LBHA to build new community center

LBHA to build new community center
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
On April 1 the Long Branch City Council unanimously voted to lease the site of the Bucky James Community Center to the Long Branch Public Housing Authority.

The building, located at 231 Wilbur Ray Blvd. behind the Gregory Elementary School, is slated to be demolished and a new community center will be built on the site.

A special meeting was held at which the council approved the special ground lease for the land.

"The lease is something called a ground lease," Long Branch Public Housing Authority Executive Director Tyrone Garrett explained, "meaning that we don't pay the city for the land, but we have control of it in 25-year increments."

Council members Brian Unger (voting via cell phone), Michael DeStefano and Mary Jane Celli all approved the resolution. Garrett, Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider, Long Branch Business Administrator Howard Woolley and City Attorney James Aaron also attended the meeting.

Council members Anthony Giordano and David Brown were absent from the meeting.

The special meeting was called because the city and the housing authority wanted to get the resolution passed in time to meet the state's tax credit deadline, which was this week.

"We are excited to get the tax credit for the Bucky James land," Garrett said Monday. "We have been funded three times in the last four years, so we look forward to this."

The state has previously awarded tax credits for Seaview Manor, Presidents Estate and Garfield Court One in Long Branch in the past four years.

While the tax credit for the land has yet to be approved by the state, the authority plans to move forward on the demolition of the vacant former community center in the next two months.

"We plan on starting the demolition of the building in 45 to 60 days." Garrett said.

According to Garrett, the new building, which will be roughly 12,000 square feet, will include many modern amenities.

"We want to put in an indoor basketball court, a gymnasium, a library, a room with computers," Garrett said. "The building will be about 75 percent recreational to meet the requirements of [the state] Green Acres [program].

"We also may have an infant care center in the future, but that's on the back burner for now," he added.

While Garrett said he is excited about the prospect of the new community center, he did not think the old building could be salvaged.

"Renovations of the building didn't make sense," Garrett said. "It would be too much to get the building modernized, and with the proper technology. It would require substantial renovations."

Another issue that the Housing Authority would be facing was how to handle the membership of the new community center. While Garrett admitted that a small membership fee might be required, he does not want this community center to come across as a moneymaking venture.

"We are talking to the Boys & Girls [Club of Monmouth County] about a possible grant program," Garrett said.

"The plan is to not charge a membership for our members living in public housing," Garrett said. "But realistically, we will never turn down a child."

While Garrett hopes the plans for the expansive new center progress in the coming months, he said he really just wants to help the area.

"We don't do this for the glitz and glamour of doing it," he said. "We just want to try to help revitalize the community.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.