LONG BRANCH — One city official is proposing that council members commission a study on relocating certain city offices to the old Gregory School building on Joline Avenue.
Councilman Brian Unger is seeking that the city’s court complex, the Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) office and the substance abuse prevention office be moved to the old Gregory School building on Joline Avenue, which the city acquired in October from the Long Branch Board of Education (BOE).
“Perhaps it is time to invest in a facility that we own and can make capital investments in,” Unger said in a press release last week. “Maybe this is a good time we formally take a look at some steps in that direction.”
Another idea proposed by Unger is to utilize the former school as a criminal justice complex and relocate the municipal court, police department and other public safety personnel to the building.
Unger said that he spoke with Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli and Councilman Anthony Giordano about the proposal and the three officials are in agreement that they would like the administration to do a thorough study on the concept of relocating certain city facilities.
“We are paying landlords approximately $140,000 per year in rent, primarily for a building
that the Superior Court, which oversees our municipal court, feels is substandard on a number
of fronts,” Unger said. “We’ve done alterations and improvements to the municipal court, which we paid for, so it seems that to continue to invest in infrastructure there and not own it is not a good deal for our taxpayers.
“That $140,000 in annual rent would go very far toward covering a new construction or renovation mortgage for the Gregory School,” he said, adding, “It would be a long-term investment for the city instead of just paying rent.”
Council approved a land swap between the city and the BOE, voting 4-1 at the Oct. 14 publicmeeting to authorize the city to convey property in the area of Liberty Street, Monmouth Avenue, Rockwell Avenue and Wilbur Ray Avenue to the BOE for the new Gregory School. In exchange, the city received the old Gregory School property on Joline Avenue.
Celli was the lone no vote against the land swap because she said she does not want to see the senior center, which is currently located on Second Avenue in one of the city’s redevelopment zones, be relocated to the old Gregory School building.
“I oppose moving the senior center for many reasons,” Celli said, citing that the Joline Avenue property is a poor location, has a high volume of traffic, there is no public transportation available in the area, the building is not ADA compliant and it is not in close proximity to the hospital in case there are any emergencies.
S
he said that several ideas for the old Gregory
School building have been proposed in the past, including moving all off-site city offices under one roof to save the city rent money.
Other suggested usages for the building have included a community center, a justice complex with a courtroom and police offices, a senior housing facility and selling the building, according to Celli.
Celli said that she is not convinced that other plans for the old Gregory School could include relocating the senior center and said that she would like to see the senior center remain at its current location, where it has been for over two decades.
“As of now there are no plans for [a] developer for [the current senior center] site, but I believe the city was looking to the future in case someone came in with a valid proposal,” Celli said. “It would be nice to have the [senior] center located downtown close to everything, but since that is not realistic, we need to find land and that is almost impossible in the city.”
Mayor Adam Schneider said that there are currently no plans to relocate the senior center and plans to meet with the seniors to talk about future plans for the center.
“We have kicked around what to do with the Gregory School,” Schneider said. “Everything is on the table. I am in favor of selling it. I don’t want to be in the construction business. It is not ADA compliant.
“I am not interested at the moment in going through the extensive renovations,” he said. “That is a huge investment. I want to sell it and use the money to pay off the bonds we used to acquire the land.”
Schneider added that at this point, he also supports using the building for senior housing, but there are no plans to move the senior center to the old school building.
Unger could be presenting council with his proposal to use the old Gregory School building as a city office complex sometime this month.
“In discussions with Councilwoman Celli and Councilman Giordano, I think it came out that we’d like to see what a new scenario might look like,” Unger said. “Perhaps a criminal justice complex with the police department and other public safety units over at the Gregory School with the municipal court.
“Then you have the UEZ and substance abuse unit, so there are several scenarios to consider,” he said. “I think the seniors love their current location.
“Being able to walk over to Pier Village or the boardwalk is a definite plus [for the seniors],” he said, adding. “I think a new senior center should be built right on the same spot, or within the same block or so on Second Avenue.”