Haddonfield school board will ask voters to OK purchase of Bancroft site

The Haddonfield school board has reached an informal agreement to ask voters for $12.5 million in bonds to buy the 19.2-acre Bancroft School property on Kings Highway East.

At a meeting Tuesday night, the board members worked out the details of a January referendum on the purchase of the land next to Haddonfield Memorial High School.

The dollar figure and a description of what the money would pay for will be set at a Dec. 13 board meeting. The public will get its say on Jan. 22.

If the question fails, the district will not buy the property and discussion will begin anew about its future use.

The purchase price for the property, now owned and used by Bancroft - which educates students with developmental disabilities and brain injuries - is $12.2 million. The school board proposes spending an additional $3.6 million on the demolition of Bancroft buildings and the construction of an athletic field, parking spaces, and a concession stand. Historic structures would be preserved.

That brings the total project cost to about $15.8 million. But $3.5 million would be paid from New Jersey's Green Acres program, Camden County's Open Space program, and Haddonfield's Open Space fund. The money would be used to buy a part of the property east of Hopkins Lane for open space and recreational use.

Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough told the board Tuesday that the borough was talking with county officials about getting more open space money. Board President Steve Weinstein said that if more money comes in after the referendum amount is set and if the question passes, the extra funding would go toward paying off part of the $12.5 million debt.

In addition to having the athletic field, parking, and open space on the site, there is discussion about using the land in the more distant future for high school expansion or a middle school building. Any new building would be subject to a future referendum to approve the expense.

Also, an agreement between the borough and the district calls for the possible construction of 10 "affordable housing" units there if the borough decides it is the best site. The project has generated heated opposition and support.

"This is a historic purchase. . . . We will never have this opportunity again," Tracy Bateman, a parent in the district, told the board Tuesday. The Bancroft property, she said, should be "what we will give back" to future generations.

But resident Bob Heindel told the board that "we have to draw a line in the sand and stop the spiraling of taxes in this town."