Richard Vaughn: A dream revived, a river revived

They said it couldn’t be done — wouldn’t be done — repeatedly, over the course of a mere 33 years.

The “it” in question is — or was — the completion of the Schuylkill River Trail, from up by the Fairmount Water Works down to Bartram’s Garden, a total distance of five frequently difficult-to-navigate miles.

But now? Later this year the work will be complete, and those five miles will be fully traversable by cyclists, runners, walkers, picnickers, baby carriages and four-legged friends.

As 2025 dawned, there were two pieces remaining to be finished for the puzzle to be complete: The section from Christian Street to the Grays Ferry Crescent, and the swing bridge connecting Grays Ferry Crescent to Bartram’s Garden.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. How did we get to this point in the first place?

What did it take, and who was behind it?

Believe it or not, back in the 1700’s the Schuylkill was so pristine that people were actually baptized in it. But then along came the Industrial Revolution, and with it came oil refineries, dump-collection stations, abbatoirs, chemical and paint manufacturers, and garbage disposal plants. No longer pristine, the Lower Schuylkill was largely forgotten and ignored by the public for decades.

The tide began to turn in 1924 with the publication of the book Redemption of the Lower Schuylkill, by prominent maritime attorney John Frederick Lewis. Nearly four decades later, thanks to the work of urban planner Ed Bacon, plans for a Schuylkill River Park were included in the City’s comprehensive plan.

Fast forward to the early 90’s when architect and developer John Randolph took it upon himself to push the plans forward. A 1991 Inquirer article, “Dream Revived for a River Park”, described Randolph’s efforts and created a great deal of momentum. Not long after, Randolph founded the community-based Schuylkill River Development Council, which worked to procure the necessary grant funding. 

Randolph’s work was greatly aided by two local design professionals: landscape architect John Collins and civil engineer Elmore Boles, who jointly developed many early design concepts for the space. Having these designs on paper made the ideas come alive and helped get the needed buy-in from the City.

Eleven years after that, the Council was re-christened as the stakeholder-based Schuylkill River Development Corporation, helmed by civil engineer Joseph Syrnick, and which is now composed of major corporations, universities and City government.

Fast forward again, to the current day. As of this year, the two aforementioned sections remained to be finished in order to complete the Schuylkill River Train from the Fairmount Water Works down to Bartram’s Garden:

Only the swing-bridge project now remains, as May 17 saw the ribbon-cutting and the formal opening of the Christian-to-Crescent section, which now connects the South Street-to-Christian trail segment along the eastern shore to the existing trail in Grays Ferry Crescent, the park along the Grays Ferry River bend.

Some fast facts about Christian-to-Crescent: It was a $48M project designed by infrastructure consulting firm AECOM and built by Newtown (PA)-based engineering, construction and management company PKF-Mark III.

Completing Christian-to-Crescent was difficult for two reasons: the area remains industrially active, and there were many constraints and obstacles to navigate. As a result, completing the project required the construction of a 650-foot cable-stay bridge along the east riverbank.

 “The Center City section of the trail is very busy”, says SRDC President and CEO Syrnick, “but the section of the trail below that, the Grays Ferry Crescent, has been open for thirteen years but is not connected either to the north or the south. This is going to connect it to the north, which will greatly increase the number of people on that section, which we think is a good thing, because the more people you have on the trail, the more active it becomes and the safer it becomes.”

But complete it now is, it leaves one missing link: the final connection from Grays Ferry Crescent on the east shore to Bartram’s Mile, the park on the west side, north of Bartram’s Garden, the first botanical garden in America.

Completion of the final piece has required the conversion of an abandoned freight railway swing bridge to a new, fully operating swing bridge located south of the Grays Ferry Bridge that will provide easy access across the river for both pedestrians and cyclists.

Syrnick says, “The section of the trail on the west side of the river by Bartram’s Garden has been open since 2017, but that also is not connected to the north or the south. So it ends up being sort of a neighborhood park that does not get as much use as we would hope to get. Once these things all connect, it’s going to increase the amount of volume on the southern end of the trail.”

ETA for completion of the final link is sometime this Fall, at which time the dreams of John Frederick Lewis, Ed Bacon, John Randolph, John Collins and countless others will be realized at last.

 “Looking back, I am in awe of the change that has happened,” says SRDC founder John Randolph. “It fills me with enormous gratitude for all those who have helped us along the way, and for those who continue to make positive change happen.

“Through the contributions of countless individuals and organizations, the Schuylkill River has been transformed, from a dream revived to a river revived.”

Richard Vaughn is Executive Vice President and Communications Director for the Center City Residents’ Association.

This article was reprinted with permission from The Center City Quarterly, a publication of the Center City Residents’ Association.