A letter to the editor in Thursday's Courier News urged support for the proposed mixed-use, residential and commercial redevelopment of the Muhlenberg campus, citing the backing of clergy and community members after about a year of discussions. In the letter, The Rev. Gary Kirkwood also deplored some of the reactions to public comment by The Rev. Gerald Lamont Thomas at a Sept. 9 City Council meeting regarding the proposal by JFK Health Systems. Thomas had warned that if the governing body did not accede to the plan, JFK would leave. Since the hospital closed, the site has had a satellite emergency system with transportation links to JFK's hospital in Edison.
Shortly after the council's lack of action on the proposal, the web site "Moving Muhlenberg Forward" went dark and the council endorsed a city-sponsored planning study of possible uses for the campus. The letter is the first signal since September that those who support the 600-unit apartment proposal are reopening the debate.
The project was announced in a February 2012 news article and then at a town meeting in March 2012. Residents in neighborhoods surrounding the campus objected strongly to having such a large development in their midst and those who rallied against the closing of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in 2008 insisted they will settle for nothing less than a full-service, acute care facility on the site. Activists rallied again in August to mark five years since the closing.
In October, residents cheered the council's decision to launch an independent study of the site and numerous candidates weighed in on the move. See post here.The study has a six-month timetable including four community meetings, but there has been no public update on its status. Some opponents of the JFK proposal have also urged the city to look into assessing taxes on the site, since its primary use has changed.
The city will have a new administration once Mayor-elect Adrian Mapp takes office on Jan. 1 and it looks likely that the Muhlenberg issues will come to a head in 2014.
--Bernice
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