TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post The manmade cove at the center of West Deptford's proposed recreational complex.

Developers who have been talking with West Deptford officials have been coy about their interest in the project.

Still, township officials are banking on people finding the hustle and bustle of the commercial port an allure rather than an eyesore. "People have always complained they don't have access to the river," Mayor David Shields said while strolling along the pebble-strewn bank of the river. "I think it's our responsibility to provide that access."

Demand for river access is high simply because the water is cleaner, Shields said.

"The river is so much cleaner, it's unbelievable," he said. "You can wade out into four feet of water and still see your feet. It's amazing."

But just how great is the demand for riverfront recreation? The evidence is in the hundreds of boats out on the river on any pleasant weekend, Smith said. "I think that there's plenty of potential there and it will take quite a bit of development for saturation to occur," he said.

But the county is concerned about having too much of a good thing. The freeholders have budgeted $60,000 for a feasibility study of riverfront development projects, including whether market demand will support them. It's the first time the county has tried to assess the development potential of its riverfront.

The wild tract of land proposed for RiverWinds is the same one a developer proposed for the 6,500-unit Imperial Landing housing project several years ago. That project died after fierce opposition from residents.

The new project doesn't carry that baggage, and has the potential to even stabilize property taxes, Shields says. The township hopes to lease and sell parcels of land to developers to generate money for both maintenance of the property and debt payment.

This money will also subsidize operations of the community center, the project's cornerstone. The elaborate 108,000-square-foot center will have two glass-enclosed pools overlooking the river, several gyms, aerobics and weight rooms, an ice rink and even a rock-climbing wall. It will be built with payments in lieu of taxes by U.S. Generating Co., which plans to build a large power plant off Crown Point Road.

The complex will be surrounded by hundreds of acres of open space to be preserved as habitat for animals such as deer, songbirds, and the rare saw-whet owl.

In keeping with a Jersey Shore theme for the complex, a boardwalk will run along the base of a series of restaurants and shops overlooking the cove. Two separate marinas will have slips for 200 boats.

Shields and White visited dozens of community centers in the Denver area, where such centers are the norm rather than the exception. Shields and White say such a center is long overdue in this area, and longtime township resident Barbara Hoffman agrees.
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