SPOTSWOOD — Borough officials are interested in establishing a new, larger Office on Aging, as well as a recreation center for children.
During a recent Borough Council meeting, Mayor Thomas Barlow said he received a letter from a real estate agent informing the town that a property on Snowhill Street is for sale at an asking price of $1.2 million. The property was previously the site of an Eckerd pharmacy, convenience store and a vacant lot.
According to council President Curtis Stollen, in an ideal world, the borough would purchase the land and use it to build a new senior center and youth recreation facility. However, Barlow and Stollen both stressed that any such facility would have to be built with grants. Officials have no plans or concepts just yet. “These are wishlist items,” Stollen said.
The borough’s current 3,300-square-foot Office on Aging, located on Arlington Avenue, is short on space, according to Stollen, and the borough has a large number of senior citizens, including those who belong to the senior club, which can barely fit its meetings into the rooms at the facility, he said. The senior club predates the Office on Aging and is not affiliated with the borough, which is also home to Clearwater Village development, Crescent Park and Woodmere Senior Housing. Stollen noted that the lower real estate prices at present would work in the borough’s favor if it received funding.
Barlow said he has reached out to other elected officials about the issue.
The mayor noted that, if the idea were to proceed, the borough would also have to acquire an adjacent property for parking. The lot in question, before becoming an Eckerd, was once home to the Spotswood Pharmacy, a family-owned business.
Stollen said the town really needs a new Office onAging. “We would have more operating room,” he said. “The Office on Aging is bursting at the seams.”

