Boro seeks partner for community center
Talks under way with several nonprofit groups
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer
After contentious discussion at the last Red Bank Council meeting about the stalled plans for the community center, Councilman John P. Curley picked up the ball and met Sept. 13 with a private sector not-for-profit that is looking to partner with the borough.

Curley, who is liaison to the Parks and Recreation Committee, said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss different programs that could be housed at the community center.

He said Thursday he would not reveal the name of the interested not-for-profit organization until the idea was presented to that organization's board, but he added that there were many different possibilities for a community center.

"It's going to take probably 30 days to put together a program and come before the board," said Curley. "The borough cannot afford to do this alone and I want to work it where the borough is involved financially at an absolute minimum."

Sides were drawn at the Sept. 10 council meeting when council members reacted to Curley's disclosure that the Parks and Recreation Committee had delayed formulating a report to present to the council.

"Bob Evans has not been [preparing] any figures because he's waiting for the politicians to discuss things, as the mayor said," said Curley at last Monday's council meeting. "Parks and Recreation is not prepared to issue any figures until we find out who the players are and I can't emphasize that enough."

Curley said he would yield to Mayor Pasquale Menna who said he had a few discussions about the community center.

"I've only talked to people that I haven't even identified yet but one of them is the YMCA," said Menna at the council meeting. "We are nowhere near even conceptualizing this plan in an intelligent fashion. We need the finances, we need to know where we are going we need a planning objective and we also need to know the impact of this both in a cultural standpoint, an educational standpoint and a financial standpoint."

The community center discussion ensued at Monday's meeting after David Prown, who is leading the community center crusade for borough residents, had asked about new developments with the community center.

"We have a building location that has a near 15-year history of serving families and children in this town and the people are familiar with it and it has been proven as a safe location," said Prown, Hillside Place, of the Count Basie Achievement Center building.

Menna responded by saying that there was no urgency right now in terms of the sale of the building, located on the corner of Bridge Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard.

"Just for the record I think all the council people up here are open to the idea of a recreation center; I think we just need to have the support verification that it can happen," said Councilman R. J. Bifani, who was very vocal about the need for a report about possibilities for a community center.

Councilman Arthur Murphy, who highlighted different questions he had about what would be involved in having a borough community center, suggested that the community center design be similar to that of the Red Bank senior center.

"But I think if you mirror that they have a kitchen over there, they have all that, they have a facility the same type, maybe a little bigger facility, where all the utilities can be looked at but I think it's a good place to start and just to mirror the costs," said Murphy. "I think that's a very good comparison to some degree."

Curley said at the end of the discussion at the council meeting, any report would be a joint effort between the finance committee and parks and recreation.

"Really the imagination is wide open when you come down to it and talking to these guys [potential partners], and really it's what they are willing to do," said Curley last Thursday in an interview.

These possibilities include being used for after-school programs, tutoring programs, preschool programs, ESL programs, a voting location, a book drop-off for the library, job training and résumé writing, community policing center, drug/sex education, gang prevention, outreach program and child-care services, to name a few.

Curley said last Thursday he would like to present a program to the Borough Council within 30 days, but he said it would not necessarily be a parks and recreation recommendation. He said the committee would present all of the information and let the council decide.

"Hopefully a not-for-profit would lease or rent the building from us and they would set programs up that would meet the needs of the community of Red Bank," said Curley. "We're looking at what programs would be necessary to improve the quality of life for the entire community. The east/west separation of community we don't want to do that, we want everybody to have access to this facility and have something for everyone there."

He added he will continue to have weekly Thursday meetings with the as yet unnamed not-for-profit, and at the next meeting, Sept. 20, he is hoping to discuss the financial aspects of the project.