Buried Philly: Exelon plant, up for sale, built atop historic Navy, fire sites - Update

UPDATED with Exelon comments at the end: "It was with great interest that I read the story about the future sale of the former Delaware Station property. I worked there in the '60s and '70s," writes Ed Zajkowski, of Narvon, Lancaster County."The property has a "rich history," he adds: "There were two plants, the 'old' plant, which still exists and the 'new' plant, which was demolished just a few years ago, now the parking lot. But what exists under the site has always enthralled me."

The 'new' plant was built atop a drydock for the former Cramps shipyard, "so well built, they left it there to build the plant, it was under the #8 [PECo generator] unit.  Just upriver was a one-million-gallon oil tank... I observed the difficulty they had driving 350 pilings for it. Couldn't do it. So they dug up the spot. Behold, underground was another Cramps 100-plus-year-old masterpiece -- a marine railway. This was made of 12" x 12" timbers stacked in cross sections and spiked with 2' nails. Except where the tank was, most of that is still there."

And the old plant: "Many years ago -- I'm 71 -- a fellow employee and I recognized the historical significance of what was under this plant. It was the former Neafie & Levy shipyard. They built the nation's first US Navy destroyer, U.S.S. Bainbridge, and America's first steam-powered fire engine...

"The electric company (and) the city had a plaque erected on the property line between the plant and Penn Treaty Park, designating it as an historical property. I wonder if it's still there?" He also remembers the old coal-loading incline, demolished in 1987.

UPDATE: What does this mean for potential buyers? Binswanger and Exelon "are working on a site assessment," and some environmental remediation has already been done, Exelon spokesman  Bob Judge told me. The company knows about the shipyards, of course; if a new owner needs to "go down deeper, you may find something, and it will be addressed" if and when that happens," he added. "People have grand ideas for this property. I think that's all great. Revitalization of the property is important. It's the northern anchor" of Center City's  redeveloped recreational-residential-retail waterfront, he added.

Zajkowski has collected photos of people hard at work building and rebuilding the site, and is looking for like-minded souls to share with, contact me at JoeD@phillynews.com and I'll pass your note along.