A big step for little Wrightstown
The town that gave in war and peace is finally getting its due.
By Jim Saxton
Some say America is the land of second chances. Wrightstown, N.J., population 900, having contributed its share to America during wartime and peacetime, truly deserves a second chance - the coming rebirth of its downtown area.
As I struggled to save McGuire Air Force Base, Fort Dix, and the Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station from near-certain closure between 1988 and 2005, the people of Wrightstown were always there for me, but more important, for the troops. In trying to keep the old, noisy aircraft we had flying here in South Jersey as we sought newer, cleaner and quieter planes, or in trying to get new missions for the Army and National Guard, or in seeking construction projects for the bases, Wrightstown was always there, backing me up.
The town's steadfastness was, and is, a foundation for regional economic stability. The bases are our largest employers in Burlington and Ocean Counties and, in fact, all of South Jersey.
Since the 1980s, the downtown area has suffered boarded-up buildings, abandoned or poorly maintained buildings, and failed businesses. Fort Dix Street became a picture right out of the Great Depression.
With the ax of base realignment and closure looming over the future of the bases during the 1990s, the blight worsened. Despite our tremendously successful victories to reverse designated base closures in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995, business investors seemed wary of the bases' futures.
My role was to help leaders of a town of 1.2 square miles, with very few open parcels, obtain land to attract development. This literally took acts of Congress. Fort Dix, and more specifically the Army, do not turn over land easily. Nonetheless, over a 10-year period, I pressed the Army at every level I could for just over 40 acres of land stretching from just off Fort Dix Road to Saylors Pond Road. It seems my rise to chairman of the military construction subcommittee may have helped get my message across.
Local Fort Dix commanders were supportive of the community, as they nearly always are. I helped pass federal legislation in 1998 to allow Fort Dix to prepare to transfer the property, and later helped pass legislation to allow the adjacent school and the borough to forge a land-swap agreement in 2002. After years of perseverance, the Army agreed to sign over the deed.
On a sunny October afternoon in 2004, I joined Wrightstown borough officials; New Hanover School District board members, teachers and staff; as well as Fort Dix, Burlington County, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other officials to unveil the new deeds and sign proclamations launching a new era for downtown Wrightstown.
Under the pact, the 50-square-mile base has turned over 41 acres to Wrightstown, which plans to use the land off Main Street and Fort Dix Street to improve the town's elementary school, New Hanover School, and attract jobs, possibly in the form of a new commercial park or hotel conference center. The tract is next to the small town's business district.
At times it looked as if this rebirth might never happen.
Locally, a bipartisan effort led by Mayor Tom Harper and backed by council members painstakingly acquired more than 15 properties, opening the door to new jobs and redevelopment at the heart of the town's business district.
Demolition bids to remove the 15 dilapidated buildings are in, and the borough plans to award the bid the middle of this month. Soon we could be saying goodbye to these eyesores, and hello to the final development plan. The wrecking ball cannot come quickly enough.
Three proposals have been submitted by contractors vying for the project. Each includes a hotel conference center with restaurant, stores and new housing. The borough, which now has about 150 homes, will likely increase its housing stock by more than 50 percent. There are expectations for a new bank, modern grocery store, and contemporary restaurant with a liquor license.
All of these things will be terrific additions for the residents of the town, the Ocean and Burlington County communities, and current and future military service members stationed or visiting at the coming Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The new joint base, mandated by federal law, brings 2,000 to 3,000 more jobs and more than $200 million in new construction, on top of the $500 million in construction already under way.
Town leaders are sorting through the proposals and will announce their choice by the end of February.
And so, it seems, we are on the cusp of a new era for little Wrightstown. And its change of luck could benefit the business districts of its neighbors in New Egypt in Ocean County, and New Hanover and Pemberton in Burlington County.
This is a success story of Republican and Democratic officials working together, a story of Congress and of the Army doing what is right for a small, downtown area that has always done its part in war and peace.
The people of Wrightstown deserve it.