City of New Castle

Waterfront Concept Plan Proposal Path Forward/Timeline

Waterfront Concept Timeline

DOC, MSC aid City with beach cleanup

Riverfront beach cleanup efforts took place in mid-December, with the City coordinating with the Department Of Corrections (DOC)/New Castle Community Correction Centers and the Municipal Services Commission (MSC). The City is always grateful when our Public Works crews can team up with MSC personnel on projects to benefit the public.

Added special thanks to Lt. McLellan, Cpl. Stokes, Cpl. Ewasko and of course all the hard working crew members. It is estimated as many as 75 dump truck loads of material were removed off the beach — much of it wood washed ashore with the tide, and some of it in huge pieces of whole trees and trunks.

And a final thank you on this project goes to Rep. J.J. Johnson, who helped arrange for the City to dispose of all the wood collected free of charge, in cooperation with the Peninsula Compost Group. Plans are to have the crews back in the spring and then periodically in the future.

The Old Library Museum

The Old Library Museum is just one of many museums and historical buildings found in Historic New Castle.

Photo courtesy of the New Castle Historical Society.
The Old Library was built by the New Castle Library Company in 1892 on land purchased by the Company from the Janvier family, who lived in Harmony House – adjacent to the library lot on its north side.  The Library is currently not open to the public.

The Company, chartered in 1812, had housed its collection of classics and law books in the Academy (built in 1799) across the street. Originally, the Company was private: borrowing privileges were limited to members and, it is believed, students at the Academy. By the late 1860s, the schoolroom was no longer large enough to house the growing number of books.  Still, it was more than 20 years before a new library was constructed.

The subscription-based library was open only intermittently following World War I.  In 1942, the Company rented the building to the recently formed New Castle Library Commission.  State aid was granted, and for the first time the community enjoyed a free library that was open to everyone of school age or older.

The “new” library, at Fifth & Delaware Streets and designed by Albert Kruse, opened in 1965.  The Old Library was used by the sculptor Maurine Ligon as her home and studio from 1965 until her death in 1979.

In 1982, the Trustees of the Common renovated the Old Library, and leased it to the New Castle Historical Society as a meeting place, library, and museum.

Research on the building itself continues.  It is very likely that the building was designed by Philadelphia architect, Frank Furness.  Its style – with its fine proportions, rich and varied brickwork, leaded glass, and woodwork  – is typical of his work. Furness was an architect of many excellent buildings in the Philadelphia / Wilmington area, among them Recitation Hall at the University of Delaware (1891) and the Wilmington Train Station (1905).  The building cost about $5,500 to erect, including plans supplied by Furness, Evans, & Co.

In the early 1980s, a paint analysis was completed on the exterior of the building.  The current exterior colors – brick red, toffee, and apple green – are close to the building’s original colors.  The Victorians were fond of using rich earth colors in surprising combinations that were a backlash against the whites and creams used in the first half of the 19th century.

Beautiful fall foliage in the VanDyke Village neighborhood

City Public Works crews are now performing leaf collection operations. There is no set schedule for when leaves will be picked up on various streets. Residents are asked to rake leaves to the edge of their lawn or sidewalk or curb, to be collected by leaf vacuum trucks. Residents are asked to take special care to not rake leaves so they are in the street, blocking the sidewalk and/or storm drains.

City launches new Web site!

The City of New Castle has overhauled its Web site with a new and improved design. The site has a new look and is loaded with information for residents and visitors. The redesigned site has improved navigation and is aimed at being ultra user-friendly.

Last January, the New Castle City Council reviewed a range of proposals for updating the site. These included the possibility of contracting with a private vendor for the work and paying for a prototype City site which had already been developed. Costs for those options were wide-ranging and as much as $20,000.

City Council members selected the Delaware Government Information Center (GIC) to revamp the City’s site. Since this is a department of the State of Delaware, no City tax dollars were expended in development of the updated site.

The GIC has helped a number of Delaware municipalities develop Web sites — either from scratch or with updated designs. The City of New Castle is the largest community (population-wise) to which the GIC has provided these services.

There are a number of advantages the City enjoys having their site with the GIC. For example, Web hosting is provided by the State, so this is a cost savings to the City. The GIC also provides training to City employees, who now have the ability to directly edit the site and upload information. Not only does this add to the cost savings, but may greatly increase the speed at which items of importance can be placed online.

The City wishes to especially thank the GIC team for all their efforts. Kudos also to City staff in Finance and Administration for their efforts, and of course to the Mayor and Council members who supported City personnel working along with GIC to develop a new and improved City Web site.

Note, the updated site has a new address: newcastlecity.delaware.gov. Persons accessing the former address will be automatically redirected. Frequent visitors may want to update their bookmarks or favorites.

City considers riverfront revitalization proposal

Many citizens participate in design charrette
Turnout was great at the New Castle School auditorium, as interested citizens attended a design charrette to help shape what a proposal might look like for redeveloping New Castle’s riverfront.
Citizens were provided information on some possible components of a redevelopment plan, such as:

• appropriate infrastructure installed to allow vessels like the Kalmar Nyckel to dock, and which could also allow docking for small (non-car carrying) ferries;
• a limited amount of daytime docking to enable boaters to patronize City shops and restaurants and engage in tourist activities;
• development of a permanent place for the Good Will Fire Co. to access their rescue boat.

It was noted that much of New Castle’s long-history, spanning more than three centuries, includes the importance of the Delaware River to the community with varying levels of utilizing the River and shoreline for commerce and other activities.
It was also reported that this proposal originated as part of the City’s updated Comprehensive Plan from 2009. The Plan was created by the City Planning Commission and recommended by that body to the City Council for adoption, which subsequently occurred. Included in that Plan is the following:
“The City should…conduct a more detailed waterfront plan to identify market needs and strengthen the downtown’s ties to the waterfront. Specific issues to address include:

• Appropriate business mix;
• Residential needs;
• Parking needs and potential supply solutions;
• Enhanced waterfront connections;
• Enhanced recreational opportunities.”

Information was provided at the meeting on a number of items related to the Riverfront concerning City projects completed or in the works, such as:

• The City’s recent purchase of 60 acres of Riverfront property from the Immanuel Episcopal Church – the Broad Dyke Natural Area – which is permanently preserved as open space and available for passive recreation purposes such as hiking and nature watching. This land purchase was funded through multiple grants from a number of partnering entities.
• A recent assessment performed on the condition of the City-owned Banks Building on the wharf, with plans to seek funding sources to rehabilitate the building.
• A current project in the vicinity of the New Castle Sailing Club at the southwest end of Battery Park, to develop a “living shoreline” – that is using shoreline stabilization techniques to create natural habitat to protect the shoreline from erosion, while also providing critical wildlife habitat. This project was funded through a DNREC grant.
• Rehabilitation of the four dikes along New Castle’s shoreline and riverfront: Buttonwood, Broad, Gambacorta and Army Creek. The City lobbied to have the State provide funding and $3 million is included in the current State budget to go towards this work.

At the meeting, proposed sketch plans were displayed and citizens were asked to review these and provide comments and ask questions. Further, a survey was distributed for participants to complete and return. See the sketch plans:

Existing Conditions

Concept Master Plan

In the survey, eight questions were asked about various components of the riverfront and possible redevelopment. A significant majority of the respondents for all questions favored the proposed ideas.

The City Council has this item on their agenda for their meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 8 (meeting at the Town Hall).

Process begins for Banks Building rehabilitation

The City has been working on the issue of the Banks Building in need of restoration. An expert was hired to provide us with an evaluation of the current state of the building and an outline of a path forward for renovations and possible funding sources. A small team (Terry Graham, Erv Thatcher, Corky Viola and myself) met with Architectural Conservator Richard Byrne for most of one day, carefully examining the various aspects of the building and assessing the health of specific items (i.e., the foundation, floor joists, floors, walls, woodwork, stairs, siding, roofing, etc., etc.).

A follow-up walk through was scheduled for the following day and it was great to see a large turnout of interested persons in attendance – including the Mayor and all Council members! We are anxiously awaiting the written report Mr. Byrne will be providing so the City can decide on the next steps on the road to eventual renovation and reuse of this City building in one of our most prime locations!