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Alumni Profile: Joe Forkin ’95
ALUMNI PROFILE
Over the past decade, Philadelphians have been able to experience several major new parks along the Delaware River, including innovative spaces for recreation, the arts, dining, and entertainment. These projects have been developed by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization overseen by Joe Forkin ’95. Forkin has spent nearly
25 years working at DRWC and its predecessor organization, the Penn’s Landing Corporation, and has served as President of DRWC since 2017.
Forkin joined the predecessor organization for the DRWC in 1997 as Vice President, Operations and Development. The Penn’s Landing Corporation concentrated on developing the two-mile area of the Philadelphia waterfront that is well-known to Philadelphians. However, the area proved to be too small to house all the ambitious ideas that the organization had. In 2009, Penn's Landing Corporation reconstituted into the DRWC and expanded its focus on additional riverfront areas, amounting to six miles of waterfront from Port Richmond to South Philadelphia. “Every proposal had to pack so much into it that we couldn’t get any real momentum,” says Forkin. “By expanding that jurisdiction, it gave us a good start to think larger, more diverse ideas, and to spread out the improvements.”
By refocusing on smaller sites within those six miles, the DRWC created several waterfront park areas each with its unique character. Forkin explains, “In 2011, we built the Race Street Pier, which was the first public park that was built on the waterfront in over 15 years.” Other successful projects followed including the expanded Penn’s Landing Winterfest (beginning in 2013), Spruce Street Harbor Park (2014), and Cherry Street Pier (2017), in addition to several trails.
The DRWC works closely with government entities, including the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as local communities that the projects are based in. Forkin reflects on his education at Holy Family University as an English major and points out how the communications skills he developed as a student became essential to his career. “I had a great experience at Holy Family,” he recalls. “I think of education as strategic thinking and decision making. For me, English and communications were a passion of mine, and critical thinking—how do you make good, sound decisions, how do you receive data and quickly convert that into a decision point that leads to success—was the experience I had.”
“The whole job is communications,” Forkin says of his position as President of the DRWC. “Whether you are speaking to an elected official like the Mayor or a Senator or in a church basement to a community
MARIA YOUNG
ABOVE: Joe Forkin '95 speaks to CNN Travel at the Cherry Street Pier.
Safely relax under the sparkling lights at Spruce Street Harbor Park.
group, it’s all about communications. You have to be well-written, well-spoken, and convincing as well as passionate in what you’re trying to convey to people.”
It is particularly important to Forkin and the DRWC that the projects that are developed reflect their communities. “Each neighborhood has its desires, and community engagement is very important to us. When we go to a community, we ask ‘What do you want to see here? If we can build a park here, what do you want to do?’ Each of our parks is very reflective of the community feedback that we hear.”
In addition to the DRWC, Forkin has also found success as a restaurateur, though he credits his two business partners for their success. The three partners co-own two restaurants named Gaul & Co. Malt House, one in Port Richmond and another in Rockledge. The Port Richmond location was featured on the Food Network’s popular series Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. “It was one of the first new restaurants to open up in that neighborhood,” explains Forkin. “Port Richmond was the Polish capital of Philadelphia because there are a lot of Polish immigrants and heritage there. When we purchased the bar in that neighborhood, we knew that we had to do something to build off that heritage and make the neighborhood proud. We came up with a kielbasa cheesesteak sandwich called the Wit or Witowski.” With a laugh, he adds, “Guy Fieri really liked the sandwich and our wings, so it has gotten a lot of momentum in Philadelphia.”
On the back of those successes, DRWC has put funding together for a $250 million project that will create the new 12-acre Penn’s Landing park. The project, which will break ground in 2022, will resolve a major issue. “In a one-block section of the City from Chestnut Street to Walnut Street and from Front Street to the river, it will solve the issue of I-95 separating the historic core of the city from the riverfront. We will cover over Delaware Avenue and I-95 completely with a four-acre cap. That will then slope down to the riverfront for seven acres.” When completed, the project is expected to generate approximately $1.6 billion of new revenues benefiting the City, School District, and Commonwealth.
“Our whole story is about access,” says Forkin about the role that DRWC plays in the changing face of Philadelphia. “We are the steward of six miles of a river which has an amazing history. How do we reconnect the residents and visitors of Philadelphia to that river?”
LEFT: Take in the
