Eagle has landed -- again -- clouding future of new Philly market
Eagle has landed -- again -- clouding future of new Philly market
PHILADELPHIA -- The story begs a pun related to the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League.
But the saga of the future of a new fresh fruit and vegetable market for Philadelphia is so incongruous and unpredictable that it is time to move beyond puns.
"The eagle has returned to the property," a dead-serious Jimmy Storey told The Produce News May 9 shortly after he met with the board of the Philadelphia Fresh Food Terminal Corp. Mr. Storey, who is president of the board, owns Quaker City Produce on the Philadelphia Regional Produce Center.
The property in question is the old Philadelphia Naval Yard alongside the Delaware River. The navy yard is being converted from its former use as a major U.S. naval base to an industrial park. Part of the property there, surrounding a weed-infested airstrip, is to be the site for the new, state-of- the-art Philadelphia produce center.
The market's landing around that airstrip hasn't been easy. It became rougher in March when a pair of bald eagles was spotted nesting high in a tree at one end of the property. The protected national birds threatened the future of the new location. But market operators breathed a collective sigh of relief in recent days with word that the eagles had departed.
Then Mr. Storey and Sonny DiCrecchio, general manager of the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, broke word to their board that one of the eagles had returned.
Mr. DiCrecchio said that federal authorities will decide by June 29 if bald eagles will be delisted as an endangered species. If they are taken off the list, it will be much less complicated to build a new produce market on the property.
"The state is negotiating with the feds and the wildlife people" now on what will happen to build the market, said Mr. DiCrecchio. "A lot of assumptions are being made now on if the eagles are delisted."
A six-week wait until word on bald eagles' classification isn't all bad. "We have the opportunity in the next month-and-a-half to rework the numbers" for building a new market," Mr. DiCrecchio said.
Mr. Storey said, "The estimates came in a little over budget but we haven't looked at these numbers yet. We're not sure of the validity of these numbers and we're looking at alternative spots" to build a market, should expensive construction on soft ground at the naval yard be ruled out.
"The estimates are pretty far off," Mr. DiCrecchio added during the conference call with The Produce News. "We think they are broad-stroke numbers" and market officials will be studying those while the authorities analyze the future of bald eagles.
As more solid figures are determined for the latest estimates in building a new market, new sites will be considered, Mr. DiCrecchio confirmed. "We will ride the eagle thing out. The eaglets are gone," Mr. DiCrecchio said. A hovering helicopter spotted a broken shell in the nest, which was recently occupied by a red tailed hawk. In a piece of good news for Philadelphia's produce operators, red tailed hawks are not endangered.
Until about May 8, there had been no eagles on the site for three weeks, Mr. DiCrecchio said. Eagles have been known to leave a nest for five years, then return. The strictest interpretations of eagle defense could name this as cause not to build a market near even an empty eagle's nest.
Mr. DiCrecchio said that there were 500 pairs of bald eagles in the United States in 1962. There are 8,000 pairs today.
With a much stronger eagle population, Mr. DiCrecchio hopes one nest "doesn't kill a billion dollars worth" of industry. This would include the cost to the city in losses from the produce market and other prospective business development around the site.
"There will be some solution. We are the trend setters. No one has ever had to deal with a successful nest in an urban area," he said.
Building a barrier of some sort between the market and the nest is a possibility, if, in fact, finances allow the market to be built there at all.
But the saga of the future of a new fresh fruit and vegetable market for Philadelphia is so incongruous and unpredictable that it is time to move beyond puns.
"The eagle has returned to the property," a dead-serious Jimmy Storey told The Produce News May 9 shortly after he met with the board of the Philadelphia Fresh Food Terminal Corp. Mr. Storey, who is president of the board, owns Quaker City Produce on the Philadelphia Regional Produce Center.
The property in question is the old Philadelphia Naval Yard alongside the Delaware River. The navy yard is being converted from its former use as a major U.S. naval base to an industrial park. Part of the property there, surrounding a weed-infested airstrip, is to be the site for the new, state-of- the-art Philadelphia produce center.
The market's landing around that airstrip hasn't been easy. It became rougher in March when a pair of bald eagles was spotted nesting high in a tree at one end of the property. The protected national birds threatened the future of the new location. But market operators breathed a collective sigh of relief in recent days with word that the eagles had departed.
Then Mr. Storey and Sonny DiCrecchio, general manager of the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, broke word to their board that one of the eagles had returned.
Mr. DiCrecchio said that federal authorities will decide by June 29 if bald eagles will be delisted as an endangered species. If they are taken off the list, it will be much less complicated to build a new produce market on the property.
"The state is negotiating with the feds and the wildlife people" now on what will happen to build the market, said Mr. DiCrecchio. "A lot of assumptions are being made now on if the eagles are delisted."
A six-week wait until word on bald eagles' classification isn't all bad. "We have the opportunity in the next month-and-a-half to rework the numbers" for building a new market," Mr. DiCrecchio said.
Mr. Storey said, "The estimates came in a little over budget but we haven't looked at these numbers yet. We're not sure of the validity of these numbers and we're looking at alternative spots" to build a market, should expensive construction on soft ground at the naval yard be ruled out.
"The estimates are pretty far off," Mr. DiCrecchio added during the conference call with The Produce News. "We think they are broad-stroke numbers" and market officials will be studying those while the authorities analyze the future of bald eagles.
As more solid figures are determined for the latest estimates in building a new market, new sites will be considered, Mr. DiCrecchio confirmed. "We will ride the eagle thing out. The eaglets are gone," Mr. DiCrecchio said. A hovering helicopter spotted a broken shell in the nest, which was recently occupied by a red tailed hawk. In a piece of good news for Philadelphia's produce operators, red tailed hawks are not endangered.
Until about May 8, there had been no eagles on the site for three weeks, Mr. DiCrecchio said. Eagles have been known to leave a nest for five years, then return. The strictest interpretations of eagle defense could name this as cause not to build a market near even an empty eagle's nest.
Mr. DiCrecchio said that there were 500 pairs of bald eagles in the United States in 1962. There are 8,000 pairs today.
With a much stronger eagle population, Mr. DiCrecchio hopes one nest "doesn't kill a billion dollars worth" of industry. This would include the cost to the city in losses from the produce market and other prospective business development around the site.
"There will be some solution. We are the trend setters. No one has ever had to deal with a successful nest in an urban area," he said.
Building a barrier of some sort between the market and the nest is a possibility, if, in fact, finances allow the market to be built there at all.
