CAMDEN
The Camden Waterfront has been struggling for more than 15 years to reinvent itself from a gritty eyesore to a popular tourist destination.

TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post The Camden/Philadelphia waterfront.

It hasn't been easy or cheap, because nearly every project from the New Jersey State Aquarium to the new Children's Garden has been paid for with public money.

Despite the time and money invested, revitalization of Camden's Waterfront remains very much an experiment. Next year promises to be pivotal.

A high-wire tram, paid for largely with tolls from motorists crossing the Delaware River bridges, is expected to shuttle tourists across the river between the two port cities. Philadelphia will elect a new mayor in November and host more delegates to the National Republican Convention in August than it can handle. Camden is slated to get its own minor-league baseball stadium, a $19 million project, that supporters predict will draw 243,000 fans a season.

"I'm confident the stadium will be ready by next spring," says Thomas Corcoran, president of Cooper's Ferry Development Association, which is in charge of Waterfront real estate between the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Sony E-Centre. In addition to being Camden's biggest cheerleader, Corcoran cares little about competition from the Phillies and their eventual new stadium.

"It makes no difference if they build in Center City or South Philadelphia," he says. "We will draw from the same market, but we're not competitors. Camden's new stadium will host the Atlantic League and it will be a more affordable form of family entertainment."

Camden is still competing with Bayonne for the battleship USS New Jersey, which both cities want to turn into a floating museum. Again, officials predict it will offer just what the city needs to attract a steady stream of history-minded tourists. The Navy is expected to choose a permanent home this fall for the ship, which was built in the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

By New Year's Eve, the Ben Franklin Bridge will be a backdrop for an $8 million sound-and-light show. The attraction is designed to draw a flood of tourists and create a nighttime economy.

Such an economy is also the intent of another nightly light show called Lights of Liberty, which began in July in Philadelphia. Unlike the razzle-dazzle extravaganza planned for the bridge, this $12 million history lesson illuminates various historic sites at Independence Hall with images of Ben Franklin, George Washington and other Colonial legends.
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