The Township Committee approved an ordinance Monday that established a use and occupancy agreement for Cranbury Lions to repair the barn and use it to store equipment and materials used at their fundraising events..
By: Lacey Korevec
The old wagon house, the oldest of the 18th century barns on Cranbury Neck Road, is about to be rehabilitated and put to use by the Cranbury Lions Club.
The Township Committee approved an ordinance Monday that established a use and occupancy agreement for Cranbury Lions to repair the barn and use it to store equipment and materials used at their fundraising events..
An ordinance that would allow the Lions and the Cranbury Historical and Preservation society to use the barn was originally introduced Aug. 31, but was never adopted because of unresolved insurance issues. Since the calendar year changed, the committee introduced a new ordinance March 12.
The ordinance allows the Lions Club to raise its own money to repair and preserve the barn, which sits on township-owned property, next to the potato barn and the corn crib. All three barns were built in the 1700s and are deteriorating.
"The lions only want to work on one building and the historical society is in the process of coming up with a plan to continue on the site," Mr. Kaiser said.
The township acquired the barns in 2003 through a developer’s agreement with Sharbell Development Corp, which bought the 51-acre Updike property to build 16 single-family houses on it. Sharbell gave the barns and approximately 30 acres to the township as part of the agreement. The barns are located on a less than 1-acre parcel of the land, which was later designated by the township as open space.
The first step for the wagon house will be repairing its roof, Cranbury Lions Club First Vice President Mike Kaiser said Tuesday. The roof work, along with other minor repairs to the structure, will be completed by Kaiser Building Co., of Cranbury. Mr. Kaiser said he expects that all of the repairs, which will cost more than $5,000, will be completed by May.
"We’re glad that the township moved us ahead and is granting us use of the building," he said. "We can get the work done pretty quickly."
Once completed, the barn will be used for storage of different items the club uses for events throughout the year, Mr. Kaiser said.
"The Lions Club has 75 years worth of things," he said. "A parade float, griddle for the pancake breakfasts, sign holders for the golf outings. For all the events that we typically hold, we have different items for those events."

