9:23 AM, May. 18, 2011 | Source: http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20110518/NEWS01/105180348/Rebirth-seen-Camden-thoroughfare
Written by LUCAS K. MURRAY Courier-Post Staff
Construction is under way at Meadows at Pyne Poynt on Erie Street in Camden. The site will include 40 one- and two-bedroom units. / LUCAS K. MURRAY/Courier-Post
Erie Street in Camden has seen its share of change.
Long gone are the days when the old Knox Gelatin factory stood at 5th Street. Abandoned decades ago, the buildings that made up the complex were an eyesore, a safety hazard and another reminder of the city's decline.
City officials are hoping new affordable housing units on the 3-acre site will spark change and eventually meet with previous development along Camden's waterfront.
"Every once in a while we have to reset our clock and we are resetting Camden now," Respond Inc. Executive Director Wilbert Mitchell said, looking over construction of the Meadows at Pyne Poynt.
"Give us another few years and you'll see another city."
Forty one- and two-bedroom rental units are in the early stages of construction here, geared toward those earning low incomes. Inside the modern structure, 10 of those units are set aside for homeless individuals, veterans and the formerly incarcerated.
All residents will have access to a community garden, laundry facilities and a two-story community room with on-site social services programs.
Residents will also be able to utilize the vocational program Respond Inc. offers at the New Worker Job Development Center.
The center, opened in 2009 and three blocks away from the Meadows construction, is part of a larger focus on developing the waterfront and the Erie Street corridor. Camden Lutheran Housing is right next door.
"Erie Street is a major thoroughfare," Mitchell said. "You're going to see a lot of things taking place here."
Sandra Johnson, director of the Camden Redevelopment Agency, said that the $14.5 million Meadows project is receiving federal stimulus funding in the form of a $3 million loan.
Other efforts in the area include the construction of four additional rental units and 10 owner-occupied sites nearby.
"All of this has to be done," Johnson said. "All of it, without exception. . . All of it has to be completed by January 2013."
Construction on the Meadows is expected to be completed in late fall.
Mayor Dana Redd offered that progress has been made in North Camden and that the residents have been the driving force behind changes being made in the community.
"We are sitting on a gold mine, situated in a location that gives us a competitive advantage and we're going to maximize the assets we have that will help transform and turn the City of Camden around," she said.
Angel Lopez, who grew up in Camden, called the rebirth of the area and the construction of the Meadows "a prayer being answered."
"I've lived here for many years and it was nothing but the Knox factory all abandoned," Lopez said. "That nightmare is over and the people got together and now we see something positive happening in North Camden."
Reach Lucas K. Murray at (856) 486-2476 or lkmurray@gannett.com
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