pale-blue cable stays that will hold up the open span of the bridge has started, and crews continue to pour concrete.

Some of the most interesting work will come later this year -- possibly in the fall -- when crews begin using two traveling forms to build the large, open section of the bridge over Indian River Inlet.

Mike Williams, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department, said the agency is working with the Coast Guard to begin coordination of that phase of work.

Eventually, 19 cable stays on each tower face at the north and south ends of the bridge will hold the open section in place, he said.

The towers -- the tallest part of the bridge -- are one point of attachment for the cable stays.

The cables include 19 to 61 bunches of seven-wire strands that are covered to protect them from the weather.

State officials want the bridge to be constructed with a clear span across the inlet, and that's why cables are used to hold the bridge up.

The current bridge has been troubled by maintenance issues because of swift-moving currents and increasing depth of the man-made waterway.

Over the years, deep holes formed around the bridge supports, prompting state officials to stabilize the support pilings and conduct annual inspections.

But construction of the new bridge, expected to cost $150 million and be complete by next summer, has not been easy.

An earlier design was abandoned by state transportation officials in 2007 after the bridge approaches that were under construction started to slip and sink. A state consultant is still investigating what went wrong.

Notestine said it's amazing how far the bridge construction has come in a year.

"None of this was here last year," he said. "It's amazing what they are doing."
Subity said visitors stop by the chamber offices all the time to find out more about the construction project.

State officials have provided them with information on it.

"For a long time, people weren't sure what it was," she said. Now, "it's actually looking like a bridge."


http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100809&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=8090331&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
The on-schedule construction of the Indian River Inlet Inland Bridge has generated interest on the state's website and questions at the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce.

BY THE NUMBERS

For the new Indian River Inlet Bridge:

Concrete poured to date: 16,000 cubic yards (50 percent of the total amount estimated for this project)

Approximate length (and weight) of cable stay strands to be installed: 1,820,874 feet (674 tons)

Elevation of top of pylons: About 250 feet

On-water clearance: 200 feet wide by 35 feet high, centered on the structure, for the existing bridge. It's 200 feet wide by 45 feet high, centered on the structure, for the new bridge

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100809/NEWS/8090331/1006/Look--up-in-the-sky--It-s-that-new-bridge

ok so i was looking at the website of the people redeveloping Merchants Sq and they have a project (don't know if its still on the books) next to the Christiana Mall and its called the "Christiana Fashion District" Take a look, It looks huge. I guess it would be Northern Delawares version of the Rehobeth or Lancaster Outlets. I think this would be great for the state. Now no more traveling for a hour or so to go to outlets. Only problem is traffic, That area is already a traffic nightmare imagine some more stores. I guess DelDOT would need to work on that.

More Christiana Mall news:


Project to untangle Delaware's busiest interchange
Expect three years of vexation, though, at I-95 and Del. 1


It's among the most-notorious "Ts" on Delaware's traffic map, a source of endless aggravation for the hundreds of thousands of motorists who slog daily along I-95 and Del. 1 near Christiana Mall.

Now officials say that life around the busiest interchange at the busiest stretch of I-95 in Delaware will take a turn for the better, starting as early as next spring.

But only after a multiyear, $191 million detour through Work Area Purgatory.
"There are all kinds of conflicts that are going to be alleviated with these plans," said Mike Williams, DelDOT spokesman. "It's not going to be a short-term construction project. It will probably be two or three seasons, and it's going to have to be done under traffic. It might be a little dicey -- a little setback to get a large gain."

Proof of DelDOT's progress toward the start of work on new high-speed ramps between the two big highways came this week, with a request for last-minute changes to federal wetland impact statements. Advertisements for construction bids are scheduled to be released in September and October, with all work under way before the end of 2011.

Final approvals will clear the way for work on two new dedicated "flyover" lanes that will carry traffic from northbound Del. 1 to northbound I-95. Another two dedicated and isolated lanes will open for southbound I-95 traffic moving to southbound Del. 1.

Other lanes will untangle local traffic to and from the Christiana and Christiana Mall area, and eliminate a maddening series of jogs, weaves and Jersey barriers that keep horns blaring and lights flashing throughout rush hours.

"It's one of those daily irritants that I think at this point a lot of people take in stride, but I'm sure they're anxious to see something done," said Glenn Pusey Jr., a Bear-Glasgow community representative on a citizen panel that advises WILMAPCO, a regional transportation planning group.

Pusey, a retired DelDOT highway engineer and manager, said the interchange was once considered "adequate," but traffic and suburban growth erased that claim long ago.

Current-year WILMAPCO traffic estimates show that 233,725 cars and trucks move along I-95 north of Del. 1 daily, while 106,090 travel Del. 1 south of the interstate each day.

Counts for I-95 are 16 percent higher than the number predicted for this year in a WILMAPCO forecast issued in 2004. Current Del. 1 traffic levels are 14 percent higher than was predicted just six years ago.

By comparison, federal records this year list just 41 highway segments nationwide with more than 250,000 vehicles per day on average, with Interstate 270 in the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia area listed as having just over 250,000.

"In terms of its regional importance, that 'T' connects the top of the state with the bottom of the state," said Dan Blevins, a WILMAPCO planner. "It has become the easiest way to access I-95 if you're coming from southern parts of the peninsula. Not just Delaware, but the Delmarva Peninsula."

Pressure will grow with development of the new U.S. 301 connector, a project that will funnel traffic from the Middletown area, parts of Eastern Shore Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Del. 1 Roth Bridge south of Christiana.

"Demand has outstripped the current alignment" already, Blevins said.
"You'll see a lot of phasing" of construction, Blevins added. "There have been discussions with the Christiana Mall about limiting or curtailing lane closures from Thanksgiving to Christmas."

DelDOT already has completed construction of a fifth through-lane on I-95 to handle the extra traffic to and from Del. 1.

Along the northbound side of the interstate, Del. 1 traffic will merge from both sides.

Contractors also are building new high-speed toll collection lanes on I-95 at Newark.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100821&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8210337&Ref=AR&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Traffic merges onto Del. 1 southbound at the I-95 interchange near Christiana Mall during Friday afternoon's rush hour. Planners estimate that more than 100,000 cars a day travel the stretch of Del. 1 south of the interstate.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100821&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8210337&Ref=V2&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Motorists negotiate Jersey barriers and a high-anxiety lane switch on Del. 1 southbound at the I-95 interchange during the afternoon rush hour Friday.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100821/NEWS02/8210337

Here are the articles from Sunday's News Journal regarding development of Greenville and the surrounding area. Your opinions? Should everything be given the green light? Should nothing be given the green light? Some middle ground?

How about other ideas? For instance, if Greenville is so intent on protecting itself, maybe they should look into incorporating. The downside are local taxes and another layer of government, but the upside is deciding how the place grows (which they clearly want right now).


Delaware's elite battle developer
Barley Mill project would bring high-rises, jobs and traffic to Greenville


Delaware's Chateau Country and surrounding neighborhoods have long been home to people who have excelled in their careers, were born to wealth, or both.

The small-town feel reflects a culture of country elegance shaped for a century by the du Pont family. Rarely is there open conflict here.

But today, thousands of homeowners from Brandywine Hundred to Hockessin are battling a Pennsylvania developer to preserve the character of a community unique on the East Coast.

Proposals by Stoltz Real Estate Partners to create a massive shopping center, office and residential complex at the intersection of Del. 141 and Lancaster Pike and a 12-story condominium tower on Kennett Pike in Greenville will forever alter the feel of the community, residents say.

Frustrated by what they consider an apathetic response from state and county officials, residents have formed a grass-roots organization called Citizens for Responsible Growth (CRG) -- and they hope to raise millions to fight the development in court.

Citizens claim the developer is pushing the boundaries of New Castle County's development code with a tower in an existing Greenville shopping center. And they argue the Delaware Department of Transportation is being unreasonably lenient on Stoltz by allowing it to move forward with a 2.8 million-square-foot project at Barley Mill Plaza office complex -- without ordering a traffic impact study.

New Castle County politicians and Gov. Jack Markell's administration are caught between their desire to create jobs while appeasing some of Delaware's most influential citizens -- many of whom write checks that fuel their campaigns.

Keith Stoltz, chief executive of the Stoltz organization, declined to be interviewed for this story. But in a written statement, he noted that elsewhere in Delaware and around America, multimillion-dollar investments such as those proposed by his company "would be sought after and welcomed."

Stoltz also insisted the project plans were drafted in compliance with the law, and he made it clear that the company is moving forward with the projects.

"It is unfortunate that questions about the Barley Mill and Greenville Center projects have turned into attacks against our company by a few select residents," Stoltz said.

It is shocking to Delaware's elite that a developer would not consider a compromise. This crowd, which traditionally has handled disagreements quietly out of public view, contends the developer is rigidly inflexible.

"It's definitely, 'In your face, you can't stop me,'" said Gaspare Cappello, a banking retiree who would be able to see the 12-story tower from the front porch of his Greenville home.

David Amado of Westover Hills, who is conductor of the Delaware Symphony, explained the controversy this way: "The fuss is not that we're not getting our way. It's that we're not being heard. This is too big a project to be ignored."

Mark Chura, executive director of Delaware Greenways, a statewide conservation group, said developers as well as state and county governments must put projects into the context of an area's history and traditions.

"This development proposal will set the tone for what Greenville will look like for the next 50 to 100 years," Chura said. "The feel of the place, that's what is at stake here."

The feel was heavily influenced by the wealthy du Pont family, which built refined country houses and spectacular gardens in the narrow band of Appalachian Piedmont that runs through northern Delaware.

After Stoltz announced the projects two years ago, the citizens group took an active role in trying to influence the size and scope of the developments. CRG paid consultants $30,000 to develop an alternative proposal that would cut available space at Barley Mill Plaza to 1.5 million square feet.

Stoltz paid it no mind.

At a public meeting in which the crowd spilled into the hallway, Stoltz attorney Pam Scott explained to the county planning board that she and other company officials had not read the proposal.

Board member Victor Udo wanted to know why, noting that more than 200 people had showed up to express opposing views.

"Because it's not [CRG's] place to design how my client should use their property," Scott said. "Just like it's not my client's place to dictate to them how their property should be designed."

Udo pressed Scott further: "Why is your client not willing to at least see what the community suggests?"

Scott replied: "My client has had several conversations with them, and we don't see the world the same way they do."

In one simple sentence, Scott, the spouse of New Castle County Council President Paul Clark, crystallized the issue separating citizens and the developer.

While residents view Greenville and Chateau Country as a special place whose heritage must be respected, Stoltz insists the projects should move forward based on whether they meet the requirements of the land-use code -- not how popular they might be among residents.

"We're playing by the rules that exist, not the rules that people want to exist," said Stoltz managing director Brad Coburn.

Legal battle brewing

Although the citizens know they have an arduous battle ahead, they insist they'll fight to the end.

Lawyers for the community group argue that New Castle County's land-use department is processing Stoltz's application to build the residential high-rise in Greenville using a code meant for enlarging a structure -- not building a new one.

County code says new buildings can be constructed on this type of site if the existing structure is deemed "to be a hazard or unsafe." The existing building houses a Wells Fargo Advisors office and is not deemed hazardous, said Richard Beck, a land-use attorney and member of CRG.

CRG in March sent a memo to County Executive Chris Coons, questioning the legality of the Greenville project.

"CRG came in and said this is what we have prepared in anticipation of suing you," Coons said. The county executive, who is running for U.S. Senate , would not answer specific questions about the issues CRG has raised at Greenville Center, citing advice from counsel.

On the Barley Mill project, Coons said he understands the concerns of citizens about traffic congestion. But he insisted his hands are tied by a Delaware Supreme Court ruling upholding a county law that does not require a full traffic impact study for redevelopment projects like the office park formerly owned by DuPont.

Redevelopment projects are defined as properties that will be enhanced by new construction meeting modern code. Because Stoltz plans to raze the 24 existing buildings at Barley Mill and put up new structures, it qualifies for redevelopment, said Dave Culver, general manager of the county's Land Use Department.

Instead, DelDOT is requiring a traffic operational analysis, which is a broader study of area roads. Critics say it lacks the legal teeth to require road improvements, a charge DelDOT acknowledges because the agency can only make recommendations for improvements near redevelopment sites.

Secretary of Transportation Carolann Wicks said her agency's role is secondary to the local government's, explaining that the county will determine whether the developer -- or taxpayers -- will be required to make road improvements.

Beck said this passing of the buck "is where the community is getting whipsawed."

It's incredulous to citizens that state and county officials acknowledge there will be a significant increase in traffic if Stoltz builds what he has proposed at Barley Mill, but all in government say there's nothing they can do about it because of the state court ruling.

"For us to simply ignore the law invites lawsuits," Coons said.

The county executive insisted he is trying to forge a compromise between the community and Stoltz, who once called Greenville home.

"I have conveyed my strong desire to reach a fair balance that takes into account legitimate community concerns, like traffic, quality of life, while still respecting the rights of property owners," Coons said.

Lifelong residents of Chateau Country say statements of that nature sound hollow. They contend Coons is trying to distance himself from the controversy while ramping up his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat long held by Joe Biden.

"I don't think he cares," said Patty Hobbs, founder of CRG and a member of the du Pont family. "Why do we have to raise money to fight the county?"

'Somebody's got to step up'

Coons isn't the only politician in the crosshairs.

"The fact that our elected officials don't pick up the ball is really disheartening," Amado said. "Somebody's got to step up."

Council President Clark is an adamant supporter of the redevelopment code, explaining that it is an effective tool for deterring urban sprawl.

Because of his wife's involvement in many development projects around the county, Clark said, he stays out of most land-use debates. But residents say that is disingenuous.

Clark recuses himself when votes are taken on land-use decisions affecting his wife's clients, the citizens acknowledge. However, he remains in the president's chair and can guide the discussion up to the point where votes are taken. That's powerful steering toward the side of his spouse's clients, residents claim.

"None of this stuff passes the smell test to me," said John Danzeisen, president of the Kennett Pike Association.

And should Coons defeat Rep. Mike Castle for the Senate seat in November, Clark automatically would succeed Coons as county executive.

Clark would then have to defend how the county has processed development proposals championed by his wife, raising "the conflict of interest level even further," Danzeisen added.

Not a problem, Clark said. He could easily divorce himself from all land-use planning issues involving his wife.

"For the most part, I wouldn't have anything to do with that," Clark said, explaining that land-use issues are a minor function of county government.

"That's a flawed perspective," said County Councilman Bob Weiner. "Land-use decisions are more than just a cog in the wheel. The main business of county government is the land use decision-making process."

Weiner notes that the Land Use Department has been plagued by corruption in the past, and contends that there have been "irregularities" in how the county has handled Stoltz's projects.

Gov. Markell also has been drawn into the battle of Chateau Country, where his family lives.

Markell said the state's evaluation of traffic issues will be "an open process, which would be driven by hard facts."

"What I said to [CRG] is that I understand where they're coming from," Markell said. "I also made it clear that the state's involvement is a matter that is consistent with the law."

But the promise of millions of dollars in new tax revenue, job growth and other economic benefits cannot be ignored by the first-term Democratic governor, who is eager to steer the state out of the recession.

"I think it's generally a good thing to have these kinds of investments where the infrastructure already exists," Markell said.

From DuPont to developers

When Bruce Kallos moved into his Westover Hills home in 1981, not much was left of the old Henry Belin du Pont Flying Field at Del. 141 and Lancaster Pike.

The antique glass-enclosed control tower was one of the last vestiges of the historic, grass-runway airport where Charles Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis in 1927 to cheering crowds.

By 1979, the DuPont company had embarked on a real estate venture with its Barley Mill office complex, but the chemical giant negotiated with neighbors to make it acceptable to the community, Kallos said.

"DuPont's been a fine neighbor," he said.

That era ended in 2007, when the office complex got caught in DuPont's efforts to transform itself for the fast-changing global marketplace. DuPont, which had jettisoned prime real estate in downtown Wilmington, put the 24-building suburban campus up for sale in anticipation of building new structures at its neighboring Chestnut Run Plaza.

The roughly 1 million-square-foot Barley Mill Plaza sold quickly for $94 million to Stoltz Real Estate Fund II, which bought the office park through an affiliate called Barley Mill LLC. The company declined to divulge details of its investment funds.

Beck said if Stoltz can gain county approval of its current plans at Barley Mill Plaza with minimal traffic improvements, it will exponentially increase the value of the land. With that added value, Stoltz could flip it to another buyer at a handsome profit, Beck said, without ever building anything.

Stoltz declined to divulge details of its investment funds, but insisted that it would build the projects over the next decade.

In March 2008, Stoltz unveiled a $525 million redevelopment for Barley Mill that utilized nearly every available inch of the site as office space, retail and apartments. Today, the T-shaped redevelopment of Barley Mill Plaza calls for 2.8 million square feet of construction, consisting of 25 percent retail space, 25 percent residential and 50 percent office.

Shops and restaurants would hug Del. 141, with offices and parking lots along Lancaster Pike. On the backside of the development, bordering the neighborhoods of Westover Hills, West Park and Westhaven, would be eight-story office towers and parking garages.

CRG proposed building height limits of six stories, or 85 feet, whichever is greater.

The exploratory plan was approved by the Land Use Department, and the developer has submitted plans to County Council for final approval. Stoltz attorney Scott said as long as the plan meets code requirements, County Council would have no discretion to reject the project.

"It's disgraceful that they can put up a building that we're going to live in the shadow of," said Bill Vaughn, whose Westover Hills home backs up the Barley Mill Plaza site.

Added Vaughn's wife, Ginny: "I really think they have the attitude of, 'So what? This is what you're going to get.' "

Because of the du Pont influence, Kennett Pike has retained a rural flavor, unlike other major thoroughfares in northern Delaware.

While Concord Pike, Kirkwood Highway and U.S. 13 are lined with retail and offices, the pace of development on Kennett Pike has been slow and limited, according to Delaware historian Barbara Benson.

One reason is that Pierre S. du Pont of Longwood Gardens actually bought Kennett Pike, now a national scenic byway. When he transferred the road to the state in 1920, du Pont put deed restrictions on it to prohibit advertising signs.

Stoltz's Greenville Center project calls for tearing down the existing two-story Wells Fargo Advisors building that is tucked at the back of the shopping center bordering the Greenville Manor neighborhood. In its place, Stoltz would construct a 12-story residential, office and retail tower, a two-story retail section and a seven-story parking deck.

The nearby post office, which is in a separate free-standing structure, would be relocated to a new building in the parking lot at the corner of Buck Road and Kennett Pike.

The existing post office building would be converted into additional retail space, with additions on each end of the building.

Those plans have passed the initial exploratory and then preliminary stages of the land-use approval process. The only step the developers have left is record plan approval, Scott said.

Once the land-use department gives final approval, County Council must approve it under Delaware's "by-right" development laws, Scott said. Because no rezoning is involved, council has no discretion to deny the project, she said.

"If the plans meet all the code requirements, they have to approve it," Scott said. "The only option they have is to send technical questions to land use."

Shifting blame

Based on e-mails and interviews, it appears DelDOT would prefer to shift the community's focus away from the agency's role.

In April, state Rep. Deborah Hudson sent an e-mail to DelDOT Secretary Wicks claiming Danzeisen, a CRG leader, was being untruthful with neighbors at a Centreville Civic Association meeting about the type of traffic study the agency was requiring at Barley Mill Plaza.

"Some things he said about [DelDOT] were just lies," Hudson wrote to Wicks and Alan Levin, the state economic development director. "It was just terrifying for me to hear."

Hudson, R-Greenville, has attended CRG events, including a June fundraiser where she expressed concern about Stoltz's projects.

Asked in an interview about what "lies" Danzeisen was spreading, Hudson said "people were saying that the state is not doing a traffic impact study" at Barley Mill Plaza. In fact, DelDOT is not doing a traffic impact study.

Danzeisen said Hudson apparently "misunderstood" what he said, "and way overreacted in my opinion."

But that e-mail from Hudson appears to have triggered internal concern at DelDOT about public perception of the agency's role in approving the development projects.

DelDOT spokesman Mike Williams suggested in internal e-mails that the agency shape its message to stress that DelDOT's involvement comes after the county gives initial approval to a project.

"This is the same story we hear constantly about unwanted development," Williams wrote in a May 6 e-mail to Brett Taylor, director of policy and communications for DelDOT. "But the residents opposed to it never seem to notice in time to stop it at the source -- county or municipal officials."

Taylor agreed. "But the misinformation is leveled at us and we need to shift the focus over to the county while reiterating our role," he replied in an e-mail obtained by The News Journal.

The du Pont influence

Less than a mile from the bustle of Greenville's shopping area, behind a stone wall, is a peaceful resting place for generations of du Ponts.

The graveyard, which is just above the family's original home along the Brandywine, is a testament to the grand vision of its patriarch: Pierre du Pont de Nemours. During the voyage from France to America in 1799, du Pont dreamed of a kingdom called Pontiana, a physiocratic state based on the theory of economics that wealth was derived from the land.

In some ways, the du Ponts achieved a Pontiana in northern Delaware, according to Delaware historian Carol Hoffecker.

Greenville has "Pontiana aspects of it," Hoffecker said.

Those first du Ponts "never would have imagined" a building towering over the rolling countryside, said Hobbs, the CRG founder and du Pont family member who lives on the Twin Lakes Farms estate in Greenville.

Added her husband, Andy: "Henry du Pont [of Winterthur], if he had been alive today, he'd be marching up and down the road against this."

Kai Lassen, a du Pont family member who lives on an estate near the proposed developments, said both projects will "change the character of the place, no question."

"I think they've been able to skillfully use various aspects [of the regulations] to create a patchwork quilt that has the appearance of being in compliance," Lassen said of Stoltz.

There was a time in the mid-20th century, when the du Ponts still ran the chemical company, that the family could have killed an unpopular project in its cradle. The family's hand can be seen in almost every aspect of the development pattern of modern Delaware, from the creation of U.S. 13 to Rehoboth Beach to the building of Rodney Square in Wilmington to post-World War II growth of Brandywine Hundred.

But, today, it's not as certain the family can exert its sway.

"We feel lost," Patty Hobbs said.

Protections sought

Stoltz's Greenville projects shows how vulnerable communities are to high-density development throughout the state, opponents say.

"If it happens here, maybe it happens in someone else's backyard," said Ian McConnel, a deputy attorney general who lives in the Westhaven neighborhood that borders Barley Mill Plaza.

To Chura, of Delaware Greenways, there's a disconnect between the New Castle County code and historic development patterns created over hundreds of years.

Heritage can be recognized with a "hometown overlay" provision that allows unincorporated areas the opportunity to create guidelines that preserve the qualities identified with the community, Chura said. Centreville and Hockessin have gone through the overlay process.

"There are certain property rights that can't be ignored, but there needs a recognition of the historic growth and development in this area (Greenville)," Chura said.

Going forward, Beck suggests the Greenville area look at getting a hometown overlay designation. In that case, a design review architectural committee works with the builder-developer to design projects that are compatible with the community, Beck said.

Until then, residents are worried that they may get stuck with high-rises looming over bucolic neighborhoods.

Said Patty Hobbs: "How could one [developer] come and destroy this whole area? It's hard to believe."

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100822&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8220362&Ref=AR&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Stoltz Managing Director Brad Coburn explains the developer's proposed redevelopment of the Barley Mill Plaza office complex as Stoltz attorney Pam Scott looks on last month. Stoltz paid DuPont Co. $94 million for the parcel of prime real estate at Del. 141 and Lancaster Pike. Hear Coburn talk about the project at delawareonline.com/video.

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Citizens for Responsible Growth held a June 25 fundraiser at Twin Lakes Farm. The group floated an 8-foot-wide green helium balloon 180 feet in the air to represent the height of a building Stoltz proposes to build a half-mile away in the Greenville Center shopping complex. CRG seeks 10,000 residents to pledge $100 a year for three years toward a $3 million legal fund to fight Stoltz's projects.

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Patty Hobbs founded Citizens for Responsible Growth in response to Stoltz's projects. Twin Lakes Farm, her du Pont family estate, is a half-mile from the site of a proposed 12-story tower in Greenville.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100822&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8220362&Ref=V4&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
An aerial view of the Barley Mill Plaza complex and Del. 141 headed north to the Kennett Pike interchange in Greenville.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100822&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8220362&Ref=H5&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Jeff Ezell, 55, moved into a home in the Westover Hills neighborhood behind Barley Mill Plaza three years ago. He says Stoltz's plans to build up to nine-story tall buildings behind his property "is not a selling point. If I had known anything about them ... I certainly would not have [moved here]," he said.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100822&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8220362&Ref=V7&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100822/NEWS02/8220362/Delaware-s-elite-battle-developer


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Delaware growth: In Greenville, it's about code interpretation
Land-use officials say law allows for tear-downs; residents say no


In addition to dramatically changing the neighborhood, a developer is trying to construct a 180-foot residential high-rise in Greenville by using a building code meant for enlarging existing structures, not creating new ones, a citizens group says.

The debate focuses on plans by Stoltz Real Estate Partners of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., to tear down the Wells Fargo Advisors building in the Greenville Center shopping complex and replace it with a 12-story residential and retail high-rise and seven-story parking garage.

Because the shopping center's buildings are classified as structures that do not conform to modern standards, land-use attorneys say the county's Board of Adjustment would have to grant Stoltz a waiver to construct something six times the size of the existing structure.

But critics say county planners have already granted back-door administrative waivers to Stoltz, raising new questions about how the county scrutinizes development under the Unified Development Code (UDC).

"The sections that allow for expansion, they don't allow you to tear it down," said Chris Koyste, an attorney for Citizens for Responsible Growth, the civic group that is fighting the development.

The county land-use staff sees it differently.

Because Stoltz proposes to expand one of the retail buildings on the site, the developer has the right to completely tear down the Wells Fargo building and construct a residential tower under the expansion clause, said David Culver, general manager of the county Land Use Department.

"This is all one parcel. So each individual building is not its own parcel," Culver said.

Stoltz attorney Pam Scott agrees with Culver and maintains her client's project meets all code requirements.

Culver said the new building is allowed under county laws as long as it meets modern codes, which require upgrades in the facility's stormwater management and landscaping, among other things.

CRG still contends that Stoltz doesn't qualify to build the new tower because county code states a building can be torn down and replaced only if it's declared "to be a hazard," which it is not.

"They're, in effect, creating a new section ... that says you can tear down buildings" and build a new one, said Koyste, a former chairman of the county's board of adjustment, which grants waivers for such discrepancies.

"They're not given that right, but they're claiming that right," Koyste added. "You can't just tear down a building and put up another one."

CRG's legal research was aided by County Councilman Bob Weiner, who used his position to obtain documents for the constituent group.

Weiner's actions set off an unresolved debate within the administration and County Council about whether council members should be subject to open-records laws and 50-cent- per-page charges for documents, like regular citizens.

Using donations from area residents, CRG also hired its own land-surveying firm to independently verify whether Stoltz's property meets modern setback distance requirements.

Merestone Consultants of Wilmington concluded the nearest home is less than 4 inches short of the 100-foot setback requirement. Stoltz's plans say the building is more than 109 feet from the property line to the home of Tony Lunger, at Ardleigh Drive and Buck Road.

Unlike Stoltz's preliminary plans, which got county approval, Merestone's surveyors certified their results, staking their professional credentials and reputation on the measurements.

For the project to get final approval, Stoltz's engineering firm, Apex Engineering in Newport, must submit a certified survey, Culver said.

Stoltz spokesman Tom Gailey said the company will do so.

But if the setback is under 100 feet, county code says the distance from Stoltz's building to its own property line "shall be at a minimum equal to the height of the proposed building," or 180 feet if the developer chooses to build that high.

Culver also has administrative authority to waive the four-inch discretion, which CRG opposes.

"This is supposed to be our forever home, but now I'm not so sure," said Lunger, 39, who moved to Greenville Manor from Washington five years ago.

Richard Beck, a member of CRG and a land-use attorney at Morris James LLP, said the four-inch setback discrepancy and the county's interpretation of the code are important because they're being done under the state's "by-right" laws.

Those statutes afford property owners the right to develop property as they see fit, so long as it's up to code.

"If you're going to live by the 'by-right' sword, you're going to die by the 'by-right' sword," Beck said.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100822&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8220365&Ref=AR&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Bill Rowe, a retired engineer who lives in the Greenville Manor neighborhood, shows where a proposed 180-foot tower would stand in the current footprint of the Wells Fargo building in the Greenville Center complex.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100822&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8220365&Ref=V1&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

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"To me, it would ruin Greenville," Rowe said.

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Aerial views of Greenville's retail district shows the site of a proposed 180-foot residential tower in the Greenville Center shopping complex.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100822/NEWS02/8220365/Delaware-growth-In-Greenville-it-s-about-code-interpretation


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Delaware growth: Classified as redevelopment, project bypasses traffic study
However, NCCo could require road changes


The busy intersection of Del. 141 and Lancaster Pike routinely backs up at the height of the evening rush hour, frustrating drivers.

A proposal to transform Barley Mill Plaza at that intersection into a combination of retail, restaurants, offices and high-density residential towers could nearly quadruple the number of vehicles that currently enter and leave the office complex at 5 p.m., transportation experts estimate.

Stoltz Real Estate Partners' biggest remaining hurdle to getting the controversial project approved is what, if any, road improvements New Castle County would require. Delaware's Department of Transportation makes recommendations, but only the county can enforce those suggestions, said DelDOT Secretary Carolann Wicks.

Most large-scale developments must have a traffic-impact study performed, but because this project has been classified as redevelopment, it is enjoying less-stringent traffic standards, thanks to the county's redevelopment code, a Supreme Court case and a legal agreement between DelDOT and the county that went into effect four days after the developer filed its plans.

It also comes down to what civil engineers refer to as a "level of service," the amount of allowable traffic congestion during peak morning and afternoon driving hours.

Those levels vary from A for no wait to F for failing. Level of Service D, the state's rush-hour congestion standard, means drivers are stuck at a light for one entire cycle. Levels E and F mean drivers get stuck for two cycles or more.

On March 31, 2008, and New Castle County entered into a memorandum of understanding requiring Level of Service D for all projects that generate 2,000 cars or more per day when a traffic-impact study is required.

Yet, while DelDOT traffic count data show Stoltz's plans, as currently designed, could generate 4,645 vehicle trips in and out of Barley Mill Plaza at 5 p.m., DelDOT and the county are not applying this 2,000-car-per-day rule to Barley Mill Plaza.

But because Stoltz filed its plans for Barley Mill Plaza four days before the agreement became effective, Stoltz's "proposal was 'grandfathered.' and not subject to" Level of Service D, according to a letter Wicks wrote to state Sen. Michael Katz in May 2009.

This has angered neighbors and some lawmakers, who have asked New Castle County and DelDOT to force Stoltz to adhere to the requirement.

"Redevelopment doesn't require a level of service," said David Culver, general manager of the county Land Use Department.

A 2009 Delaware Supreme Court decision affirmed that the county's redevelopment code doesn't require the stringent traffic-impact study, which is needed to enforce a level of service.

That case involved a property owner trying to stop a new shopping center from being built on the site of the former Sears building at the corner of Del. 273 and Eagle Run Road.

County Executive Chris Coons said requiring a traffic-impact study and a minimum level of service for the roadways in the face of that court ruling would invite a lawsuit from Stoltz.

"I can't just invent or remake law," said Coons, who is a lawyer. "This seems like a situation where there's a very high chance that either the developer or the community will sue either the county or [DelDOT]."

Citizens for Responsible Growth, a group formed to oppose Stoltz's plans, is contemplating suing the county and state to halt the projects.

"Somebody is just not willing to take responsibility for putting the skids to all of this," said Richard Beck, a land-use attorney and member of CRG.

During the recent legislative session, Katz, a Centreville Democrat whose district includes the Barley Mill Plaza site, sought to require, in law, that DelDOT require Level of Service D for the Barley Mill Plaza project.

But Wicks thwarted the effort in June during a middle-of-the-night hearing on the bond bill that funds her agency's infrastructure projects.

"We're being used to stop this," said Williams, the DelDOT spokesman. "There is desperation to stop this."

THE NUMBERS


2,000 or more: Vehicle limit that requires a traffic-impact study in New Castle County, set on March 31, 2008, when DelDOT and the county entered into a memorandum of understanding

4,645: Vehicle trips in and out of Barley Mill Plaza during the 5 p.m. rush hour with Stoltz's current plans, according to the Delaware Department of Transportation traffic-count data

1,212: Vehicles currently leaving Barley Mill Plaza during the 5 p.m. rush hour

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20100822&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=8220366&Ref=AR&Profile=1007&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
The Del. 141 and Lancaster Pike intersection often gets backed up at rush hour. New Castle County could require road improvements, but Stoltz has been grandfathered in on a level of service.

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http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100822/NEWS02/8220366/Delaware-growth-Classified-as-redevelopment-project-bypasses-traffic-study

I don't understand why the developer needs the project to be so big. In that area a nice dense low, 3-4 story area would be decent. I also am starting to not like the developers attitude, yes it is their property but the consideration of the surrounding comunity should be given high value as well.

The Barley Mill development has been scaled down, so there won't be any midrises, but some midrises instead. The highrise in Greenville was also scaled down to a lowrise. Opinions?

Developer scales down plans for Barley Mill Plaza


Stoltz Real Estate Partners has put on hold plans to build a 180-foot residential tower in Greenville and a 2.8 million-square-foot mixed-use complex at Barley Mill Plaza.

Both projects have been met with resistance from residents since the Bala Cynwyd, Pa., developer filed the plans more than two years ago with New Castle County.

Stoltz announced this morning it will instead propose building a new two-story commercial building on the site of a current Wells Fargo office in its Greenville Center complex on Kennett Pike.

Stoltz had been pushing to level the existing office buildings at Barley Mill Plaza at Del. 141 and Lancaster Pike and build a new 2.8 million-square-foot complex of retail, restaurants, a hotel, office and residential space.

Stoltz said it would file new plans to build a 1.65 million-square-foot commercial and office complex, with 454,000 square feet devoted to retail space and the remaining 1.2 million square feet for office space. Stoltz bought the 1 million-square-foot office complex from DuPont Co. for $94 million in 2007.

In response to residents upset about Stoltz’s original plans to build residential and office towers up to nine stories tall at Barley Mill Plaza, the developer said it would limit building heights to four stories at the complex.

“We hope these significantly revised plans will address many of the questions and concerns that have been raised by the community,” Stoltz chief operating officer Brad Coburn said in a statement.

Stoltz said its old plans have been put on hold pending the approval of the new plans.

The developer said it would ask New Castle County Council to rezone 37 acres of the Barley Mill Plaza complex for commercial use. The remaining 55 acres would remain zoned for office use.

At Greenville Center, Stoltz said it would file plans to build a bank building at the corner of Buck Road and Kennett Pike, instead of a new post office as it originally planned.

In March 2008, when Stoltz unveiled its plans for Greenville Center and Barley Mill Plaza, the developer also proposed building a 36,501-square-foot office building on open space at the former Columbia Gas Co. building on Route 100. Stoltz owns the property, which is now known as the Montchanin Corporate Center but also served as an MBNA’s headquarters in the past.

In its announcement, Stoltz also said it would file new plans to build a 6,000-square-foot retail or office building in the front of the Montchanin property along Route 100. That proposal will require a rezoning of two acres of the 19.8-acre property to the commercial neighborhood classification to allow for small retail shops, according to the announcement.

Greenville, Wilmington and Chateau Country residents have mounted unprecedented opposition to Stoltz’s plans, arguing they would change the character of the community and lead to more traffic along already congested roadways.

“We invested many hours during the last two years trying to find a compromise,” Coburn said. “We believe we have found that middle ground and greatly appreciate the time, effort and support of County Executive Coons in guiding this process.”

Coons has been working to find a middle ground between Stoltz and community leaders for months as Citizens for Responsible Growth started raising money for a legal fund to challenge the county in court.

“I am pleased that these meetings resulted in Stoltz offering to reduce and modify its plans in ways that meet many of the important interests of our community,” Coons said in a statement.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100922025

Could rowing be the first step in redeveloping Newport?

Newport welcomes rowing
Club on the Christina River seen as focus for redevelopment


Jacob Jenny guides his teammates down a hill, onto a ramp and down to a dock along the Christina River at Newport.

The rowing shell they carry is 60 feet long and it takes everyone working together to move it quickly and safely. He guides them in lowering it into the water, stepping onto the boat and pushing off from the floating dock. Then, as effortlessly as a fish moving through water, the rowers glide downstream toward Wilmington.

Jenny, 17, of Unionville, Pa., is one of more than 40 area high school students who come to Newport's industrial waterfront most afternoons to hone their rowing skills and work together to get smoother, faster and more competitive.

They row out of a fledgling club based out of an industrial building. There, they hold their team meetings, gather to discuss practice sessions and work out on machines that develop the muscles and form needed for competitive rowing. But mostly, they row. Here, the Christina is calm and quiet on all but the most windyof days.

In a matter of weeks, they have made a name for themselves -- competing last weekend at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.

"Overall, it was very successful," head coach John Cohn told the team on Tuesday -- their first practice after the weekend away.

The girls varsity team finished in the top half, he said.

"That's an automatic invite back next year," Cohn said. "The weekend, I think, was a success."

The Newport Rowing Club was formed in mid-August, and already has attracted more than three dozen rowers, assembled a fleet of boats and installed the dock on the Christina.

Much of the activity was spearheaded by John Wik, a rower, an environmental consultant and former director of economic development under Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.

Wik said he sees the club as a way to spark an interest in rowing and also as a way to jump-start redevelopment of the Newport waterfront in an environmentally friendly way.

His vision is to have people drive down I-95 and see a string of boathouses along the water's edge.

Municipal officials have embraced the rowing club and see it as a way to build on existing and future redevelopment proposals.

Newport officials have plans to build an environmental education center on a lagoon off the Christina. And earlier this year, state and municipal officials joined in the dedication of a park.

"It's kind of exciting to be a part of now," Newport Mayor Michael Spencer said.

Newport doesn't have room to grow or expand beyond its boundaries. That makes redevelopment a key, he said.

"Rowing for Newport can become an economic development engine," Wik said.
He sees the area one day hosting regattas on the Christina. The area that the rowing club uses would be perfect for sprint races, he said.

And he would like to see three boathouses and a boating center.

Some of the new group's rowers came from other clubs. Others are new to the sport.

Erica Chandler, 14, of Newark, started rowing four or five weeks ago.
"I love being out on the water," Chandler, a freshman at Padua Academy in Wilmington, said. "It's really just a strong sport."

The training is hard "but it's totally worth it," she said. "I've made great friends here."

Wesley Harrington, 18, of Greenville, was new to the sport, too.

"I love everything about it," he said. "I used to swim and run."

But rowing is different.

The sport depends on a coordinated effort of teammates. And rowers use muscles that other athletes don't know they have.

"It's a full-body workout," Cohn said.

"That's why we hate it so much," joked rower Andrew Jones, 15, of Kennett Square, Pa.

"The most important thing in rowing is to get everybody doing the same thing at the same time."

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201010280324

The New Castle County library system is planning on building 6 new libraries in the next decade, including 4 new ones south of I-95. The price tag for their master plan is a concern to many. What would be some good locations for the new libraries? Any other thoughts?


NCCo planning new libraries to balance increased demand
NCCo planning new libraries to balance increased demand


On Tuesday nights, Cheryl Keil gathers with about a dozen women of all ages around a table in a small room at the Claymont Library.

She’s not there to read, but to knit stocking hats for soldiers overseas and blankets for needy families.

They agree they need a bigger knitting room because “it’s busting at the seams,” Keil said.

With the 7,165-square-foot library inside the Claymont Community Center at capacity, New Castle County officials hope to break ground on a new 17,000-square-foot library by next fall.

The Claymont project, estimated to cost $7.4 million, is the next of several improvements to the county’s library system planned over the next two decades.

Aside from Claymont, county officials have plans to open six new libraries in seven years and make more space available at the Bear Public Library. County Council will vote on a new county library master plan next month.

Four new libraries would be in growth areas south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, another in the Glasgow area and a sixth within the Del. 9 and U.S. 13 corridor on Wilmington's south side. The new libraries would cost up to $38 million.

Additional facilities also would by 2017 add $4.5 million to annual operating costs for the libraries, which have seen hours and days of operation reduced in recent years because of budget constraints.

Increased demand

The number of residents patronizing New Castle County's libraries continues to grow steadily. There were 274,385 registered library users at the end of fiscal 2010 on June 30, a 2 percent increase over a two-year period. The county's 15 libraries recorded more than 2.6 million visits last fiscal year and 6.3 million materials circulated, according to county library data.
Libraries also aren't just for reading anymore. They've increasingly become places for civic meetings, entertainment venues for borrowing DVDs for free and providers of Internet access that is vital to finding a job these days, said Marlene Esposito, the county's administrative librarian.

"There's a definite need for computers," said Ann Archer, who organizes three knitting groups and the Friends of the Claymont Library. "People in this area do not have a lot of computers at home and [the library's 13] computers are always in use."

While the project in Claymont addresses an area that is already served, much of the focus on new libraries in the coming years is on underserved and fast-growing areas in the county.

By fall 2011, the Bear Library will be closed for up to a year to reconfigure the footprint of the 12-year-old facility from 15,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet of floor space.

The $5.6 million project will change the layout of the Bear Library to include space that previously was used for support services to all county libraries. A temporary library will be set up nearby, possibly in a vacant retail space, said Anne Farley, general manager of the county's Community Services Department.

Population growth in the Bear, Glasgow and Christiana areas in the past decade is reflected in the library's user statistics.

Located in the Governor's Square Shopping Center at U.S. 40 and Del. 7, the Bear Library is half the size of the Brandywine Hundred Library on Foulk Road. And yet the Bear Library has 14,000 more registered borrowers and recorded about 87,000 more visits than the Brandywine library did in the last fiscal year, according to county library data.

Even though the Bear Library also is smaller than the Hockessin Public Library, the Bear facility had twice as many registered borrowers and visits as the Hockessin library in fiscal 2010, data show.

"There are a lot of pressures on that facility," Farley said.

New master plan

South of the canal, library options are limited and involve long drives for some residents in the subdivisions that have sprouted from fields in the past decade.

Currently, there are two libraries south of the canal: Appoquinimink Library on South Broad Street in Middletown and Corbit-Calloway Library in Odessa, which is one of five privately run libraries the county contracts.

The 2010-2030 master plan calls for building a 25,000-square-foot library south of the canal by 2014. Housing developers building the Whitehall and Bayberry communities already have offered to donate land to the county for a new library in their subdivisions or town centers, Farley said.

An exact location has not been determined and may result in a battle on County Council. Some are skeptical of pairing a new library within the confines of a new development.

"They're not just going to give us six to eight acres without something coming back to the developer," said Councilman Bill Bell, who represents the eastern side of southern New Castle County. "We have an opportunity to plan it and do it right.

In 2016, the master plan proposes building a small neighborhood library in Townsend to service residents south of Middletown.

Officials also want to move the Appoquinimink Library from space leased from the school district to a county-owned facility, such as the Southern Patrol post the county police use in Middletown. The master plan also calls for establishing a library presence in the Smyrna area, possibly in partnership with Kent County, by 2016.

To address an underserved area, a new library would be built in the Del. 9 and U.S. 13 corridor by 2015. In 2008, the county began to address a wide gap in library access by opening the Garfield Park lending library in the Police Athletic League's facility near New Castle. Computers soon will be added to Garfield Park as that facil- ity becomes a full-service library, Esposito said.

Budget woes

Reconfiguring the Bear Library and building new libraries will be paid for by borrowing millions in new debt for the county, contributions from the state and donations raised by library booster groups.

The capital improvements budget is a separate pot of money from the operations budget, which has been slashed in recent years to reduce the number of books purchased, employees and operating hours at all libraries in the county.

Robert Henderson, 39, uses the Bear Library near his home and the Newark Free Library. Because of budget constraints, the Bear Library is closed Fridays and Newark is closed Thursdays.

"That's what drives me crazy where they are closed on weekdays," Henderson said. "That is a concern."

Councilwoman Lisa Diller, of Newark, said library hours frustrate a lot of constituents.

But reducing hours at all libraries was a better option than closing an entire facility, Diller said.

"I'm more for shared sacrifice than one area taking a hit," Diller said.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201011290333

A small list of developments in Newark:

~ Bob Carpenter expansion (begun)
~ Lowrise at the old CVS location on Main Street (possibly completed)
~ New student bookstore at Main Street and at Academy Street (begun)

I can't find the article from last week, but the Ruddertowne project in Dewey Beach has been scaled down in size.

NEWARK CONSTRUCTION UPDATES


The mixed use building at the site of the old CVS on Main Street. The IHOP is already open.

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/4342/img2346zd.jpg

The University bookstore, at Main & Academy Streets, but in an L-shape around the old opera house on that corner.

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2892/img2347z.jpg

Catherine Rooney's has been open for a few months, but this old house was renovated and apartments were added in back over the Summer and Fall.

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1376/img2348z.jpg

Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory, at Academy Street & Lovett Avenue. It looks like a parking garage is being built on the old parking lot behind the St. Thomas More Oratory to make up for the permanent loss of parking spaces that were on the lab's site.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9602/img2361z.jpg

The old Chrysler plant, built in 1951, is being demolished to make way for whatever the University has planned. This shows what has been done near Christina Parkway.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6784/img2364z.jpg

Compare the above picture to how it looked from almost the same spot on January 14.

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/8200/img2272z.jpg

Much of the stuff along S. College Avenue has also been demolished.

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/7696/img2366zq.jpg

The Bob Carpenter Center's expansion to house gyms and basketball courts for use as practice facilities and club sports.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/2210/img2365zn.jpg

There was an article in the News Journal last week about creating a national park in Delaware. I can't find the article, but found this one from the Smyrna/Clayton Sun-Times. The national park would be trimmed down and would just be select buildings in New Castle like the old courthouse and sheriff's office, Fort Christina in Wilmington, The Green in Dover, and the John Dickinson Plantation south of Dover. Among the places left out in this round of proposals are sites in Lewes, which don't have national significance, and the whole town of New Castle, since private residences as part of the national historic park would be a problem.


Delaware's Senators and Representative push for National Park


On Feb. 10, the Delaware Congressional delegation, Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) and Rep. John Carney (D-Del.), introduced legislation to authorize the creation of a national park in Delaware – the First State National Historical Park Act of 2011.

Currently, the first state to sign the Constitution, the first state in the union, is the last state to have a national park. If the First State National Historical Park Act of 2011 is adopted, that would change.

The First State National Historical Park Act of 2011 would create a park celebrating early American Dutch, Swedish and English Settlements located throughout Delaware, and Delaware's role in the events leading up to the founding of our nation. The park will include sites and attractions in each of Delaware's three counties.

The legislation also allows the Park Service to work with other historically significant sites that are not included in the National Park, but can be included in the National Park materials, tours and other related items.

"Every year, millions of Americans plan their vacations around one of our nation's most invaluable resource – the national park system," said Sen. Carper in a press release. "In planning our family's summer vacation years ago, I was shocked to find that Delaware was the only state not to have a national park. The first state to ratify the Constitution, the state in which the Swedes and Dutch first came ashore to America, remains the only state without a national park."

"For almost a decade, I have been working with federal officials, state officials, community leaders and activists to change that," Sen. Carper said. "The legislation introduced today celebrates Delaware's rich history and brings us one step closer to making the Delaware National Park a reality. I cannot wait for the day when families all across this country and the world will plan their vacations around the Delaware National Park, to learn how the "Small Wonder" helped launch the most enduring experiment in democracy that the world has ever known – the United States of America."

Sen. Coons said, "The First State National Historical Park Act is important to Delawareans, who for too long have been the only Americans without a national park to attract tourism and help celebrate the important role Delaware has played in shaping our nation's history. I was proud to join Senator Carper as a cosponsor of his bill and applaud Rep. Carney for moving this effort forward in the House."

Rep. John Carney has a "first" of his own associated with this legislation.

"I'm proud that the first bill I'm introducing as Delaware's Congressman is legislation that would establish a national park in America's first state," said Rep. Carney. "Delaware has a long and distinguished history that helps tell the story of the founding of this great nation. From Fort Christina to The Green in Dover, our state's character and prestige is indelibly linked to our historic landmarks. I look forward to working with my colleagues to make this vision a reality."

http://www.scsuntimes.com/newsnow/x163791878/Delawares-Senators-and-Representative-push-for-National-Park

Densification of Newark continues with more apartment buildings along Elkton Road north of Beverly Road. The University Bookstore is filling in the land off of Main Street and along Academy Street, and is right up against the old Aetna firehouse.

There were two articles on separate developments, both scaled back, in the News Journal today. One was on the Barley Mill Plaza redevelopment (http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110226/NEWS02/102260341/Deal-finally-forged-Stoltz-projects?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s), and the other was on the Route 113 bypass in Sussex County (http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110226/NEWS02/102260343/Sussex-lawmakers-agree-downsized-highway-expansion?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s).

So there was an article in the News Journal a couple weeks ago about how Elkton Road is Newark is being worked on to make it one lane each way, with bike lanes taking up the rest of the space. The idea has drawn a lot of criticism from people living in that area, including some people that I know (and some of them use other modes of transportation like bikes and walking). I don't know if I like it either, since traffic with one lane each way isn't that great right now. I will be using other streets, like Hillside Road and Casho Mill Road, much more frequently now when I'm in that area.

What is everyone else's comments on that?

So there was an article in the News Journal a couple weeks ago about how Elkton Road is Newark is being worked on to make it one lane each way, with bike lanes taking up the rest of the space. The idea has drawn a lot of criticism from people living in that area, including some people that I know (and some of them use other modes of transportation like bikes and walking). I don't know if I like it either, since traffic with one lane each way isn't that great right now. I will be using other streets, like Hillside Road and Casho Mill Road, much more frequently now when I'm in that area.

What is everyone else's comments on that?I rarely use Elkton Road anyway. I usually take Hillside Road to Cleveland Ave to get to Kirkwood Hwy, but I see what Newark is trying to do. Make it feel like a safe place to enjoy the outdoors for students and residents.

I rarely use Elkton Road anyway. I usually take Hillside Road to Cleveland Ave to get to Kirkwood Hwy, but I see what Newark is trying to do. Make it feel like a safe place to enjoy the outdoors for students and residents.

i vote yes on bike lane if not where are they going to be? riding on the sidewalk with pedestrians??? why would people need 2 lanes the dorms and apt there are a bike ride away from campus and theres not really anything you need to drive to on elkton rd as far as i think they want to convert it?

I haven't been able to post many articles lately, but tomorrow is the opening of the Nordstrom's at the Christiana Mall. Their restaurant, the first of theirs, will also open.

This was in the News Journal on Saturday. Astra Zeneca will trim down their office complex. The old Rollins building will remain.

On another note, I am going to change my article-posting habits. As per the annoucement up top, I will not be posting full articles, unless it's short. It's more respectful of the source to require members to click the link and continue reading. Besides, I have other things to take care of. Since I am making this change, I will try to stay on top of posting things again.


AstraZeneca to demolish three buildings
Fairfax site to lose 450,000 square feet of laboratory space used for research


AstraZeneca will demolish 450,000 square feet of laboratory space in three buildings at its North American headquarters campus off Concord Pike in Fairfax as part of its global restructuring, the drug giant has confirmed.

The three buildings account for a major chunk of the company's Fairfax campus and house all of the company's Delaware-based research efforts. The huge complex west of Concord Pike is only about a decade old.

The planned demolition follows news last year that AstraZeneca would end research into new psychiatric medicines and shutter its Delaware labs as part of an ongoing restructuring of its global research-and-development activities.

Some 550 Delaware-based researchers for AstraZeneca have lost their jobs, reducing the company's employment here to 3,500, from a high of 5,000 several years ago. AstraZeneca's Delaware employment is at its lowest point since at least 2004.

Local employees will still shepherd drugs through late-stage development, but all Delaware research operations will end by the close of 2011.

The end of AstraZeneca's research presence in Delaware and the partial demolition of a campus the state battled hard to secure in 1999 is a psychological blow to the state's economic fortunes. The company was once tapped to lead growth in Delaware's life-sciences sector -- and, more broadly, northern Delaware's economy.

In 1999, Delaware Gov. Tom Carper offered AstraZeneca a package of grants and tax credits worth $40.7 million to establish its North American headquarters in Fairfax. AstraZeneca, under terms of the deal, pledged to ramp up its workforce to 4,000 people before the five-year agreement expired in 2004.

Delaware's Department of Transportation spent $70 million more on road improvements in the area around AstraZeneca's campus.

Mike Bowman, president of the Delaware Technology Park, a research campus near Newark, called AstraZeneca's decision to demolish the buildings a "shocking ending" to the company's research presence here.

"It's not terribly understandable to us why three viable buildings for the life-science industries would be torn down," said Bowman, who is working with AstraZeneca on a project to donate lab equipment to Delaware public schools. "But that reasoning is not ours to make."

...

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20110423&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=104230343&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110423/BUSINESS/104230343/-1/7daysarchives/AZ-demolish-3-buildings

Here's an article about transforming Yorklyn. I'd like to see some nice re-use of the mill buildings. Unfortunately, like many other historic buildings and regular buildings in this area, they have been spraypainted by punk kids and need some surface cleaning. But they would look great if redeveloped.

Supposedly there's a working planetarium at the NVF site, which was owned by the person that built Auburn Hill, but I don't know where it's located.

Partnership in place to transform Yorklyn
State, developer teaming to turn industrial village into recreational jewel


The historic industrial village of Yorklyn in northwestern Delaware, a curious collection of factory buildings, millworker houses and the boss's hilltop mansion, would become a 1920s-style recreation destination under an ambitious plan spearheaded by the state.

For the past three years, the state environmental agency has been working with private landowners to coordinate what promises to be a $30 million public-private transformation of 119 acres of the shuttered NVF Co. on Red Clay Creek into a model of preservation and redevelopment. Work could begin next month.

Collin O'Mara, secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said the public-private undertaking is one of the biggest and most complex in the country, combining preservation, environmental cleanup, recreation and economic development.

"There are very few projects that give you so much potential to solve so many problems simultaneously -- flooding, water quality, fish, historic preservation," O'Mara said.

When the NVF lands are combined with 240 acres the state already owns in the area and the roughly 50 acres the state controls through conservation easements, the so-called Auburn Valley Master Plan will encompass more than 400 acres.

"We felt it was very important to protect the NVF land because preserving the waterways and restoring the wetlands is critical. It was an important link in connecting all the open space in the Red Clay Creek watershed," said Ginger North, associate director for natural resources conservation at the Delaware Nature Society.

Under the master plan, the former NVF property would be 90 percent open space. Portions of that open space would be incorporated into other state-owned or controlled land to create a roughly six-mile country-road style trail that could be used for walking, biking, jogging and horseback riding.

...

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20110425&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=104250337&Ref=V4&MaxW=600&Border=0

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110425/NEWS/104250337/Partnership-place-transform-Yorklyn?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Local

I have not seen anything in the News Journal at all (unless I missed it last year), but DuPont is building a new 5-story building at Chestnut Run Plaza.

Link from last year (http://www2.dupont.com/Media_Center/en_US/daily_news/june/article20100614.html)

A couple updates on the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory in Newark:

April 3

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9789/img2763zg.jpg

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/8496/img2764zg.jpg

May 29

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/9961/img3708z.jpg

phillydeals (http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Fuel-cell-maker-to-hire-900-in-Delaware.html)


Thursday, June 9, 2011
Fuel-cell maker Bloom Energy to hire 900 in Del. (Update)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/02/bloom-energy-hands-literally-rm-eng.jpg

California-based Bloom Energy says it plans to hire 350 construction workers this year, and 900 permanent workers by 2012, for a new factory at the former Chrysler auto factory in Newark, Delaware, which will produce Bloom Box-brand "fuel cells" to make electricity from natural gas.

Bloom has already built 150 of the 100-kilowatt units at its plants near Sunnyvale, Calif., and installed them at locations operated by Wal-Mart, Federal Express, Safeway, and other big companies in California, and plans to deliver 300 more this year, chief financial officer Bill Kurtz, a Mays Landing native, told me. It takes two to three units to power a Wal-Mart.

"Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and FedEx want us to serve their operations on the East Coast," and Delaware is convenient to those locations, Kurtz told me.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell endorsed Bloom's proposal, which depends on an $11.25 million state-funded grant, plus a "conditional incentive" of $3.25 million for an additional 600 jobs at suppliers to the Bloom plant. The state's Delaware Economic Development Office has also agreed to contribute up to $1.5 million of the first $50 million Bloom spends building its facility.

Markell's state Secretary of the Energy and Environment, Collin O'Mara, a former San Jose, Calif. city official, pitched the state to Bloom on a visit to Silicon Valley companies early last year, Delaware economic development chief Alan Levin told me. "At first they said they had no interest in coming to Delaware. Nine months later they called and said 'We are thinking about an East Coast strategy. They've visited here 15 times. And we've been out there."

Bloom is backed by the well-funded Silicon Valley venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, and counts Kleiner boss John Doerr and ex-US Secretary of State Colin Powell on its board. Delaware is also home to the planned East Coast factory of Fisker Motors, the government-financed electric-car maker that has promised to start making cars at the ex-General Motors plant near Wilmington.

Bloom cells will also power a 30 megawatt plant at Delmarva Power's New Castle, Del. substation that will enable the power utility to reduce emissions as demanded by federal guidelines, for an average surcharge of 70 cents per residential customer per month, pending state legislative approval.


Bloom doesn't burn gas but uses a ceramic-based chemical catalyst to separate electrons from the hydrogen and carbon in natural gas. The process is more expensive than burning, but creates no air emissions and is attractive to businesses that need to lower emissions under government guidelines, chief financial officer Bill Kurtz, a Mays Landing native, told me. Bloom expects costs will fall as more units are installed and natural gas supplies are developed in Pennsylvania and other states.

If you're going to post news in here go with a local source. ;)


Delaware woos firm, 1,500 jobs
Innovative fuel-cell company to build facility on ex-Chrysler site


The state has convinced an innovative California manufacturer of electricity-producing fuel cells to build its East Coast manufacturing facility on the site of the old Chrysler plant in Newark, bringing as many as 1,500 much-needed jobs to Delaware and boosting the University of Delaware's vision for a thriving high-tech center.

Bloom Energy of Sunnyvale, Calif., turned down more generous offers from several other states in deciding to base its first East Coast expansion in Delaware, according to Josh Richman, vice president of business development at Bloom, considered a prominent player in the emerging field of fuel cells.

Over the next five years, Bloom expects to hire about 900 for a manufacturing facility on the southwestern portion of the Chrysler site, and predicts a minimum of 600 more jobs will follow as its suppliers open Delaware bases of operations. State officials anticipate six of those suppliers will set up shop on the Chrysler property, which qualifies as a "brownfield" given its 60-year history of automaking.

Bloom expects to break ground on its 200,000-square-foot facility this fall, and the factory should be up and running in mid-2012. Construction is estimated to create 350 jobs this year and the 900-worker goal should be attainable in just two years, said Alan Levin, Delaware's economic development director.

The company will receive millions of dollars in incentives from the state but must reach employment milestones within the next five years. Key aspects of the deal are contingent on regulatory, municipal and legislative approvals, which are expected to be addressed soon.

A total price tag on the investment by Bloom was not disclosed by the company or state officials.

"This is something that we have been working on for a very long time -- 14 months," Gov. Jack Markell said in disclosing the deal, which was forged with the help of some established relationships -- DNREC Secretary Collin O'Mara already knew Richman, for example.

Working behind the scenes, Markell and his advisers, with some help from U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, convinced Bloom that Delaware had the right location, workforce and accommodating atmosphere for the company to begin its push for East Coast business.

"Delaware at that time was not anywhere on our map," Richman said.

"We said, 'We think it should be on your map,' " Markell added. "We need to show companies that we understand their industries better than any other state ever would."

Another Markell coup

Thursday's announcement by Markell is a landmark in the state's efforts to repurpose New Castle County's two auto assembly plants, which both closed in recent years and added to the job woes of a once-robust manufacturing sector. A builder of electric hybrid vehicles, Fisker Automotive, plans to retrofit the old General Motors plant near Newport to once again churn out cars starting in late 2012, utilizing more than $500 million in federal and state loans and grants and even more in private venture capital.

It's a welcome development for Delaware's hard-hit manufacturing sector, which lost 13,900 jobs -- almost 20 percent -- from 1990 to 2001, even before the recession arrived. In Delaware, manufacturing-sector workers earned an average of $52,500 in 2005, $8,000 more than the average Delaware worker.

It is the third major economic development coup for Markell, coming after the 2009 recruitment of Fisker and last year's intervention to prevent the permanent closure of the refinery near Delaware City and assist in its sale to PBF Energy. Those two deals are expected to create 2,600 jobs -- 2,000 at the Fisker plant, 600 at the refinery.

"It's just awesome to see manufacturing back in the state and growing," said James A. Wolfe, president and CEO of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and former manager of the Chrysler plant. "We needed to do something to bring things back into the state."

"Most automotive sites, they're just brownfields and sitting" across the nation, Wolfe said.

Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark, a strong supporter of green energy projects, said the deal "absolutely fortifies the contention that has been made that it is the economic wave of the future. This is a change that is good and a change that is necessary."

Kowalko lauded the state's willingness to use economic incentives to attract such businesses to Delaware.

"We're not subsidizing; we've made it a profitable venture which gives the state a sound economy and job creation," he said.

House Minority Leader Greg Lavelle, R-Brandywine Hundred, agreed that the state help was warranted for what he termed "an exciting opportunity." Lavelle said he had been briefed several times on the project in the last few months.

"Look at the synergies that could come to the site as a manufacturing opportunity, which is what is needed in the state of Delaware and across the nation right now," he said.

The Bloom Energy deal also gives a boost to the state's ongoing efforts to cast Delaware as a center for alternative energy technology. "We're replacing 20th-century jobs with 21st-century jobs," Richman said.

"I look at it as a catalyst for people to say, 'Wow, look what's happening in Delaware,' " Wolfe said. "They're doing the right things. They're moving forward."

Line workers, electrical engineers and sales specialists are expected to be among the positions created in Delaware.

The fuel-cell operations -- including Bloom and its suppliers -- are expected to take 50 of the plant's 272 acres, which UD is working to turn into a high-tech hub for high-tech research and medicine. UD has several areas of research -- including fuel-cell technology, biomass fuel conversion and energy storage technology -- that will bolster an ongoing partnership with Bloom, said UD President Patrick Harker.

"This fits into the whole portfolio of work that we have across the whole spectrum of energy and environmental" technology, he said. "It's not hyperbole. This is real. We can pull this off."

The deal also has great potential for allowing UD to leverage Bloom's presence into wider interest in the site, officials believe.

Cheaper and cleaner

Bloom, which was founded in 2001, builds "blocks" of fuel cells that are used by utilities and corporations as a means of electricity production. Using some type of input fuel -- most commonly natural gas -- the blocks utilize an electrochemical reaction to convert that energy into electricity. It's a technology that is cleaner, more efficient and less costly than many existing methods of electricity production, Bloom says.

Because there is no combustion involved, 40 percent to 50 percent less carbon dioxide pollution is created, Richman said. Because its high-temperature operating regime is more efficient, it produces twice as much electricity per unit of fuel than conventional plants. The cells can run on any type of fuel, from ethanol to biofuels.

The privately held company, which has raised tens of millions in capital through investors, casts itself as a revolutionary in energy production, saying its technology has the potential to change the way power is produced on truly broad scale. By generating power on a customer's site, Bloom's boxy "energy server" units also can offer companies increased reliability, while lessening the burden on utilities to build more plants or expand already straining transmission grids.

"Our customers generate their own electricity for less than they pay the power company," company documents say. "These savings typically provide a 3- to 5-year payback on their initial capital investment."

Yet Bloom, unlike Fisker, isn't a company that is exploring a fledgling technology -- fuel cells and their potential have captivated many researchers' attention globally, and many other well-hyped advancements have failed to catch on. What Bloom seems to have captured is a particular recipe for the cells, along with a lot of attention -- from the television news magazine "60 Minutes" and from top business publications.

Secrecy and caution also has been a hallmark of the firm, which only last year unveiled its technology and goals to the public. Most of its current customers are on the West Coast, where buyers of its on-site energy units are companies at the forefront of modern technologies, and some leaders of old-school commerce, including Google, eBay, Adobe, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and Bank of America.

In Delaware, the technology is seen by its proponents as a perfect fit for such big employers as the racetrack casinos, DuPont Co. and even Fisker.

Delmarva Power already has signed on to use Bloom's fuel cells to generate 30 megawatts of power for its customers, with a goal of 50 megawatts over the next three years. Bloom's technology will help the company reach its mandate of having 25 percent of its electricity come from "renewable" energy sources by 2020, said Gary R. Stockbridge, president of Delmarva Power Region of Pepco Holdings.

In Delmarva's case, "Bloom Fields" of fuel-cell units near Red Lion will be operated and maintained by Bloom for 20 years.

The Legislature must first establish a regulatory framework that includes Bloom's fuel cells as a renewable energy source. A new rate class also must be established by the Public Service Commission so that Delmarva can bring this type of power into its "portfolio" of energy sources and pay a tariff to Bloom. That accommodation is expected to cost its customers less than a dollar a month on average.

"We see this as a starting point for a much bigger relationship," Stockbridge said.

Bloom was attracted with the help of millions in "incentives" from the state:

» It eventually will get $11.2 million if it reaches the 900-employee hiring goal, but portions of that money can be "clawed back" by the state if it falls short, Levin said.

» The state also will pay up to 3 percent of Bloom's expenditures for outfitting the facility, up to a maximum payout of $1.5 million. A minimum of 50 percent of the work on the facilities of Bloom and its suppliers must be done by Delaware contractors and subcontractors.

» The University of Delaware, where research is under way that could become a potential resource for Bloom, will get $7 million to help its development of the former Chrysler facility, money that could help bring Bloom's suppliers to Delaware.

» A strategic fund grant of $3.3 million -- essentially a "finder's fee" -- will go to the company if suppliers bring in another 600 workers. There is a clawback provision if it fails.

Lavelle said he foresaw no legislative difficulties in getting the Bloom units approved as alternative energy, calling it "a reasonable deal for ratepayers."

On a dollars-per-job basis, the Bloom incentives are slightly more generous than the terms given to Fisker, which received about $20 million in incentives with clawbacks.

"Other states offered significantly more in terms of dollars," Richman said, noting that Delaware's case was strongly boosted by the Markell administration's close attention and collaborative efficiency. "His team is fantastic. We would not be here today if it wasn't for the personal commitment of the governor."

Visits to California proved the firm has a team of talented and committed workers, Markell said.

"I'm always interested and concerned about the culture of these employers," he said.

Bloom also is expanding operations in its home state. In April, the company announced it would quadruple its facility's footprint and add 1,000 jobs. The company says its workforce was expanded 70 percent in 2010, and that it has grown 525 percent in the past four years.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20110610&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=106100370&Ref=AR&MaxW=600&Border=0

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20110610&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=106100370&Ref=V1&MaxW=600&Border=0
Bloom Energy will have a new home at the former Chrysler site in Newark, another success in the state's efforts to repurpose New Castle County's two auto assembly plants and rebuild the once-robust manufacturing sector.

WHAT BLOOM NEEDS IN ORDER TO EXPAND


Bloom Energy's Delaware expansion is contingent on approvals from Delmarva Power, the Delaware Legislature and the Public Service Commission.

» The deal needs action by the Delaware Legislature to establish a regulatory framework that considers Bloom's fuel cells a renewable energy source.

» The proposed legislation would also enable locally-produced, clean energy from Bloom Energy Servers to be counted toward Delmarva Power's renewable portfolio requirements.

» If the legislation passes, a new "fuel cell" rate class needs to be established by the Public Service Commission so that Delmarva can bring this type of power into its "portfolio" of energy sources and pay a tariff to Bloom. That accommodation is expected to cost its customers less than a dollar a month on average.


http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110610/NEWS02/106100370/Delaware-woos-energy-firm-1-500-jobs?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

Bloom is a really great score for Delaware! After seeing the 60 Minutes piece on them I got really excited about their potential to transform co-generation in the US. Every large public building should have Bloom Boxes. And large private building owners should have incentives to install them.

If you watch the documentary Gasland you may not be as excited about it. I used to think Natural Gas was a good thing, as do our governments.

Construction updates in Newark from the last couple of months.


Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Laboratory

May 29

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9961/img3708z.jpg

June 14

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9218/img3777zd.jpg


New student bookstore

June 28

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/1745/img3846z.jpg

A new Apple store opened up in the student bookstore on Monday. You can only be a UD student, faculty or staff to buy something there, otherwise you have to go to Christiana Mall or somewhere else. There was an article in the newspaper, but I only found a video online.

Link (http://www.delawareonline.com/VideoNetwork/1091520039001/Apple-store-opens-in-UD-bookstore&odyssey=mod%7Cvideo)

How long has the IHOP at UD been there?

Last school year from what I remember. That building was finished early in the fall, if I remember correctly.

Not much in terms of actual development, but here's an article going over the plans for the upgrades to 113 in Sussex County.

Bypass plan moves ahead
DelDOT, lawmakers agree to end freeze on U.S. 113 project


The state will resume planning and design work along portions of the proposed new U.S. 113 corridor between Lincoln and Millsboro, the result of reaching an agreement with lawmakers to end a freeze on the project, transportation officials said Friday.

Still unsettled, however, is the major issue of how to improve safety and ease congestion along more than a third of the corridor between Milford and the Maryland line.

Gov. Jack Markell suspended the highway project in January, citing a lack of consensus among lawmakers over how to proceed with the route improvements, which cost $850 million. Markell warned at the time that he would scuttle the project if lawmakers failed to "get their act together," saying "there are plenty of other places in the state that would like to see that kind of investment made."

That move followed months of criticism targeting both DelDOT's plans and the agency's decision to award leases and monthly payments to developers threatened by some highway alignments in exchange for agreements to delay development.

Administration officials later acknowledged that the lease deals were mishandled, findings that led to a department shake-up, demands for agency reform and the resignation of former transportation Secretary Carolann Wicks.

On Friday, DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt described his meeting with legislators as "positive and productive," and said the 113 project "has the potential to reshape economic development, traffic management and highway safety in southern Delaware."

Work north of Millsboro could quickly improve traffic flows along the existing road, as overpasses and interchanges replace higher-accident entrances, intersections and signals. Differences remain over the Millsboro stretch, with some calling for tightly focused safety projects and road improvements, instead of massive bypasses. Sentiment against dramatic changes to the existing route strengthens as the highway runs south.

"We have a path forward," said Sen. Joseph Booth, R-Georgetown, who attended the meeting. "By moving ahead, it will get us ready for possible federal assistance."

Friday's talks with lawmakers included agreements to:

» Seek federal aid for limiting access to the existing stretch of highway and creating safer crossovers or interchanges from just south of Lincoln to the Redden Forest area north of Georgetown.

» Seek federal environmental approval for a plan that would create similar access limits to the existing highway from the Redden Forest area to Del. 20 north of Millsboro.

» Meet again in early September to discuss alternative routes for bypassing Millsboro north of Del. 24.

» Continue work on road and safety improvements along the existing corridor and continue talks on options for the road south of Millsboro.

DelDOT had been planning major changes along much of the highway between Milford and the Maryland line, but opponents said the agency plan would needlessly break up farms and neighborhoods.

Sen. George H. Bunting Jr., D-Bethany Beach, said he was satisfied with terms reached during talks with Bhatt but said DelDOT should immediately stop payments for protective leases if the agency's road choices will clearly leave developer land unaffected.

Citizen resentment over the lease deals remains high, Bunting said.

"I think that what it mainly boils down to is, Millsboro is a pinch point between the north and south at Route 24," Bunting said. "What we're asking them to do is go back to the table and give us another proposed route north of Millsboro."

Some lawmakers approached DelDOT after the project with a suggestion to relocate part of U.S. 113 along a new corridor from just north of Millsboro to Del. 24 well east of the community, across a wooded tract south of the Stockley Center.

Bunting said that sentiment remains heavily against development of a new corridor south of Millsboro.

"We've found a way now to move forward and get it out of limbo," Bunting said, "and to stop playing the blame game."



http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110813/NEWS02/108130323/Bypass-plan-moves-ahead

From the time I lived in Delaware, to the times i visit it now, I have been in traffic on 113 maybe one time, I do not see the need for the project. Instead time and effort should be focused on making SR1 entirely up to interstate standards, possibly US13 as well, and making 404 and 9 limited access, much like 113 in the Redden State Forest area

Wesley College is planning some aesthetic improvements, and has bigger plans for a true campus feel.

(Sorry that I don't have time to post any of the article, and we're supposed to only post the first couple of paragraphs now anyway, but I'm heading out the door.)


http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011108180336

_

NEWARK CONSTRUCTION UPDATES


September 21

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4747/img6233x.jpg

September 30

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/1442/img6235x.jpg

I can't find a picture of it online, but the Dover Library on Loockerman Street is now a steel skeleton. The News Journal ran a picture of it in Friday's paper.

Here's a couple articles from over the weekend with projects in and around New Castle:


Town divided on dock project; survey results coming Monday


To many in Old New Castle, like Esther Lovlie, the idea of a new dock off Battery Park -- one that would be a port for the Kalmar Nyckel and an access point for recreational boaters -- offers limitless potential.

But there are also those like Michael Heyman who predict the increased tourism will ruin the area's charm.

Expected to cost from $500,000 to $800,000, the dock also would provide another ferry stop to Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island and a berth for Good Will Fire Company's rescue boat.

The battle over the project has divided the town since the Historic New Castle Alliance, which Lovlie leads, first sought $6,000 from city council for a concept plan in the spring.


...

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20111022&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=110220330&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Town-divided-dock-project-survey-results-coming-Monday
New Castle's strategic location by the Delaware River has made it an important spot throughout its history, and some residents are looking forward to extending that tradition by building a boat dock in town.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111022/NEWS/110220330/Town-divided-dock-project-survey-results-coming-Monday?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s


+++++++++++++++


New home worthy of the work inside
Guard, Reserve break ground on facility


After decades of grueling duty in homeland security, local disaster response and the global war on terror, Delaware's National Guard and Reserve units took a giant first step Friday toward a headquarters more suited to their formidable missions.

Now officially based at the former Laura Little Elementary School near Delcastle Park -- a complex shared with the Mid-County Senior Center -- the state's Guard and Reserve leadership broke ground on a $39.5 million, 106,000-square-foot Armed Forces Reserve Center in New Castle on the military's section of New Castle Airport.

Some 195 Guard members and 113 with the Naval Reserve will move into the building when complete in 2013. The project marks the latest link in a chain of Delaware military installation improvements for the active duty Guard and Reserve that have poured more than $320 million into Delaware's economy in recent years.


...

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20111022&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=110220331&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&New-home-worthy-work-inside
The Delaware National Guard and Reserve broke ground on a new Armed Forces Reserve Center in New Castle (artist's rendering shown) off Commons Boulevard. Some 195 Guard members and 113 with the Naval Reserve will move into the $39.5 million building when complete in 2013.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111022/NEWS/110220331/New-home-worthy-work-inside?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

Matt, any pics of the new cable stayed bridge over the Indian River Inlet between Dewey and Bethany Beaches?

Nope, nothing from the last few months.

This was in the News Journal yesterday. Bayberry is the big community that was planned, but I don't think much or anything has been done yet construction-wise. Some neighborhoods should be going up around this eventually.

Final Bayberry Town Center plans cleared
Building at site south of C&D Canal long way off


New Castle County Council has approved the final design plans for Bayberry Town Center, a 560,000-square-foot commercial and office center three miles south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal between Del. 896 and Del. 1.

The council approved the plans for the town center in 2008. Last week's vote was a formality that notes the developer has satisfied the county Land Use Department's requirements to have its final development plan recorded with the county. Blenheim Homes is now free to start building.

But that won't happen for some time. The town center hasn't been marketed to potential tenants yet, developer Jay Sonecha of Blenheim said. Sonecha envisions the town center would be completed in about 12 years.

...

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20111114&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=111140317&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Final-Bayberry-Town-Center-plans-cleared
The Bayberry Town Center, between Del. 896 and Del. 1, will be the first major shopping center in the area.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20111114&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=111140317&Ref=V2&MaxW=300&Border=0&Final-Bayberry-Town-Center-plans-cleared
The Central Green at Bayberry North, seen in an artist's rendering, will be a common area lined with trees. The project's developer sees the residents of Bayberry North and South as a substantial portion of the customers for the planned Bayberry Town Center.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111140317

Middletown ER center construction set to begin


Christiana Care Health System is about to start construction of its long-awaited emergency center in Middletown.

A groundbreaking ceremony is set for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the site off Middletown-Odessa Road (Del. 299) near Del. 1 at Brick Mill Road in Middletown.

Speakers at Wednesday's ceremony are to include Christiana Care Health System Chief Executive Officer and President Dr. Bob Laskowski, Lt. Gov. Matt Denn, Middletown Mayor Kenneth L. Branner Jr. and Dr. Charles L. Reese, who chairs the health system's department of emergency medicine and directs its Emergency Medicine/Internal Medicine Residency Program.

The $34 million center is expected to be the first part of a full medical complex to serve southern New Castle County and northern Kent County, which had a massive population boom before the recession. No opening date has been announced.

...

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111129/BUSINESS13/111290309/Middletown-ER-center-construction-set-begin?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s

Land is being cleared and surveyed for that new hospital in between Middletown and Odessa.

The Inlet bridge is almost done.

Indian River Inlet Bridge's opening brings vindication


By now, state Sen. George Bunting has gotten used to the ribbing he takes when he gets his hair cut in Rehoboth Beach.

Where was that long-promised replacement for the Indian River Inlet Bridge along Del. 1? How much taxpayer money was spent? Who's accountable for previous, faulty designs?

"It was kind of becoming Seward's Folly," said Bunting, likening the ridicule to the United States' 1867 purchase of Alaska.

"Now, I can say it's done. And it's going to outlast most of us."

inlet's harsh conditions -- ripping tidal currents, salt-water spray, high winds and, at times, pack ice. It's expected to last at least 100 years.

The bridge isn't yet complete, but it's far enough along to open two lanes to traffic next week.

...

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012201120331

This Little Falls area is starting to become a mini edge city. There's a medcial center now proposed for the area around Lancaster Pike and Centerville Road.



State-of-the-Art Medical Center Coming to Greenville – Hockessin Corridor
Synergy Medical Center Tenant-Owners to Earn Dividends and Increase Quality of Patient Care


This week, Synergy Medical Group announced the public phase of its campaign to attract doctors, specialists and healthcare providers as tenants and tenant-owners of the Synergy Medical Center. Opening in the summer of 2013, this new medical facility will bring 75,000-140,000 square feet of state-of-the-art medical care for patients together on a comprehensive medical campus. Basing the project on Dover, Delaware’s Eden Hill Medical Center—a proven business model—Synergy expects tenants to benefit from proximity of services, referrals and consultations, as well as cost of occupancy savings, and tenant-owners to benefit from shareholder dividends and equity.

...

Breaking ground in summer 2012, Synergy Medical Center will be built at the Commons at Little Falls on Lancaster Pike (Delaware Route 48), between Route 141/41 and Centerville Road. Synergy expects to draw patients, doctors and employees from Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. It is accessible by DART First State Route 20.

...

http://www.communitypub.com/topstories/x255291392/State-of-the-Art-Medical-Center-Coming-to-Greenville-Hockessin-Corridor

NEWARK CONSTRUCTION UPDATES:


Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory

October 21

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/4772/img6545z.jpg

November 13

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/5439/img6754zj.jpg

December 23

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7428/img7616z.jpg

January 18

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1140/img7738zv.jpg

It looks like they made very little progress over 3 months. Talk about milking a project.

That's as tall as it's going to get. They're working on the interior, but that doesn't show in my nighttime pictures (that's the only time of day that I can really get down there). These pictures also don't show how long the building is; only the corner is shown in any detail.

Delaware Avenue continues to become more than just the other direction complimenting Main Street, and is becoming a little bit of a commerical street in and of itself.

Newark OKs building plan with fewer rental units


Newark City Council members approved plans for a mixed-use residential building on East Delaware Avenue Monday night in a vote that could signal a shift in the board's approach to parking requirements for new developments downtown.

...

Lang Development Group plans to replace two homes at 132 and 136 E. Delaware Ave. with a three-story building with 5,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor and 12, two- to three-bedroom apartments upstairs. To proceed, Lang required a special-use permit for the lot and a zoning change from business limited to central business district.

...

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012202140348

Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory
February 28

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/6470/img7985x.jpg

Dogfish Head will begin their new warehouse:

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120430/NEWS/204300309/Dogfish-Head-gets-green-light-build-warehouse?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s

The Charles W. Cullen Bridge (Indian River Inlet Bridge) was dedicated, and will be completely operational by Memorial Day weekend.

http://www.delawareonline.com/VideoNetwork/1625368850001/Long-awaited-bridge-is-dedicated-at-last&odyssey=mod%7Cvideo%7C%7Cumbrella