Built in 1908 to house the Rushmore Dynamo Works for entrepreneur and inventor Samuel Rushmore, the building is now marred by broken windows and overgrown, misshapen Plane trees out front. The trees will be removed and the Rushmore building's facade will be restored, according to plans presented to the Zoning Board of Adjustment Wednesday. A related building on Berckman Street will also be improved and another on the site will be demolished to make way for a modern one. In all, 850 self-storage units will be created.
Frederick Lackland, whose firm has built over 40 self-storage facilities, said the new operation will hire two or three office employees and one maintenance person. Board Chairman D. Scott Belin questioned whether the use would prevent creation of manufacturing jobs at the site, a concern shared by board member Frank Johnson until he decided a decline in manufacturing made it unlikely. Johnson said the new use would eliminate blight and the improvements would enhance the area.
Architect Gregory Waga said the windows now covered with corrugated plastic would be filled in with masonry having a colored veneer. The South Avenue building will be cleaned and restored to its original color.
Other members praised the presentation that also included testimony from engineer Anthony Galleramo and planner Kevin O'Brien, who called self-storage "a much-needed service" in a city where 8,576 rental properties make up more than half of all households.
The facility will have normal office hours in addition to access to units by code from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Economic Director Carlos Sanchez thanked Lackland and his team and said he supports it 100 percent.
"It will definitely change that block," Sanchez said.
--Bernice
It'll be nice to see the building and property cleaned up. It will def make that area look better.
ReplyDelete- On a side note... has anyone else noticed that new "small" building just off the corner of Central on Front Street ?? Who approved that ? It doesn't match the dimensions of ANY of the buildings downtown... and MOST especially the two buildings it's built between. Someone dropped the ball there.. it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Bernice, Thank you for your coverage of the Zoning Board meetings to bring us this interesting news. Just one query. Whose description is it that the plane trees- familiarly known as sycamores- are "overgrown, misshapen?" While trees can benefit from pruning, I think the trees are exactly what sycamore trees should be. Notice how they were purposefully planted to angle away from the building. To remove them from the streetscape will expose a hulking industrial building and be out of character with Plainfield's tree-lined streets. Preserve or replace.
ReplyDeleteRichard Loosli
"Overgrown" and "misshapen" are my words. These trees have no room for their canopy and hang over the street. They will be replaced with more appropriate trees for the site in consultation with the Shade Tree Commission.
DeleteActually Bernice, Sycamores and London Plantrees are listed as almost DESIRABLE for urban landscapes due to the strength of the tree and ability to grow in some extreme conditions. Even many power companies recommend that these trees be the ones that get planted near power lines due to their strength and ability to grown up and be pruned around the power lines without much of risk of damage to the lines in storms and winter weather. They're huge and that would be a shame to see that street suddenly without old growth trees. Maybe remove every other one and replace with the same but younger versions. They grown fast and in a few years the remaining older ones could be removed and replaced with smaller under canopy trees.
DeleteI was disappointed to hear the trees are being removed but I'm sure shade tree commission will find suitable replacements. The building will be cleaned and restored on the outside and a whole new streetscape on that corner is being done, new sidewalks, brick pavers, new trees in the same locations as the old ones, along with the black ornate street lights like downtown in between each tree on south ave and berkman st. Overall the streetscape and the cleanup building will be a huge visual improvement on that corner.
DeleteThe creation of manufacturing jobs? Something to be considered. Toyota might just want to erect an assembly plant at this location. What's wrong with a canopy of leaves over the Avenue?
ReplyDeleteBernice what do you know about the article in yesterdays my central NJ about the Mapp Administration being sued over the Liberty Village deal that Mayor Mapp put together.
ReplyDeleteI don't know any more than what Sergio reported. Stay tuned for more from Sergio.
DeleteOne thing I do know is that Plainfield is being represented by Ted Del Guercio of McManimon & Scotland, the same firm that made prohibited contributions to Sharon Robinson-Briggs' failed mayoral campaign. M&S itself should be the subject of a racketeering indictment for its longtime work as General Counsel to PMUA and the multiple frauds perpetrated on ratepayers involving the Inter Local Agreement cash flows and illegal commissioner compensation. Obviously the City of Plainfield can't extricate itself from the claws of these vultures.
DeleteThe Sycamores or London Plane trees are a messy, dangerous tree. They drop their bark in sheets and those fuzzy balls. And on a still Summer day major limbs just come crashing to the ground; a true 'widow-maker'. I'd be thrilled to give anyone the three in the median strip near my house that have heaved up the sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteTom Kaercher
Plane trees are no more hazardous that any other old tree. Not unlike people, when they age things fall off.
DeleteLiberty Village is being sued over Plainfield's handling of the taxes for the past 20 years or so. It is not about the Mapp administration and to make it so would be misleading and dishonest. Let's see how it rolls out, because if there were any dirty dealings going on, they started even before Mapp was on the City Council.
ReplyDelete