The South Jersey Port Corp. will hire a consulting firm to estimate the cost of constructing a methadone clinic on the Camden waterfront, the corporation's board decided yesterday. The state is considering moving the methadone clinic, currently near Cooper University Hospital, two miles south on Broadway to the port.
Joseph A. Balzano, the port CEO and executive director, said it was too early to say whether the clinic would end up at the port. "That issue hasn't come up yet," Balzano said. "We're just doing the due diligence."
Members of the local nonprofit Heart of Camden asked the board to halt any plans to bring a methadone clinic to the Waterfront South section of the city; they said such a move would counter their efforts to revitalize the neighborhood.
"We already have enough prostitution and drug dealing in this neighborhood," said executive director Helene Pierson. "This is going to exacerbate the problem. We're trying to reverse it."
Joseph A. Balzano, the port CEO and executive director, said it was too early to say whether the clinic would end up at the port. "That issue hasn't come up yet," Balzano said. "We're just doing the due diligence."
Members of the local nonprofit Heart of Camden asked the board to halt any plans to bring a methadone clinic to the Waterfront South section of the city; they said such a move would counter their efforts to revitalize the neighborhood.
"We already have enough prostitution and drug dealing in this neighborhood," said executive director Helene Pierson. "This is going to exacerbate the problem. We're trying to reverse it."