Arts Guild New Jersey, which left a city-owned building in downtown Rahway at the end of August 2016, has apparently found a new home in Burlington Township.

Arts Guild New Jersey (AGNJ) officially relocated to the Burlington in January, according to this March 19 story in the Burlington County Times. The organization had been located in the former library building at Seminary Avenue and Irving Street for 17 years, during which time it changed its name from the Arts Guild of Rahway to Arts Guild New Jersey.

The AGNJ’s executive director, Lawrence McCullough, is the former executive director of the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) in Rahway, serving in the role for just about two years. He also is “arts and media specialist” with Skye Consulting, former Mayor and current Assemblyman James Kennedy’s consulting firm, which has been consulting on redevelopment efforts in Burlington for many years.

Since the Arts Guild left the city-owned building in 2016, it has continued as an art gallery called The Gallery Space, with Denise Rolong as managing director. The Arts Guild took over in 1998 after some renovations to the approximately 4,500-square-foot building. The Arts Guild agreed to a 10-year lease with the city in 2006 and the option of two five-year extensions.

The building dates back to 1869 as a membership library association and became Rahway’s first municipal public library in 1944. The building became the Claude H. Reed Cultural and Recreational Center, housing the city recreation department until the late 1990s when the Recreation Center was built.

In 2010, the Redevelopment Agency entertained a presentation for a concept plan for shipping container artist housing on the Arts Guild property at Seminary Avenue and Irving Street.

The corner property is less than an acre (Block 164, Lot 1) and is assessed for a total $514,500, according to property records, but is exempt from property taxes since it is owned by the city.