For those who haven\’t noticed Gloucester Plumbing Supply has begun building a new showroom and warehouse on property the company owns at 522 S. Broadway near the corner of Broadway and Jersey Avenue. The work began several weeks ago and weather permitting will be finished in late April.
According to Joe Kenney, owner of the company, this is the first phase of a three-phase construction project that is planned for the location.
Kenney said besides building a 2200 square foot showroom the outside of the building will be completely renovated with new windows along with a stucco facade. The second and third phase of the design for the site includes a new warehouse and off street parking.
Mayor Bill James in an interview last February raved about the improvements that Gloucester Plumbing was planning. \”A new Gloucester Plumbing building would enhance the south entrance to the City. The lighting will be better and the landscaping will be improved. All and all it is a good plan.\”
I spoke with Councilman Nick Marchese today and was told the Department of Community Affairs has given the City the go ahead to buy the Gloucester Heights Fire Hall, and renovate it into a Senior Citizens Community Center. A $400,000 state grant for the Community Center was received by the Kilcourse administration in 2005-06 but for some reason no action was taken to utilize the money. In 2007 when the James administration took control they found the deadline for using the money for a senior center was about to expire. The proposal to use the Fire Hall for the Community Center was presented several months ago to the state. Marchese said approval of the plan from the Department of Community Affairs has recently been received.
Marchese said the Fire Department will still be located in the building but will only utilize the side where the fire equipment is kept. \”With the money they receive from the sale of the hall the plans call for the construction of a second floor on top of the garage for the firemen\’s use,\” said Marchese.
He further explained that one-half of the hall will be section off for the use of the senior citizens on a daily basis. The other half of the hall will be rented out for weddings and other functions. The City will own the property. He expects action on the plans will start in the very near future.
At last Thursday, council meeting a resolution (R276) was passed to allow the City of Gloucester City to enter in to Agreements for the Sale of the Properties known as Chatham Square and Gloucester Terrace. According to Marchese if an agreement is reached to purchase the property, the apartments would be demolished and single family homes would be built. Both he and Mayor James said that this idea is in the early planning stages.
Chatham Square is located on Rt. 130 and Klemm Avenue in the area where Beazer Construction Company has built 64 new homes.
NOTE: I received several recommendations for the November Cheers and Jeers column that I did not use. The reason, I had already submitted the column. They are on file and I plan to publish the suggestions in my December column. In the mean time if you have a Jeer or Cheer you would like to submit for this month\’s column send it to [email protected].
This post was imported from a legacy archive. Please excuse any formatting inconsistencies.