Rutgers, city officially open new athletic complex on Camden Waterfront

CAMDEN — The student-athletes laughed and joked as they tested out the track at Camden Athletic Fields, a sprawling new complex on the site in the shadow of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge where Campbell's Field once stood.

The teens, from Woodrow Wilson (soon to be Eastside) High and Camden High, were getting their first look at the new turf fields, which officially opened Monday and will be shared youth leagues in the city and Rutgers University.

Jakara Nock, a senior at Camden High and a sprinter on the school's track and field team, admitted she's a little jealous: As her high school athletic career draws to a close, she won't have a chance to compete on the state-of-the-art track with eight lanes (Camden High's has six) and panoramic views of the bridge and the Philadelphia skyline.

"This is very nice," she marveled.

Craig Walton, a junior who plays football and runs track at Camden High, agreed.

"I love the background," he said. "It's beautiful and it's such a great atmosphere. I think it'll give (young athletes) a good feeling to compete here."

Damir McCrary, a senior linebacker on Woodrow Wilson's football team, added, "It'll be a great experience for the younger guys to play here. And it goes to show, (Rutgers) is giving back to the community. This will be motivation for the kids to be better."

The complex, with fields for soccer, lacrosse and baseball, as well as a track, pole vault and steeplechase, also has a clubhouse with locker rooms, restrooms and training areas. The $16 million investment also includes new lighting and stormwater mitigation.

Funded by Camden County, the Rowan University-Rutgers Camden Board of Governors and Rutgers-Camden, the complex marked a new use for the site at Pearl Street, Penn Street and Delaware Avenue along the waterfront after the 2019 demolition of Campbell's Field.

The ballpark, once home to the Atlantic League Camden Riversharks, an independent minor league baseball team, had been in decline before the franchise left Camden in 2015. Used for occasional special events, it was the prior home for Rutgers-Camden's baseball team, the Scarlet Raptors.

On Monday, a phalanx of local officials walked the field, talking about getting steps in along the track and keeping it open for community use. Ahead of Monday's ribbon cutting, there were a few people walking along the track on an overcast morning.

Calling the complex "top-notch," Camden Mayor Vic Carstarphen noted the nearly $100 million in investment in Camden's parks and open spaces over the last several years, including improvements to parks in North Camden (Dominick Andujar Park), downtown (4th and Washington Park) and East Camden (Alberta Woods Park) and new parks in Cramer Hill and Waterfront South.

"Ultimately this is about our Camden residents," he added, promising community access to the complex. "About our seniors, our youth and our families. ... I wanted to highlight the fact that Camden is one of our youngest cities and I want to stress the importance of our city's youth having access to activities that can positively shape their futures."

Sports, Carstarphen said, "was a foundation for me" growing up in Camden. "I can't imagine growing up as a kid, being able to come to this waterfront, with this scenery, and this environment, how much confidence this would have given me as a kid. That confidence will be instilled in all of our youth."

Antonio Tillis, the chancellor for Rutgers-Camden, noted that the fields give the school's track teams its first-ever permanent home.

Falio Leyba-Martinez, a Camden School Advisory Board member and president of the East Camden Youth Association and East Camden Little League, confessed he was excited to see where his teams will be able to hold playoff games.

"I stand here with goosebumps thinking about our kids playing on this field on a Friday night," he said, flanked by two of those kids, Yadiel Ramos and Jelvis Nunez. "Our kids having that ambition, knowing that one day, I'm going to go to Rutgers, I'm going to play for Rutgers. Let's clap it up for that."

Camden Track Club coach Albert Essilfie recalled how student-athletes from Camden competed for too long on inferior facilities.

"So you're running in the streets, running in the parks, whatever you can do to make it happen," he said. When they'd invite competitors to their home tracks, they'd have to organize community clean-ups to get things in shape.

"To stand here in this facility, to see the awesomeness of it ... Take a look around, just take a minute," he said.

"The kids we work with start as young as 6, 7 years old ... These kids feed into our high school programs; everybody knows about the proud history of track and field in Camden. Camden produces champions. Seeing this investment... in our youth and our community, that's only going to spur us on to greater accomplishments."

Jakara Nock is one of those champions, and while she's envious of the athletes who'll get to compete at the track, she also might be able to do so, too.

Asked what was next for her after graduating from Camden High, she said she'll study nursing at Rutgers-Camden in the fall, though she's not sure whether she'll compete on the university's track team.

Would the brand-new track and views of the bridge and Philly skyline help tip the scales?

"Maybe," she smiled. "Maybe."

Phaedra Trethan has been a reporter and editor in South Jersey since 2007 and has covered Camden and surrounding areas since 2015, concentrating on issues relating to quality of life and social justice for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. She's called South Jersey home since 1971. Contact her with feedback, news tips or questions at ptrethan@gannettnj.com, on Twitter @By_Phaedra, or by phone at 856.486-2417.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Camden Athletic Complex, for city and Rutgers, officially opens