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Trees make way for 50 units at St. Georges site

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If you’re wondering why all those trees were cleared this summer along St. Georges Avenue, across from Stone Street, you’re not alone. Site work will begin next week for a 50-unit, three-story apartment complex. Jim Sisto, president of Westfield-based Sisto Realty, expects the foundation will be poured in the next month and construction completed by the spring.

If I read the zoning maps and application correctly, the building will be located near the center of the 5.13-acre site — perpendicular to St. Georges Avenue — with parking on either side (a total 98 spaces). The project needed variances for lot coverage (9.2 percent of the lot would be covered by the building) and parking. Of the 50 apartments, 37 are two-bedroom units and 13 are one-bedroom units, according to Sisto.

The story goes back several years. The project wasn’t very popular among neighborhood residents, at least according to minutes of the March 2003 Zoning Board meeting (.pdf). At that time, the board rejected a 60-unit application by a 6-1 vote. Sisto appealed to Superior Court, which remanded it back to the Zoning Board, according to city Construction Official Richard Watkins.

The amended application was approved as a 50-unit apartment building in 2004, with extensions granted by the Zoning Board each year through September 2009 as the developer had been waiting for approvals from the state Department of Environmental Protection and state Department of Transportation.

Of the three lots (Block 168, Lots 23, 24 and 25), property data was available for only one (23.02), which indicated an assessed value of $306,100 for 3.3 acres and property taxes of approximately $15,000. The address will be 1319 St. Georges Ave.

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Station stairs to be reconstructed this fall

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In case you missed last week’s Re-Tweet, NJ Transit issued an advisory that construction on the east stairs of the eastbound train platform will being Oct. 19. The stairway is expected to reopen in mid-November.

If the job is anything like the East Milton Avenue stairs done earlier this year, which were pretty much closed for the second half of 2008, it probably took some time to go out to bid and will cost about $100,000.

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Rahway River, Milton Lake favorites by far

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It’s no surprise that two of the largest parks in Rahway led the way in our latest poll, which collected only 64 votes (must be summer…):

What’s your favorite park in Rahway?
Rahway River Park, 34 percent (22/64): St. Georges Avenue and Parkway Drive.

Probably the most utilized park in the city, it can get pretty busy on a summer day, between the loop, pool, ballfields and tennis courts. It’s also got it’s fair share of wildlife, with the geese and a pond.
Milton Lake Park, 28 percent (18/64): Midwood Drive and Madison Avenue.
Probably my personal favorite because it can be fairly picturesque, and it’s a lake plunked down in the middle of a nice neighborhood. Not much in the way of active recreation but you can always find someone fishing and one reader even mentioned it’s good for kayaking!
Tully Field, 9 percent (6/64): Grove Street and Russell Avenue.
This looks like a solid neighborhood park: It’s got a basketball court, a variety of playground equipment and some green space.

Stein Field, 3 percent (2/64): Jefferson Avenue and Murray Street.
Maybe it’s just me, but this seems to have a striking resemblance to Tully Field.

Berzenic Park, 6 percent (4/64): St. Georges and Central avenues. Built on the former site of the public library, which was flooded during 1999’s Tropical Storm Floyd, Berzenic has tennis courts and a playground.
Madison Avenue/Greenfield Park, 6 percent (4/64): Madison and Westfield avenues.
Another county park that was refurbished a few years ago when a fieldhouse was added. You’ll routinely see the soccer fields being used, and it also sports playground equipment.
Bezega Park, 1 percent (1/64): Allen and Union streets.
One of the many sections of the county’s Rahway River Park, it’s a little more secluded than most. In fact, one reader emailed his vote for this small park near Rahway Animal Hospital claiming to have seen an eight-point buck there.
Brennan Field, 1 percent (1/64): Regina Avenue and Ferndale Place.
Off New Brunswick Avenue, this one has a ballfield and basketball court.
Flanagan Field, 1 percent (1/64): Wall Street and East Milton Avenue.
Not unlike the other small neighborhood parks, it has a playground and ballfield, sandwiched between homes and an industrial area near Linden.
Hart Street Park, 1 percent (1/64): Hart Street.
You wouldn’t think much of a park that’s sandwiched between a go-go bar, a sewage treatment plant and water tower, but it hosts quite a few community picnics and the like.
Howard Field, 1 percent (1/64): Stockton Street.
Not much too it, but another good-looking neighborhood park with playground equipment, ballfield and picnic tables.
Riverfront Park, 1 percent (1/64): Lawrence Street near East Hazelwood Avenue.
Access via Lawrence Street doesn’t look like much when you park in the lot, but follow the boardwalk along the river and you’ll see some views of the incinerator that you’ve never seen, and of the Rahway River too, of course.
Ross Park, 1 percent (1/64): Essex and Johnson streets.
The newest addition to the city’s park system, it opened in May and adds to the greenway along the Rahway River. It appears to have been built with the nearby Golden Age Towers in mind as the exercise stations seem geared toward seniors.
Skarrow Field, 1 percent (1/64): Montgomery and Washington streets.
This was one that I didn’t know about. There’s a playground and field behind Cleveland School, which fronts East Milton Avenue.

Several parks in our poll received zero votes:
Kiwanis Park: St. Georges and Central avenues. Across St. Georges from Berzenic Park, it’s a little swath along the Rahway River.
Madden Field: Capobianco Plaza. The ballfields are home to many of the youth athletic leagues.
Wheatena Park: West Grand and Elizabeth avenues. In the rare instance when I feel like running, I like to take a route through Wheatena and follow the sections of Rahway River Park up the river along River Road and back.

Thanks to reader Matt for finding this map of Union County parks (.pdf), where you can see some of the ones listed above. I came up with this Google Map with placemarks for each park. Also, a big thanks to Mr. Rahway for help in compiling the list of parks.

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Iraq memorial to grace train station plaza

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What may be the first monument in the state dedicated to those killed in Iraq will be installed at train station plaza later this month.

The Broken Hearts Memorial will be installed by Aug. 29 with an opening ceremony planned Sept. 12.

Local artist Jim McKeon said there are monuments to individual soldiers killed in action in the Middle East but “nothing on this scale dedicated to all of them.”

McKeon is founder of the rahway art hive, an art studio and co-op gallery on East Cherry Street, where he and others have been working on the monument this summer. He’s been mulling the idea for about a year after conversations with friends who have family serving in Iraq.

The monument features 19 interlocking, nine-foot panels that stretch more than 36 feet when fully assembled. Each panel has a silhouette of a soldier covered with 127 hearts, totaling more than 4,000 — one for each U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. The wall is shaped like open hexagons — “vulnerable when standing alone but strong when placed back to back.”

Each heart will bear the word “MOM,” McKeon said, making an “iconic tattoo image into something powerful.” A heart will be added for each soldier killed, making it a kind of living tribute.

The memorial is constructed to be permanent or temporary. McKeon expects it might be in the plaza for about a year and hopes to make it a traveling exhibit to display in other towns. Between volunteer time and some contributions from the city for materials, he estimated the monument cost about $7,500. But the Broken Hearts campaign is also aiming to raise $43,000 for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, for a new hospital in Bethesda, Md.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be Sept. 12 when the public will be invited to participate by painting one of the thousands of hearts, with the word “MOM” already stenciled in. After the opening date, public participation will be accepted on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and by appointment.

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It’s summer time: What’s your favorite park?

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It’s summer, you should be spending time outside (not in front of a computer), so what better poll question for this time of year than:

“What’s your favorite park in Rahway?”
Berzinec Park
Bezega Park
Brennan Field
Flanagan Field
Hart Street Park
Howard Field
Kiwanis Park
Madden Field
Madison Avenue/Greenfield Park
Milton Lake Park
Rahway River Park
Riverfront Park
Ross Park
Skarrow Field
Stein Field
Tully Field
Wheatena Park
Williams Field

Some of these are municipal parks, some county parks, and some are passive parks while others are more active. Whether you like to kick back and read or kick some balls around, your favorite park should be listed above as we tried to include as many as we could think of (with some help from readers). Let me know if we missed one that you’d want to include.

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Dornoch: Savoy to begin in a month

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An nj.com report this week quotes Dornoch managing partner Glen Fishman claiming that work at The Savoy is expected to begin within 30 days. It’s been almost a year since steel went up at the site at the corner of Main and Monroe streets.

Dornoch had to replace a lender who backed out, according to the report. Their other planned development, The Westbury, will follow. “You’re never going to get financing for a 150-unit building [Westbury] until you sell out your 36-unit building [Savoy],” Fishman told nj.com.

City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier still stands by Fishman even though Dornoch has not built anything yet. Something ultimately will be built at The Westbury site though not in the immediate or near future, he said during a progress report to the Redevelopment Agency board last month. Pelissier offered commissioners an overview of projects around town over the past decade, adding that “every project may not materialize as originally conceived.”

Dornoch “did come in and buy up some nasty properties,” Pelissier said, suggesting that the site for The Westbury be acquired by lease for temporary surface parking in the meantime.

Though he said he’s not positive it will be built, in a meeting as recently as June 30, Pelissier said Fishman gave verbal assurances that they would move on The Savoy. A forebearance letter from Wachovia bank, which restructured the deal, should give comfort to Dornoch’s financial backers, Pelissier said.

Assuming 18 months for construction, if The Savoy does begin this month, you’re talking early 2011 before focus shifts to The Westbury site.

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Follow Rahway Rising now on Twitter

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Rahway Rising has joined the so-called Twittersphere starting tomorrow (July 1); follow us @RahwayRising on Twitter.

For as annoying as it can seem at times, Twitter does provide a rather unique service, particularly when you use it as a real-time search engine or breaking news (see Michael Jackson, but also see Jeff Goldblum). To tell the world what you’re doing every hour of the day, not so much, but I think it can drive some newcomers (and a fair share of Twitter spammers, I’m sure) to the blog, which helps when your marketing budget is zero. You can even just check us out without creating an account or being a follower by using the search engine page.

It’s not necessarily permanent. Like most everything on the blog, it’s experimental, so we’ll see how it works. Let me know what you think.

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Readers want grocery store at Drug Fair site

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Blog readers are backing a grocery store at the former Drug Fair that closed last week on St. Georges Avenue, according to our latest poll.

In this nj.com report last week, there are two potential tenants in negotiations for the almost 14,000-square-foot space that takes up almost a quarter of the Drug Fair Shopping Center. There’s plenty of parking on site but Rahway Farm already sits next door and it’s not bad for a small grocery store.

As we’ve discussed previously, a Trader Joe’s — much less a Whole Foods — might be nice but seems like a long shot at best. Keep in mind also, as as competition for retail, the empty A&P store on Westfield Avenue in Clark is but two minutes away.

“What would you like to see replace Drug Fair?”
Grocery store, 51 percent (45/87 votes)
Bakery, 13 percent (12/87)
Bar/restaurant, 12 percent (11/87)
BYOB restaurant, 6 percent (6/87)
Pet store, 5 percent (5/87)
Home decor, 2 percent (2/87)
Shoe store, 2 percent (2/87)
Other, 2 percent (2/87)
Stationary shop, 0 percent (0/87)

The 0.8-acre property was assessed at almost $2.7 million in 2008 and paid nearly $132,000 last year, according to state property records. The landlord is Millburn-based Gelber Associates.

I tried to include store choices that were mentioned in the Rahway Survey but that didn’t do much for stationary shop. Anyone care to share their choice of “other,” a liquor store perhaps? The space is large enough, and probably too large in some cases, for most of these choices. A BYOB restaurant would avoid dealing with acquiring a liquor license, but I just don’t see it for that site.

And just in case you don’t have your fill of drug stores, construction on another Walgreen is under way on St. Georges Avenue in Colonia, barely two miles from the Rahway store.

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