Riverfront State Prison
Riverfront State Prison is a former prison in Camden, New Jersey that was operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections from August 12, 1985 to 2009. It was located in the neighborhood of Cooper Point at the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Elm Street.
The prison first opened after the state paid Camden money in exchange for receiving a plot of land that was used to establish the prison.
In 2007, while the state was preparing to close Riverfront, it considered establishing a replacement state prison in Cumberland County, which already had three other state prisons. When officials from the city of Bridgeton, New Jersey heard of a state report proposing to move Riverfront's prisoners to South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, Bridgeton officials opposed the plans.
Riverfront closed in 2009. The state had a savings of $43 million per year. The 16 acre site is considered surplus property by the state the buildings were demolished in 2010.
In May 2013 the New Jersey Economic Development Authority announced that it would seek developers for the site. In September 2013 Waterfront Renaissance Associates announced that it proposed to build the Riverfront World Trade Center, a development of 2.3-million-square-foot campus on 16 acres on the site. The project would be built in four phases, the first of which would be a promenade along the Delaware River.
