FREEHOLD – The question of whether Freehold Borough has hosted its last Kruise Nite remains unanswered.
According to Councilman Kevin Kane, when discussing the popularity of Kruise Nite, the borough may be a victim of its own success.
And because that success brings an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 visitors to town on the evenings when Kruise Nite is held in May, June, July and August, the time may have come to cancel the summer staple.
As of now, the possibility of continuing Kruise Nite in 2008 apparently rests with the directors of the Freehold Center Partnership, which sponsors the event, to come up with a way to assure borough officials that problems that have been occurring in recent years can be handled.
The partnership has been granted a limited window of opportunity by Mayor Michael Wilson to come up with some solutions to alleviate concerns that have been expressed by municipal officials and residents.
Kane and other borough officials discussed the toll that Kruise Nite takes on the town when the Borough Council met on March 24.
Wilson said a decision had been made to suspend Kruise Nite activities for 2008.
“We wanted to let everyone catch their breath a bit and have some time to try to refine a plan that would eliminate some of the problems we’ve had on Kruise Nite,” Wilson said.
After hearing from business owners who pleaded with borough officials to keep Kruise Nite going, Wilson softened his stance just enough to say that a limited time frame exists for solutions to be offered that will address the concerns and allow Kruise Nite to be held in 2008.
Officials said that on Kruise Nite – which welcomes a host of classic cars and hundreds of motorcycles to Freehold on the final Thursday ofMay, June, July and August – they receive numerous complaints from residents regarding excess traffic, congestion, noise and too many motorcycles riding through town.
Wilson said residents have asked officials to put an end to the event that has brought classic cars, music and vendors to Main Street for 17 years. He said the event is so successful that it may have outgrown the town’s ability to handle the crowds and safety issues associated with it.
“We need to manage Kruise Nite and not have it managing us,” the mayor said.
Business owners immediately panned the idea of canning Kruise Nite.
Mike Page, the owner of the Court Jester bar and restaurant and chairman of the Freehold Center Partnership, told council members, “When I first heard Kruise Nite was canceled I thought, ‘Wow,’ then I thought, ‘Why?’ I heard that the town felt it was time to end it before the problems got any worse.”
Calling the event a “pillar of recognition to Freehold,” Page said that although Kruise Nite was not his favorite night of the summer season, he supports the event because it is important to the town’s image.
“Kruise Nite has put the borough on the map. You might only hear about all of the negative things like the noise and the congestion,” he added. “I don’t know if you hear about all of the positive things that are said.”
On March 28, Page told the News Transcript that a group of business owners had met once and was trying to immediately come up with solutions that will address the concerns expressed by borough officials at the March 24 council meeting. He said the business owners are planning to meet again this week to develop an outline that will be presented to the council.
“We are going to try to make suggestions that are realistic, doable and attainable. It’s a work in progress,” Page said.
Alan Jenkins, the owner of the ReMax Real Estate Agency, said he took over the agency in April 2007.
“What attracted me to the borough was its diversity of businesses. I wanted to have a business in a thriving economic downtown,” he told the council. “On Kruise Nite when I pass out free balloons and popcorn, I am not selling the agency, I’m selling the borough to people.
“Look at the mall,” Jenkins said, referring to Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold Township. “It’s not standing still. We have to have innovative programs to keep our downtown vibrant and attract prosperous business owners. We need to craft a solution that will help us to control Kruise Nite so it can continue to exist.”
Marlene Rogala, who owns Especially For You florist, said the borough has the luxury of having a downtown that surrounding towns do not have.
“It’s not about the money for me,” Rogala said. “It’s about saying hi to people who come into my store on Kruise Nite. I’ve watched families grow over the years coming to the event. Some will even go over to Rita’s Ices and bring me back an ice. I know it’s corny, but where else can you find that? If we let Kruise Nite go by the wayside, I feel we’ll be letting people down and going backward. It’s our hometown. I’d hate to see us have to give it up.”
Councilwoman Sharon Shutzer said officials have had conversations with business leaders regarding the ongoing problems with Kruise Nite.
“We said something had to be done. “You,” Shutzer said, addressing the business people, “said, ‘Let us make some changes.’ We said OK, let us see the changes, and still the problems grew and grew.
“I also see and hear residents who have spoken loudly and clearly about this event. I don’t want to answer my telephone when the season starts. There are serious concerns here. I have always loved Kruise Nite myself,” Shutzer said, noting that the event has changed over the years.
“People tell me they won’t take their children anymore. I would no more take a grandchild of mine to Kruise Nite than fly a plane myself,” the councilwoman said. “I do agree the business element is the engine that drives the downtown area and I have always been supportive of that. But the residents who ring my phone are saying get it out of here. My heart is in the downtown, but we also have to listen to our residents as well.”
Shutzer said Kruise Nite has become “unmanageable.”
Wilson said if the business people can quickly come up with a solution to reconstruct the event and present a refined plan that would control the problems, he would be willing to take a second look at the decision to suspend Kruise Nite for 2008.
“You don’t have a lot of time,” he said.
Kane said he was glad the event was so successful, but said the volume of cars, motorcycles and people who have been attending Kruise Nite in recent years had caused safety to be a concern. He also mentioned a sudden thunderstorm that struck one of the Kruise Nite events last year, which he said caused difficulties because of the number of people who were trying to find shelter.
“We are stretched to the max on our police and a catastrophe would be devastating to handle,” he said. “We all love Kruise Nite but there are simply too many people attending and we don’t know how to scale it back to the old car show and family event it started out to be. This is a great time for our downtown and we didn’t want to lose this, but we need to listen to our residents and our police.”
One suggestion from the business people was to eliminate motorcycles at the event.
“That would be a step in the right direction,” Wilson said.
Councilman Marc Le Vine said he strongly supports the business district and said he wants it to remain healthy and viable, but he added that the quality of life of the town’s residents must always come first.
In a subsequent conversation, Le Vine said Kruise Nite has become “mega-sized” for a small town with limited resources.
“Therein lies the dilemma. It is a victim of its own success,” he said. “There are numerous concerns that must be addressed and this is not the first time we broached these issues with downtown business leaders.”
Among the chief concerns, according to Le Vine, are crowd control, noise, open containers of alcohol on borough streets and escalating costs for police manpower and other municipal services.
“Still, there is opportunity here” to save it, he said.
Councilman George Schnurr said, “I am a big believer in the fact that our downtown separates us from other towns. The restaurant row and our Main Street businesses are the economic engine that drives our downtown area. I am very reluctant to mess with something that provides an economic boost to our restaurants, such as Kruise Nite.”
Schnurr said he always put up with the event because he knew it was held only four times a year. He said he would like to see what changes can be made to make the event work better.
Schnurr said the Kruise Nite events of recent years are a “gross departure” from the Kruise Nite events he remembers in the earlier years.
“It appears more like anAnimal House atmosphere, rather than the family atmosphere it once was. The party’s over,” Schnurr said. “It has grown too big and we need to scale it down so our police can deal with it effectively. The partnership will have a tough sell on their hands.”
Contacted for his views on the matter, Councilman Jaye Sims said he would reserve comment on the entire Kruise Nite situation.
Council President Michael DiBenedetto was out of town and unavailable for comment.