PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff The former Benny’s Tavern on Snowhill Street, Spotswood, has undergone a dramatic transformation since its picture was taken in July 2007. The building is expected to soon be home to a professional office and residential apartments. SPOTSWOOD — An old boarded-up eyesore is being turned into a town attraction.
The former Benny’s Tavern, a longtime bar and liquor store, has sat idle in recent times, but a new owner is making improvements and plans to soon use the building for professional and residential purposes.
At a recent meeting, borough officials noted the vast improvements that have been made to the building, which sits near the corner of Snowhill Street and Heffern Drive. Council President Curtis Stollen told the Sentinel that approvals have been attained to use the building for commercial/ office purposes and apartments.
Borough Business Administrator Ronald Fasanello said the changes being made by owner Joe Roth are “incredible,” and include new siding, windows and doors. The work inside is not yet complete, and landscaping improvements are also expected.
“It is an incredible transformation,” Fasanello said.
“The whole thing, I think, is thrilling,” said Mayor Thomas Barlow. “It looks beautiful, and took an eyesore away in basically the center of town.”
The former bar was boarded up for years, Stollen noted, and had been owned by various people over time. Getting the building back into productive use was no easy task due to challenges such as a parking problem and stream encroachment.
“He is near a stream, so they needed to be careful,” Fasanello said. The owner needed permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection and Middlesex County, as well as borough ap- provals, he said.
Roth said it took him about three years to receive all the necessary approvals. He promised the borough he would have the exterior work done first, so the area would look nice when the town celebrated its 100th anniversary this year.
Roth also owns the adjacent Papa Joe’s Pizza restaurant, which is in a building he also renovated.
One of the conditions attached to the Zoning Board of Adjustment approval was the demolition of the house between the former bar and Papa Joe’s, making room for parking.
“The key was to eliminate the house in between to allow for parking access,” Stollen said.
While the house has yet to be razed, a shed-type structure that was added to the former bar has been cleared, he said.
“The building is now back to its original size, before the addition,” Stollen said.
Stollen said that, ever since Benny’s Tavern closed several years ago, people have asked what the building would be used for. He recalled that at one point there was a plan to use the entire building for apartments. There was no real progress until Roth entered the picture, however, first purchasing the Papa Joe’s building and opening that restaurant five years ago, and more recently buying the former tavern and the house in between the two.
Roth said the plan is to use the top floor for a large two-bedroom apartment, and the lower floor for a professional office. The bottom floor will also have a smaller, one-bedroom apartment for the current occupants of the adjacent house.
“We’re shooting to be done by the end of the year,” Roth said.
Stollen, noting that the new look features a stucco finish, said the project is “really coming along nicely.”
“He really appears to be doing a firstrate job to a building that has been an annoyance for more than five years,” Stollen said.