Dupont closing Philly plant

[eldondre]

DuPont to close Marshall Laboratory in S. Phila. | Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/07/2009

[billy ross]

The irony is that the section of the Schuylkill River Trail along the DuPont Crescent is being built this year, and DuPont was being weird about allowing access to the new trail, claiming it is a security risk. I guess not anymore. Maybe the city can steer the land towards Carl Dranoff - I am not super-familiar with it, but 25 acres along the river trail and across the river from Bartram's Garden has some real potential. I would love to see the bridge get built connecting the DuPont Crescent to Bartram's Garden, and maybe whoever redevelops this site will fork over the cash - the bridge would in my opinion really help both this site and Bartram's Garden.

[eldondre]

It's an interesting location. while dranoff homes for the rich certainly won't replace a good place to work, the site is, as you pointed out, hardly unusable....well, we'l see what kind of remediation it needs. It's location across the river from the hospital complex and next to 76 where people can get out to the suburbs for work makes it somewhat desirable. it's isolated enough peopel may not care about the nearby industrial scenery or neighborhood.

[Zigster]

DuPont might sell that land or keep it and do something else there or just leave it vacant for years. Who knows?

[Malloy]

While we are at it, lets have Dranoff buy the sweet meth clinic/halfway house across the river too...make it a cool hotel with riverside seating

This is pretty cool
http://www.citypaper.net/articles/20...river-kayaking

YouTube - Riding Dirty: Through the Dead Center of Philadelphia

It's an interesting location. while dranoff homes for the rich certainly won't replace a good place to work, the site is, as you pointed out, hardly unusable....well, we'l see what kind of remediation it needs. It's location across the river from the hospital complex and next to 76 where people can get out to the suburbs for work makes it somewhat desirable. it's isolated enough peopel may not care about the nearby industrial scenery or neighborhood.

[eldondre]

I assume you're talking about the hotel who's only access appears to be the river. wanna call dranoff tell him he bought an old hotel and a possibly contaminated property on the river, near the industrial area?

[Malloy]

Dranoff built on Venice Island. The man is fearless!

[eldondre]

Dranoff built on Venice Island. The man is fearless!

lol
how'd that work out for him?

I notice he went safe with symphony house

[Malloy]

Went from $$$$ condo to rental quickly. Seems like he has a decent number of renters now. The building even has a foot bridge for safe escape.

lol
how'd that work out for him?

I notice he went safe with symphony house

[desolate]

Malloy.. that priceless.


I'm all for reusing the Schuykill.


That's the river you "plan" not the Delaware.


THe Schuylkill's our waterfront.

[eldondre]

Malloy.. that priceless.


I'm all for reusing the Schuykill.


That's the river you "plan" not the Delaware.


THe Schuylkill's our waterfront.

the DE is a nicer river. I disagree with you. given current trends, I think you concentrate on redeveloping both rivers north of a certain point. the southern section makes the most sense to keep industrial. that said, this location is good and bad, isolated as it is, if done right, it coudl be a nice place to live...facing north.

On Monday, DuPont Co. said it was opening a solar-electric-equipment plant in Shanghai.

Yesterday, it said it would close Marshall Laboratory on Grays Ferry Avenue, where Philadelphians have been making paint since the Civil War, and for DuPont since World War I.

It's not just because the economy is slow, says DuPont chief executive officer Ellen Cullman.

The plant is a victim of the same kind of evolution that created demand for its products generations ago, the company says.

The Wilmington-based industrial giant is shifting away from supplying the aging U.S. and Western European auto, construction, and industrial markets. Instead, it is embracing China and other growth markets for products such as photovoltaics and genetically improved seeds.

"These are permanent changes," DuPont spokesman Anthony Farina told me.

DuPont managers debated Marshall's fate for years. Yes, it's aging, though DuPont replaced all the old lead-based-paint production buildings years back.

But its veteran workforce proved it could efficiently develop, test, and produce batches of specialized products such as waterborne finishes, which can be applied without the usual hazardous industrial solvents. That gave DuPont an edge, while its market lasted.

Bordered by the Schuylkill and the expressway, a five-minute walk from Penn, Marshall will make a great site for something, after DuPont finishes the cleanup.

But for now, plant manager Robert Roop told me, he's going to focus on what happens to his 265 people

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/busin..._Shanghai.html

[desolate]

[QUOTE=eldondre;28549]the DE is a nicer river. I disagree with you. given current trends, I think you concentrate on redeveloping both rivers north of a certain point. the southern section makes the most sense to keep industrial. that said, this location is good and bad, isolated as it is, if done right, it coudl be a nice place to live...facing north.





A question.


What makes you prefer the industrial view of Camden over the skyline view of the Schuylkill.

I rowed on the Schuylkill yet lived along the Delaware most of my life.

The Schuylkill seems more conducive to this..



than the Delaware which is large, fast, and in heavy use.



Credit : Skyscrapersunset.com

The Delaware is big but not really "nice"

[eldondre]

I don't know desolate, you couldn't have posted two more misleading photos. The DE is a nice, blue river with a wonderful breeze coming off it in the summer. Penn Treaty is one of the nicest parks in the city precisely because it's on the DE. the schuylkill on the souther end is asbolutely nothing like what you just posted, it's lined with industry.
here's what the park on the DE actually looks like
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=141750

maybe this is the beautiful schuylkill you meant
http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid...title&resnum=1
The area between center city and port richmond is ripe for development.

[desolate]

The first image is the Thames in Richmond, England but it could be the schuylkill below the dam.

Oh I like Penn Treaty.

Big ideas for future of Penn Treaty Park | Plan Philly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

I love the new plans for it ... even the road closures and removals.

Schuykill Banks

Read this.. it will work and isn't billions of dollars like PennPraxis

Schuykill Banks

Both have the same issues. Acres of abandoned industry.

Your link is all barren and could be a forest in 15 years and it's PGW so it's even city land.

I'd love to see the Richmond Rail Yards become a massive park especially with Petty's Island being donated by Venezuela as a nature reserve.



I don't think that South of the Ben Franklin is worth **** as a waterfront. The yuppies who bought there just want to increase thier values and hate on the retail which is always packed.

I think the south Delaware waterfront even with a fully implemented Penn Praxis pipe dream would always struggle Mostly due to the ****e view you have across the river south of the Battleship.. North of the Bridge it's quite green on the Jersey side.

I do think it's why Penn's Landing struggles... the view sucks unless your looking at the Ben Franklin while the camden view is awsome of Philly.

I live all the views from the Schuylkill Trail... 30th, the skyline. THrow some neon on the Trigen plant and bingo.






The Schuylkill above the dam didn't always look as green.. and I think you could do the same with the disused lands of PGW, etc... which will never be used as port again.


Key thing here is EL..

We control both sides of the river as a state and city and the city owns the prime land.

We don't own barely any land publically on the Delaware and it's heavy industry south of say Fitzwater on both side of the Delaware and it's still in use on both sides and i private hands.

[desolate]

I mean it can be done..

Phillyh20.com

[eldondre]

Your link is all barren and could be a forest in 15 years and it's PGW so it's even city land.

I believe it's still in use.

I don't think that South of the Ben Franklin is worth **** as a waterfront. The yuppies who bought there just want to increase thier values and hate on the retail which is always packed.

I'd agree that the real potential is now penn's landing north...esp from the ben north. I think both rivers should remain open for port and industrial development.

I do think it's why Penn's Landing struggles... the view sucks unless your looking at the Ben Franklin while the camden view is awsome of Philly.

it's also inaccessible, it's all concrete and... welll, it's instutional. there's not even a decen restaurant down there. the festivals get crowded but they're cheesy.

I live all the views from the Schuylkill Trail... 30th, the skyline. THrow some neon on the Trigen plant and bingo.

but on a hot summer day it feels even hotter down there than in the city while a trip the DE can be refreshing. I like the views from Penn Treaty as well. I don't think we're that far off.





The Schuylkill above the dam didn't always look as green.. and I think you could do the same with the disused lands of PGW, etc... which will never be used as port again.


Key thing here is EL..

We control both sides of the river as a state and city and the city owns the prime land.

We don't own barely any land publically on the Delaware and it's heavy industry south of say Fitzwater on both side of the Delaware and it's still in use on both sides and i private hands.[/QUOTE]

[billy ross]

I mean it can be done..

Phillyh20.com

I just realized that the intakes for the long-gone pumphouse on the east bank of the Schuylkill directly underneath the Girard Avenue bridge are still there. The pumphouse was where the rock garden is now, between Girard and Promontory Rock. The intakes are in perfect shape and it took me all this time to realize that they were intakes for drinking water.

I believe that the Schuylkill riverfront is much more comfortable on scorchers than the Delaware waterfront, which is mostly concrete and asphalt.

[MarketStEl]

I'll have to check out the Schuylkill Banks plan later. Don't forget that PGW isn't the only industrial landowner on the lower Schuylkill: Sunoco ain't going nowhere no time soon either and has property on both banks from near Passyunk to Penrose avenues.

IMO the big difference is this: Since the Delaware can handle ocean-going vessels and the Schuylkill can't past the Sunoco terminal, the Delaware is always going to look more industrial -- and unlike on the Hudson in New York, ocean-going commercial maritime traffic will continue to sail up the Delaware past Center City and Penn Treaty Park unless and until the Port of Philadelphia and Camden decides that Tioga Marine Terminal is obsolete or otherwise useless, a development I consider highly unlikely. (Manhattan's West Side riverfront benefits from having had all the heavy commercial maritime activities relocated to the New Jersey side and further south. That's not going to happen here.)

The reason desolate could post the images he did is because, thanks to the Fairmount Water Works, a long stretch of the Schuylkill through the heart of the city is totally free of any industry, and even the stretch past Manayunk has been "deindustrialized" to the point that the remaining commercial structures became picturesque and not a blight.

Sure, there are attractive parks on the Delaware, and there's potential for more of them on some of those abandoned piers (I'd recommend that over "extending the grid" in most of the cases where either is possible). But the Delaware -- like the lower Schuylkill -- is never going to look totally picturesque the way the Schuylkill does through Manayunk and Fairmount Park.

Some people won't mind that at all, and they will live (and have already chosen to live) on the Delaware. Others will.

[eldondre]

I believe that the Schuylkill riverfront is much more comfortable on scorchers than the Delaware waterfront, which is mostly concrete and asphalt.

You're concentrating too much on human construction. the schuylkill has plenty of asphalt next to it, the main difference is the Delaware is a large, tidal river and has a breeze.try it out some summer day. there's no real need to have NO industry (and port traffic isn't really industry if it's containers...it' just ships and docks). They ca both be nice assets. Interestingly, though desolate originally disagreed, his second post indicated that he does see potential in some areas for development on the DE. that's really the point. sure there's some industry on the DE but here's highways and trains lining the schuylkill. that said, I don't know how anyone can argue that a box surrounded by parking lots on the DE (sugarhouse) is good for the city.

[billy ross]

I'll have to check out the Schuylkill Banks plan later. Don't forget that PGW isn't the only industrial landowner on the lower Schuylkill: Sunoco ain't going nowhere no time soon either and has property on both banks from near Passyunk to Penrose avenues.

IMO the big difference is this: Since the Delaware can handle ocean-going vessels and the Schuylkill can't past the Sunoco terminal, the Delaware is always going to look more industrial -- and unlike on the Hudson in New York, ocean-going commercial maritime traffic will continue to sail up the Delaware past Center City and Penn Treaty Park unless and until the Port of Philadelphia and Camden decides that Tioga Marine Terminal is obsolete or otherwise useless, a development I consider highly unlikely. (Manhattan's West Side riverfront benefits from having had all the heavy commercial maritime activities relocated to the New Jersey side and further south. That's not going to happen here.)

The reason desolate could post the images he did is because, thanks to the Fairmount Water Works, a long stretch of the Schuylkill through the heart of the city is totally free of any industry, and even the stretch past Manayunk has been "deindustrialized" to the point that the remaining commercial structures became picturesque and not a blight.

Sure, there are attractive parks on the Delaware, and there's potential for more of them on some of those abandoned piers (I'd recommend that over "extending the grid" in most of the cases where either is possible). But the Delaware -- like the lower Schuylkill -- is never going to look totally picturesque the way the Schuylkill does through Manayunk and Fairmount Park.

Some people won't mind that at all, and they will live (and have already chosen to live) on the Delaware. Others will.

The picture posted shows the area below the Fairmount Dam. There has never been a drinking water intake downstream of that dam since at least that dam was built around 1815. There was one at the dam, now disused, there was one at Girard, now disused, and there was one at Shawmont, now disused. There is one above the Falls of Schuylkill, there is one in the Delaware in the Northeast, and the furthest downstream potable water intake on the Schuylkill is located immediately downstream of the Columbia Bridge, on the west bank - it feeds the Belmont reservoir. The Water Department is extremely concerned about water quality upstream of the intakes, and much less so downstream of those intakes.

I see no reason why it would be impossible for what happened in New York - the departure of the heavy commercial shipping to less valuable real estate nearby - to not happen here, if Delaware riverfront property in Philly ever gets super-expensive.