PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It's been decades since a park opened along Philadelphia's Delaware River waterfront, but the opening of "Washington Avenue Green," at Pier 53 in South Philadelphia, is the first step in what looks to be a long reclamation project.

Environmental artist Stacy Levy says they are harnessing the process of decay and turning that landscape around:

"Everything that is now mulch used to be concrete. The concrete was taken up and broken into pieces."

They created a rubble meadow, with tile-like pieces surrounded by wooden fences:

"If this was Versailles, it would be flagstone. But here, in this city, it's concrete. The vegetation will grow up in between that."

Last May, further south along the mixed-used trail, at Pier 70, they opened up the trailhead behind the Walmart store. The next phase will take the trail north to the Race Street pier:

"We are repurposing open space and areas along the waterfront."

Mayor Nutter says that by next year a master plan is due out to develop a six-mile stretch between Oregon and Allegheny Avenues.

Reported by Steve Tawa, KYW Newsradio.