'People of Somerville don't want any more apartments.' How about a performing arts center?

SOMERVILLE – Residents would rather see a performing arts center at the site of the present police headquarters than more apartments.

That was the message delivered Monday at a special Borough Council meeting to gather input about what residents want to see in a redevelopment area that extends from the Wells Fargo bank at the corner of Main and Bridge streets to the post office on Division Street.

Driving the redevelopment is the prospect of the Somerville Police Department moving from its present headquarters on South Bridge Street to the emergency services complex under construction on Gaston Avenue.

The borough has seen the move as a chance to sell the present headquarters property as part of a redevelopment project that could bring revenue to the county seat.

"People of Somerville don't want any more apartments," Councilman Tom Mitchell said to applause by the close to 80 people at the meeting in the borough's new Civic Center. "We have enough."

"We don't want any more apartment buildings," borough resident Mary Hodges told the Council.

Hodges said Somerville needs a recreational facility where both children and senior citizens could gather and engage in activities.

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Many residents told the Borough Council that redevelopment could fill a hole in the "Somerville experience" by hosting a performing arts center, a recreation venue or a gathering place.

Councilmembers agreed.

"Somerville needs a performing arts center," said Council President RanD Pitts, adding that he hoped a builder could include it in a development.

Somerville, with its scores of restaurants, has one thing missing that New Brunswick, Morristown and Red Bank have – a performing arts center, said Councilmember Roger Vroom.

That facility could serve as a link between the bank and the post office, he said.

Former Mayor Mike Kerwin, who serves as chairman of the Downtown Somerville Alliance (DSA), told the Borough Council to "think big."

He said a redevelopment plan should be "what we want, not what a developer wants."

Kerwin cautioned, however, that an arts center may require municipal subsidies.

Natalie Pineiro, downtown managing consultant for the DSA, said that an arts center would "drive investment" in the downtown area and become a cultural and civic asset.

Geraldine DeSapio, a member of the borough's Environmental Commission, said that Somerville "needs a place to bring people together."

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Mayor Dennis Sullivan said the borough was seeking "complementary redevelopment" that would add to both Somerville's "vibrancy and tax rolls."

The mayor explained that Somerville is no longer "desperate" for redevelopment as it was two decades ago.

"We can control our destiny," he said.

Matthew Watkins, the borough's redevelopment consultant, told residents that Monday's meeting "is the start of a long process" to create a plan of "what the town wants to see."

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Somerville NJ ponders performing arts center redevelopment plan