January 2008

Executive Director Riverfront Development Corporation Mike Purzycki
                              

Mike Purzycki with Beverly Baxter & Brian Bailey

For those who weren’t in Wilmington before 1994, the miracle on Wilmington’s riverfront may not be apparent.  When “New Century Waterfront,” the vision for the Christina Riverfront was unveiled in 1994, you couldn’t even see the river because of all the warehouses.  Skeptics far outnumbered optimists.  Who would invest in polluted land in Wilmington?

Then in 1995 the Riverfront Development Corporation was created and, in 1996, hired Michael S. Purzycki as its Executive Director.  Mike brought the right combination to navigate the political and economic minefield of riverfront development: he was an attorney and had experience as a business-person and developer as well as expertise on the workings of government, from his stint on New Castle County Council.

The actual development along the Christina has taken a different shape than the original vision, but it is no less spectacular.  The Riverfront has been transformed.  Instead of decrepit warehouses, we see new development and businesses, such as  the Chase Center on the Riverfront, the Shipyard Shops, the Riverwalk, the Kalmar Nyckel, Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, Riverfront Market, the parking garage, the Russell W. Peterson Wildlife Refuge,  Christina Landing, ING Direct, AAA Mid-Atlantic, and Barclay’s, as well as major transportation improvements.  Under construction we see Justison Landing, Christina Crossing Retail Center, and the Education Center at the Russell W. Peterson Wildlife Refuge.  What we don’t see are infrastructure improvements like the bulkheads or the myriad  environmental cleanup projects which accompanied each piece of this development.

Mike Purzycki will share the story of the Riverfront development and tell us what’s next.

Beverley Baxter