Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Approaching the fourth anniversary of its rare and historic bankruptcy,<\/a> the City of Chester is about to get $97.1 million in public and private investments, Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/a> announced Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI might just be the happiest mayor in America,\u201d said Chester Mayor Stefan Roots, among those who joined Shapiro for the announcement in Delaware County<\/a>\u2019s only city.<\/p>\n Shapiro, noting that the resolution of the protracted and often acrimonious bankruptcy \u201cwould take far longer than I\u2019d like,\u201d said \u201cthe time to invest in Chester is now.\u201d<\/p>\n Roots said the money would go toward beautifying neighborhoods and dealing with blighted properties in the city of 33,000. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be repairing homes. \u2026 We\u2019re going to be improving roads and sidewalks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The majority of the funding, $52.6 million, will go to \u201crevamp and redesign\u201d a section of Route 291\/U.S. 13, part of the old \u201cIndustrial Highway,\u201d which separates the riverfront from the city neighborhoods. The bulk of that money would come from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Council.<\/p>\n The highway has long been a serious safety hazard for motorists and people who live along it, Roots said in an interview after the event. Speeding has been a major issue, he added. <\/p>\n PennDot also would be putting up $7.3 million for new sidewalks and walkways to Widener University<\/a>, at the north end of town, in an effort to integrate the campus with the rest of the city.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you be a city with a college, and not be a college town?\u201d Roots said. <\/p>\n He said major efforts would be made to spruce up the Avenue of the States, which is a thoroughfare from City Hall to the campus about 10 blocks away. <\/p>\n The state and the Philadelphia Union soccer team are putting up $27.5 million to build \u201cnew outdoor fields, a 100,000-square-foot field house, indoor courts, academy space, and a performance center to expand youth programs and support school and community sports\u201d at the riverfront Sportsplex in the city\u2019s West End, according to a state news release.<\/p>\n Wawa<\/a>, Essential Utilities<\/a> Inc., Power Home Remodeling, and Delaware County are contributing $2 million for demolition work and to acquire 10 lots and two buildings, along with fixing up 25 other structures.<\/p>\n Shapiro said that Chester was now an \u201centerprise zone,\u201d a Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development program in which tax breaks and grant money would be made available to investors.<\/p>\n The department is overseeing the city\u2019s bankruptcy process, which began in fall 2022, in part due to several years of missed pension payments. <\/p>\n