{"id":283174,"date":"2026-09-10T18:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/283174\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T18:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:20:08","slug":"chester-scores-100-million-investment-gov-shapiro-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/283174\/","title":{"rendered":"Chester scores $100 million investment, Gov. Shapiro says"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Delco to Chesco and Montco to Bucks, what about life in Philly\u2019s suburbs do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Chester, long one of Pennsylvania\u2019s most impoverished cities, is receiving a nearly $100 million investment in an attempt to kick-start a resurrection, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Thursday at ACCESS Chester Community Center.\n<\/p>\n

The targeted investment fund, comprising money mostly from the commonwealth with some support from Delaware County and the private sector, will be used to boost community programs, eliminate blight and make the city attractive to commercial development.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a true collaboration between state and local government, between community leaders and business, unlike anything Chester has seen in decades,\u201d Shapiro said.\n <\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development is declaring Chester an \u201centerprise zone<\/a>,\u201d which will allow the state to offer tax breaks for businesses and developers that invest in the city, Shapiro said.\n<\/p>\n

According to Shapiro, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will also revamp a section of Route 291 that splits downtown Chester and make it safer for motorists. Additionally, PennDOT will help the city build new crosswalks and sidewalks to connect the downtown area to Widener University\u2019s campus.\n<\/p>\n

Funding will also go toward Chester\u2019s neighborhood block captain program, a pair of street clean-up initiatives and the Chester Cultural Arts and Technology Center. Shapiro said the state will set aside $27.5 million to expand the Philadelphia Union\u2019s sportplex on Chester\u2019s waterfront. In return, the Union will offer free youth soccer opportunities, mentoring and more investment.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI might just be the happiest mayor in America right now,\u201d Chester Mayor Stefan Roots said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re witnessing the beginning \u2014 only the beginning \u2014 of an epic American city turnaround.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Chester still battles through bankruptcy<\/p>\n

A state-appointed receiver declared bankruptcy on behalf of the cash-stripped city<\/a> in 2022. Then-receiver Michael Doweary clashed with elected officials over allegations of bloated salaries<\/a>, accusing the city\u2019s own leaders of interfering with recovery efforts<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

Doweary even sought to strip city officials of administrative duties<\/a>, citing ethics violations and years of cronyism, mismanagement and nepotism. Despite all of that, the city\u2019s financial conditions were projected to worsen. Doweary warned in 2023 that the city could be disincorporated<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

Roots, who was elected mayor in November 2023<\/a>, took a more collaborative approach with the receiver\u2019s office than his predecessors. In 2024, Doweary announced a plan to monetize the Chester Water Authority<\/a> by having an outside vendor run the operation in order to make up for the city\u2019s fiscal shortfalls.\n<\/p>\n

However, shakeups in the mayor\u2019s and receiver\u2019s offices<\/a> as well as a new monetization plan have not been enough to turn the tide. The Chester Water Authority opposed the plan. Receiver Vijay Kapoor also took the battle to the Commonwealth Court in 2025, seeking to reel in the authority via board structuring<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Delco to Chesco and Montco to Bucks, what about life in Philly\u2019s suburbs do you want WHYY…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[53474,211,212,33,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-283174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-bankruptcy","tag-chester","tag-delaware-county","tag-josh-shapiro","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}