Camden Named as 2nd Highest Crime city

An open letter the Editors of the newspapers of the Philadelphia/Camden area:

I wanted to comment on your article on Camden, NJ being named as the second most dangerous city in the country. Despite this terrible reality it seems that light needs to be shed on some positive news coming from the city as well.

The Waterfront South Theatre, a new 99 seat theatre in the Waterfront South section of the city is rising as we speak. Thanks to the Heart of Camden, Domenica Foundation and numerous other donors a new theatre is being born with steel now reaching to the sky. This facility will serve the people and children of the city with a space for inspiration, hope and light. It will also be the permanent home of the South Camden Theatre Company now producing its fourth season of professional theatre and presently housed in the basement theatre at Sacred Heart Church at Broadway and Ferry Avenue.

I know that the crime figures are an eye grabbing headline but I would also like it to be noted that thanks to countless volunteers in all parts of the city, Camden will get back on her feet. Join us by seeing a play or visiting the neighboring greenhouse or donating time or money. Camden can change if people in the surrounding area support the efforts that are presently in place. “The climb may be steep” as President-elect Obama said but we WILL reach the top of the peak.

Joseph M. Paprzycki
Producing Artistic Director
South Camden Theatre Company

The steel is rising

This past Friday I went by the theatre and saw a majestic sight. The steel that will serve as the bones of the theatre was rising from the ground. The concrete foundation was now receiving the bones of the theatre and......the internal of the structure could now be seen. It made me think of the last time construction occurred at the corner of 4th and Jasper in Camden. It was back in the 1860's when the original building [which turned into Walt's Cafe] was built. So much had changed since then. The wooden structure lasted until 2007 when Fr. Doyle brought the decaying building down with a back hoe and now, in 2008, the new skeleton is made of steel. I wonder if we also have hardened over the years. Hardened to the plight of a city gone awry with guns and drugs and poverty. This new rebirth, though, will prove to us all that our structure needs to be stronger as well. Strong enough to ensure that this theatre WILL rise and thrive and that the hardened structure of us all will see that Camden never returns to what it had become..... that hope and dreams will now have a permanent residence at the corner of 4th and Jasper. It is proper that it is Thanksgiving week. We should all give thanks for so much. But please, if you would, also give thanks for this rebirth as it will be the first of many, many more in Waterfront South!