BY CHRISTINE GRIMALDI
Staff Writer
Rutgers University has agreed to commit architectural graduate students to study Jamesburg’s downtown revitalization.
Councilman John Longo, who represents the governing body on the Jamesburg Revitalization Coalition (JRC), announced the news at last week’s council meeting. Longo told the Sentinel that a team of three to six graduate students from Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy will work on the study. The number of participants will depend on the number of students enrolled and their commitments to other projects, Longo said.
The level of involvement will be determined over the next six weeks, Longo said. The study will likely begin in January and take six months to complete.
JRC President Teddy Ehmann has said the students’ service will count for college credit and will be provided to Jamesburg free of charge.
The borough will probably commit funds later on for professional services, and there may be soft costs and legal fees associated with the revitalization, Longo said. Developers may also help with associated costs.
Longo said the borough will complete a subsequent re-examination report and may update its master plan.
With plans for the study secured, the JRC is seeking to partner with Main Street New Jersey (MSNJ), the state’s downtown revitalization and management technical assistance and training program. MSNJ is a division of the state Department of Community Affairs.
Technical assistance includes organizational training and helping stakeholders build their management skills, said MSNJ State Coordinator Jef Buehler.
Applications are screened on a competitive basis approximately every two years, Buehler said. State funds permitting, he said MSNJ will accept applications before the end of the year.
There is no fee to become an MSNJ-designated community, Buehler said.
With MSNJ’s guidance on revitalization and on focusing resources, localities like Jamesburg can pursue their own efforts, he noted.
According to Buehler and the MSNJ Web site, the program’s revitalization methodology relies on four points: organization that involves public and private stakeholders; economic restructuring; design improvement of the downtown area; and promotion of the area to shoppers, investors, residents and visitors.
“Main Street New Jersey Communities have brought significant numbers of new businesses and jobs to their respective downtowns. In addition, facade improvements and building rehabilitation projects have upgraded the image of Main Street,” the Web site states.
Ehmann said the committee has prepared a letter to Buehler providing two dates for a Jamesburg public meeting on revitalization.
The JRC is also requesting to meet privately with Buehler beforehand, Ehmann said.
Buehler said he has not yet received the letter, but is open to the invitation. Committee members had hoped to proceed on Sept. 25, but Buehler said he has a prior commitment and must defer to another date.
“The purpose of coming down for the public presentation is to talk about revitalization and management, talk about what Main Street New Jersey is and does, but primarily talk about the [four-point] Main Street approach to downtown revitalization,” Buehler said. “[It’s] important to organize around this comprehensive approach and recognize this is not a short-term fix, but a long-term process.”
Though the first four years are the most intensive, Buehler noted that MSNJ provides indefinite assistance.
Buehler said MSNJ can, for now, provide Jamesburg with ad hoc revitalization guidance, and noted that a more direct partnership would ensue pending its designation as a Main Street community.
The JRC is in the process of incorporating, and Ehmann said this should be completed by the end of the year. At that time, the committee will be allowed to receive contributions.
The MSNJ Web site lists the commitment to hire a full-time executive director for a minimum of four years as a requirement for program application.
For about $200, Ehmann said, the JRC can join the National Trust Main Street Center and become eligible for a variety of resources.
Buehler said JRC members “seem like they’re organizing around the importance of the downtown, which is excellent.”
He said he has not yet surveyed Jamesburg’s downtown area, and will do so the afternoon of the public hearing. He will also speak then with stakeholders, he said.
For now, Longo said, “We’ve got various stages of revitalization and redevelopment [in Jamesburg].”
He cited the proposals to build a JPMorgan Chase bank on the site of Johnathon’s Grille, a former borough gathering spot, and to build a Commerce Bank branch at Forsgate Drive, Perrineville Road and Elliot Place.
With the influx of banks, the state will view Jamesburg as serious about progress, Longo said.
“We’re becoming the Switzerland of south Middlesex County,” he said.