The prison first opened after the state paid Camden money in exchange for receiving a plot of land that was used to establish the prison.[3]
In 2007, while the state was preparing to close Riverfront, it considered establishing a replacement state prison in
Cumberland County, which already had three other state prisons.[4] When officials from the city of
Bridgeton, New Jersey, heard of a state report proposing to move Riverfront's prisoners to
South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, Bridgeton officials opposed the plans.[5]
Riverfront closed in 2009. The state had a savings of $43 million per year.[6] The 16-acre site is considered surplus property by the state[7] the buildings were demolished in 2009.[8][9]
In May 2013 the
New Jersey Economic Development Authority announced that it would seek developers for the site.[10] In September 2013 Waterfront Renaissance Associates announced that it proposed to build the Riverfront World Trade Center, a development of 2.3-million-square-foot campus on 16 acres (6.5 ha) on the site. The project would be built in four phases, the first of which would be a promenade along the Delaware River.[11][12][13]
^Martins, John. "
Bridgeton doesn't want Camden's state inmates." The Press of Atlantic City. May 23, 2007. Retrieved on September 27, 2011. "City officials on Tuesday night condemned what they say is a state plan to relocate more than 1,000 inmates from Camden's Riverfront State Prison to one of the county's three state prisons."