Gateway Park

The park built along Admiral Wilson Boulevard by the Delaware River Port Authority in 2000, was initially meant to provide a scenic view for those traveling from NJ to Philadelphia for the Republican National Convention. The green space replaced what had been a string of strip clubs and seedy motels along the boulevard. After the convention, the park was to be transferred to Camden County, but that never happened. Fourteen years later the park is being cleaned-up and will be turned over to the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) and NJ Conservation Foundation.

The rapid growth of automobile use profoundly altered Camden County’s economy and landscape especially along the Cooper River corridor. It increased demand for new and vastly upgraded bridges and highways, shifted business locations and development outside the city and led to new ways to think about and design public places and parks. Admiral Wilson and Crescent Boulevards had perhaps the most impact on Camden and its suburbs, as the first was designed to speed motorists quickly through the city to Philadelphia, and the second to route autos completely around the City of Camden. Named for Admiral Henry Braid Wilson Jr., a Camden native and World War I naval hero, Admiral Wilson has been the most famous and alternately the most infamous road in South Jersey. When originally conceived the boulevard was meant to be a parkway, providing motorists with pleasant views of the river, Camden High School, and city and county owned parks along the Cooper. State highway officials abandoned this idea when they decided to sell the land adjacent to the boulevard to private interest rather than turn it over to the city for parks.