Redevelopment Archives

Merchantville laments the closing of a grocery
Susan Caba, Inquirer Staff Writer
Published on July 22, 1984, Page C04, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Agnes Green and Freda Attridge walk each day to lunch from their homes near the Merchantville square to the senior citizens' gathering at the Merchantville School. Until a few months ago, the two were likely to make a detour on their way home. They would stop and buy a few things at the Thriftway grocery store, where owners Betty and Sy Kaurene let them keep a running tally of purchases to qualify for double-value coupons. "It was handy," Green said

Merchantville residents urged to preserve heritage
Susan Caba, Inquirer Staff Writer
Published on November 18, 1984, Page C18, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Merchantville, a dusty little diamond of a borough set snugly in the midst of Pennsauken and Cherry Hill, has the preserved-in-amber look of a town that boomed in the heyday of the railroad and hasn't changed much since. Wide streets are canopied by big shade trees screening turn-of-the-century houses. The business district lines the town square; a few blocks away, a Victorian brick-and-wood train station stands as a reminder of the transportation mode that transformed

A competition for renovated houses in Merchantville
Ellen O'Brien, Inquirer Staff Writer
Published on February 22, 1987, Page C32, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Judy Faulkner and Edith Silberstein say that when they look around at the Victorian-era houses of Merchantville, they see many of those homes in some state of historic restoration - perhaps an old porch is being rebuilt, or unattractive siding is being removed. "There's a real surge in restoration that we've noticed just on the exteriors of homes . . . within the last six months or year," Faulkner said. Those sights please the two women

Retaining the look and feel of the past downtown is just an easy walk
David I. Turner, Inquirer Staff Writer
Published on February 9, 1992, Page N01, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Merchantville is so small that everyone lives within walking distance of its old-fashioned downtown. And sometimes it seems that everyone does walk downtown. "You can meet half the town at 11 a.m. in front of the Midlantic Bank," says Edith Silberstein, a resident for more than 30 years and president of the Merchantville Historical Society. That cozy familiarity is just one of the qualities that attract people to this tiny borough, which covers less than two-thirds ...

Main Street makes a comeback/downtown shopping districts in some S. Jersey towns show new signs of life
Shannon O'Boye, Inquirer Staff Writer
Published on January 10, 1999, Page CH01, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Esther Palermo remembers walking to the soda shop on Centre Street after basketball games with her high school friends, knowing the names and faces of store owners she passed. She grew up in Merchantville at a time when the community had a thriving downtown. Then the shopping malls arrived, transforming how, when, and where people shopped. In the process, Merchantville's small-town, Main-Street feel was lost, leaving empty storefronts and crumbling sidewalks behind. But on a ...

Merchantville spruce up plan advances
Mike Madden, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on March 23, 1999, Page B03, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
The historic downtown area may soon get new sidewalks, curbs, trees and street furniture under a plan to spruce up the center of town using a federal grant. A proposal to use $323,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation could revamp the streetscape of Maple Avenue, Centre Street and Park Avenue within seven months, officials told the Borough Council at a meeting last night. Along with about $53,000 in state grants and a Camden County project to repave Maple Avenue, Merchantville has ...

Communities win state aid to revive troubled sections
Mike Madden, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on April 21, 1999, Page B04, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
State officials yesterday handed out seven ceremonial checks to South Jersey communities along with a commitment for more than $3 million in the next five years to boost ``threatened but viable'' neighborhoods. The grants, plus seven awarded in North Jersey, make up the latest round of the Neighborhood Preservation Program. They will fund a broad range of revitalization projects in poor but not blighted sections of the towns, said Jane M. Kenny, commissioner of the ...

With Grant towns look to improve one area
Mike Madden, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on May 9, 1999, Page CH01, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
When Merchantville, Pennsauken and Camden were awarded the first Neighborhood Preservation Program grant to cut across municipal lines, local officials were enthusiastic and excited. Now they just have to figure out how it's going to work. For nearly 25 years, the state grants have been doled out to individual towns around New Jersey to help shore up struggling residential neighborhoods. But this is the first time an award has been made to a group of towns. The grants provide

Praise for preservation in Merchantvilles core
Mike Madden, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on May 12, 1999, Page B08, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Applauding the vibrancy of the borough's historic downtown, Jane M. Kenny, commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs, said that other New Jersey towns could learn valuable lessons about preservation from Merchantville. After a walking tour through the downtown yesterday, Kenny visited Kelly's Tavern on the Square, a restaurant that opened last year in a century-old building with rich ties to Merchantville's past. ``You found a way to

Merchantville getting a downtown face-lift the sidewalk overhaul may begin in October
Mike Madden, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on July 25, 1999, Page CH07, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
An overhaul of downtown sidewalks could be under way by October, borough officials said this week, promising downtown merchants that they would not let construction disrupt business during the holiday season. The borough has a $392,000 federal Department of Transportation grant to revamp the streetscape in the town center. Plans include new curbs, decorative brickwork and landscaping. Construction will begin as soon as the plans for the project are approved by New Jersey and federal ...

Seeking a wish list for revival
Mike Madden, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on September 9, 1999, Page B13, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
It's time to start making up wish lists. Officials will meet tonight with residents of a neighborhood that spans sections of Merchantville, Pennsauken and Camdethem on revitalization plans funded by a $25,000 New Jersey Neighborn to update hood Preservation Program grant, awarded jointly to the three municipalities in April. Merchantville's West End, some surrounding blocks in Pennsauken's southwestern section, and parts of East Camden are covered by the ...

Honoring a business booster Main Street Merchantville marks 5th anniversary
Brendan January, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on March 12, 2000, Page CH01, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Decades ago, the borough's downtown district was the shopping destination for Pennsauken and Cherry Hill residents. But the proliferation of malls led to a decline in business, and the downtown became pockmarked with vacant storefronts. In 1989, a group of residents organized the Merchantville Task Force to promote and preserve the historic downtown district. In 1992, the organization won a Neighborhood Preservation Grant that totaled $85,000 a year for five years from the state ...

Giving Main Street a java jolt/coffehouses are becoming key parts of plans for development of downtowns
Lauren Mayk, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on January 28, 2001, Page BR01, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Merchantville is looking for a caffeine boost. So is Willingboro. Woodbury is eagerly awaiting the buzz, and Collingswood is ready for a second cup. Planners, developers and local officials in these towns are looking at coffeehouses as more than just a beverage trend. They are seeking out these businesses as a key component to elaborate visions for Main Streets, downtowns and town centers in South Jersey. "They're part of the social living-room fabric of ...

Woodbury embraces Main Street
Jake Wagman, Inquirer Suburban Staff Woodbury
Published on June 24, 2001, Page GL01, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Michael S. Johnson knows that when creating a shopping district that competes with malls and chain-store plazas, it's best to have a plan. Johnson is head of Main Street Woodbury, a sort of chamber of commerce for Broad Street, the city's main commercial artery. Despite its name, this is not a small-town operation. Main Street Woodbury is part of a group of 200 national Main Street groups - from Merchantville to Ukiah, Calif. Merchantville has been part of the national downtown collaboration for seven years ...

New Jersey Awards $10.5 Million for Affordable Housing in Camden County, N.J.
Adam L. Cataldo, The Philadelphia Inquirer Byline
Published on July 20, 2001
State officials awarded more than $10.5 million in financing yesterday for the construction of 264 units of affordable housing for families and senior citizens in Camden County. The money, to be used to help finance projects in Camden, Merchantville and Winslow, is part of more than $33 million in funding awarded by the state to help build affordable housing for seniors, families, and people with special needs. It will go...

Adult apartment complex opens in downtown Merchantville
Rosalee Polk Rhodes, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Published on January 25, 2004, Page L06, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Miki Shea succinctly sums up the reasons for giving up a two-story, three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath Colonial in Pennsauken for a two-bedroom apartment in neighboring Merchantville: leaves, taxes, grass and steps. Shea, 68, and her husband, George, 79, moved into Chestnut Station, the first complex in the borough that offers housing to adults 55 and older, on Jan. 17. "This is a place where people our age want to be," Shea said. The four-story brick building, set on ...

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