Simply, the property is much larger than you've imagined. The positioning of the roads, and the fact that most have not been on the property, creates an illusion that the property is smaller than it seems.
With the Eagles heading into the surprise playoff game Sunday... look at that stadium's size on TV and think "would that fit into the landfill?". Well it does. And so does Citizens Bank Park. And Wachovia Center. And the Spectrum. Oh, and for the culture minded, even the Art Museum.
ALL AT THE SAME TIME. The redevelopment property is that big.
To help get the message across to people, I am using satellite images from Google Maps, and superimposing familiar structures onto the landfill image using graphics software. All images are on the same basic template with the landfill area shaded green, and the small industrial area at the Rt 42 entrance shaded yellow.
The images placed into the landfill image are the exact same size relative to the landdfill. Meaning if the Lincoln Financial Football stadium were built in the land fill it would take up that exact amout of land area as presented in my image.
Disclaimer: Let's be clear here folks. These are not plans. There is no talk. It is a FICTIONAL depictions that I put together to help people understand how large the property is. I don't layout roads or take into consideration the individual details of the property. Also, I am not personally saying we jam as much as we can in there. Its just to give an understanding of the size of the property.
The Layout Illusion:
Because of the unique positioning of the property, wedged between Big Timber Creek, Rt 42 and Creek Rd... plus some shielding of trees and businesses... the everyday resident has only had a small glimpse of this property. We never get to see it from behind and prior to the trees being cleared on Rt 42 and the elevation, we couldn't see much from the Rt 42 side. Even Creek Road only offered a small glimpse into the property.
Image1: Click for larger image viewImage1 above shows the redevelopment property with key features identified to help you understand its positioning. Bellmawr Lake, WIP towers, Creek Rd, and the Environmental Center Building in the upper left. Rt 42 is off to the right (I also labeled where the recently placed tractor-trailer billboard sits approximately).
If Image1 were larger, Deptford and the Deptford Mall would be past the bottom of the image.
I added additional shading to this one image to help clarify why most never really knew how big this property is.
The Red Shading:
One key aspect that hides the true size of the property, is that when approaching the bend on Creek Rd (as kid's we called it "Dead Mans Curve") where the Ecological Center building is, most people think the land fill starts there and only moves out towards Rt 42.
Actually... the property continues down Rt 295 south, far past the building.
The RED shaded area indicates this portion of the property. Driving on Creek we can see a few mounds of dirt, but most never knew there was a large composting field beyond those few mounds
How big is this one section? Big enough that the Deptford Mall building could fit into that hidden spot. And you never even knew that land was there.
The Blue Shading:
I added the Blue shading in Image1 to indicate my rough guess of what most people have seen of the landfill over the last 30 years. You drive around Creek Road or stop at the Ecological Center, never having a need to go much further into the property. Probably less than a third of the property was readily visible to the average passerby.
Isolation, plus the shifted elevations of the property, makes the property seem much smaller than it really is.
So now on to a few visual representations to bring the point home!
Schools and Fields:
We've all driven kids to the schools and fields in town, or just driven by them... or maybe we even attended the schools?! How do those large buildings and properties fit into the landfill? I think this first one will quickly start to make things clear for Bellmawr residents, but there are more depictions so keep reading!
Image2 - Click for Larger Image
I started with this image just placing the school buildings in, and quickly realized they were LOST in the size of the landfill. So I decided to include the surrounding property.
- Lark School (Crescent Park): The entire school building, parking AND the very large Sauter Park
- Burke School: Including play grounds and parking
- Bellmawr Park School: School, grounds and ALL of the Baseball fields in that area.
- Bell Oaks School: School, grounds.
- TRITON regional: The entire Triton High School complex. The school, the expanded athletic fields. Everything. It is BIG!
- Rec Center: And with space to spare, I was able to place the Bellmawr Recreation center. All fields, parking and the playground!
Honestly.... would you have guessed all of this would fit in the Landfill property?
Malls
Deptford Mall has been a top shopping destination for Bellmawr residents since the day it opened over 30 years ago. We've all gotten worn out from walking the distance of the Mall's two levels. While not a huge mall, it definitely is big.
Where would it fit? Well remember that hidden area I described earlier (red shaded)? The Deptford Mall building would fit into that spot!
Image3: Malls
Click for a larger image
Image3 shows not only does the Deptford Mall building fit into the Bellmawr Waterfront property, but so do the Moorestown and Cherry Hill Malls!
Could you survive a day of holiday shopping just walking the inside of the three malls? Imagine them all in one place!
Super Walmarts:
You can't talk shopping, withoug mentioning Walmarts. They are popping up all over the place, and we will soon be surrounded with Walmarts and Super Walmarts. I actually have a blog started about just that, and hopefully will finish soon.
So the Super Walmarts are the BIG Walmarts that are both Walmart Stores and Supermarkets. Audubon is a Walmart. Deptford just opened a new Super Walmart.
The Super Walmarts are monstrous. It looks like a shopping center all by itself. If you haven't been to the Deptford Super Walmart, you have to check it out.And a Super Walmart needs a ton of parking.
So how many Super Walmarts, with Super Parking lots, would fit into the Bellmawr Landfill?
Image4 - Super Walmarts
Image4 is a depiction of the Deptford Super Walmart and parking placed into the Bellmawr property.
FIVE fit. Very comfortably. With Parking. You could easily see there is plenty of room for parking and other small stores.
Disney Magic!?
Remember the rumors years ago of a Disney Park being built in the Philadelphia/NJ area? Or there was the failed attempt to build a DisneyQuest complex at 8th and Market. How about a little Disney Magic for the landfill?
Image7: Magic KingdomClick for Larger Image
Simply, the Bellmawr Landfill is 120 acres. Disney's Magic Kingdom is 100 acres. Now the Magic Kingdom is round and doesn't fit cleanly into the landfill's kidney bean shape, but it does give the idea of size.
Remember wearing your feet down at the Magic Kingdom after pushing kids all day around the park? It seemed like the place would never end. Tommorrowland, FantasyLand...
.... and SPACE MOUNTAIN! The Space Mountain building alone is HUGE!
And it would all fit within the Bellmawr Waterfront project.
Stadiums
Now to my opening blog "teaser" comments... the stadiums. As was reported by me (first!), the developer is proposing that Bellmawr be considered as a location for the new Comcast Spectrum. Initial thoughts are "A Bass pro shops, and now an Arena? Where does all that fit?"
We've all been to a game or show at the Philadelphia sports complex at least once in our lives. They are BIG facilities. The Eagles are playing today, in a VERY large football stadium. Keep this in mind as you watch it on Television.
So how do the Stadiums match up to the land fill?
Image 6: Stadiums
Click for larger image
Well how about this... not only does the Lincoln Financial Field stadium fit.
So does Citizen Bank Park.
And Wachovia Center.
And Wachovia Spectrum.
AND, there is still space for the Art Museum, for those who are more culturally inclined!
There's actually enough land left between the stadiums to work in parking if the placements were shifted a bit.
Since I am laying out a grouping of amazing event showplaces, I wondered what would really set off the layout and attract people for miles?
Well.. up in the yellow section I placed the entire Liberty Island, with the Statue of Liberty! Imagine the Statue of Liberty welcoming people as they cross through the Gateway of South Jersey!
Calm down.. its all in good fun, and to prove a point. :-)
Now do you understand how big this property is?
Does it help understand, that with all the roads passing by, and a mostly untouched stream suitable for recreation, that this property is getting the attention it is?
And do you understand why... "Where we're going, we need roads!"
More Land?
A few quick points... I have to keep it quick as I am tired of typing!
First... I indicated the yellow section, as it is currently occuppied land, mostly for commercial and industrial buildings. This road will become a key entrance-way into the new project. This area is somethingto keep an eye on over the years, as I believe that if the Redevelopment happens these properties could quickly change as their value increases when used for other purposes. Who knows, in 10 years this could be a small commercial building district or high-end small stores. That is just me speculating.
Second... Across the Creek in Deptford is an even larger parcel of undeveloped land. I don't know much about it. I don't know who owns it. Almonesson Road cuts right through it and I've seen some of the land from the road. The also have a small dock in the Creek.
This last image is at a higher elevation to include that property. The "across the creek" properties are marked in blue. Pure guess on size, but if the Bellmawr landfill property is 120 acres, then the connected properties across the Creek have to be another 250 acres.
Pure speculation, but who knows... if the Bellmawr project is very successfull would it be worthwhile many years down the road for someone to build a bridge across the creek to connect the properties?
Click for Larger Image
So jump into Street View and check out what they've captured of 1/3 of our town. If you find anything interesting or funny in our town's Street View images... then PLEASE comment here and let us all know about it!