Duck Boats Threaten Schuylkill Waterfront
Since opening in 2004, the Schuylkill Banks waterfront park has been embraced by the public as a popular jogging and walking trail. Activists worked hard to pressure the Street administration into putting this 40 year old proposal into action. It truly is one of Philadelphia’s biggest urban success stories of the past decade, and a favorite weekend escape route amongst the AITA staff.
However, in order to usher tourists to the park, the city is planning on adding two separate but equally disruptive waterfront attractions. The first would be the now locally infamous Duck Boat tours, running up and down the Schuylkill. The plan is to dig a trench under the walking trail for the boats to make their way back onto the street. The project has been described as a potential eyesore and the boats themselves could prove a nuisance not only to park-goers but to kayaks and other small craft already on the water. All of this is, of course, in the wake of the horrible Duck Boat collision earlier this year on the Delaware, the exact cause of which has yet to be determined by officials.
The second attraction, being referred to as Water Magic, would consist of a series of fountains down the middle of the river spraying into the air, forming a screen of water which would have videos projected onto it. While not as far along as the Duck Boat plan, the project has $2 million of city money promised to it, the endorsement of a number of city officials and is being championed by private activists, including John Randolph the very man who prompted the Banks’ development years ago. Inspired by similar attractions in Las Vegas, the videos, officials purport, would be artful rather than commercial in nature.
Both of these attractions seem to bring to mind similar Philadelphia ploys to boost tourism; the Rocky Statue on the art museum steps and the new Barnes on the Parkway for example. Opening the Schuylkill Banks to Duck Boats and water shows would be a tragic end to another unspoiled Philadelphia asset.
