Repair work continued at the Shrewsbury Avenue facility last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials have scheduled a dedication ceremony this week at the borough’s long-closed Senior Center.
But not, it turns out, to reopen the facility, which still isn’t quite ready for prime time, according to the interim borough Administrator Darren McConnell.
Here’s the text of an announcement McConnell emailed to redbankgreen Sunday:
Director Jacqueline Reynolds
of the Red Bank Senior Center
together with
Councilman
Edward J. Zipprich
Liaison to the Senior Center
and
Interim Business Administrator
Chief Darren McConnell
cordially invite you to the
Ribbon Cutting and Dedication
of the main lobby in memory of
Councilman Thomas Hintelmann
at the newly refurbished
Red Bank Senior Center
at five o’clock in the evening
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
80 Shrewsbury Avenue
Red Bank, NJ 07701
The lobby naming is to commemorate Tom Hintelmann, who served on the borough council from 1975 through 2004. Hintelmann died in December.
The event, though, is not a reopening of the center, McConnell said in response to an inquiry by redbankgreen.
“This is not a general opening or ribbon cutting for the building, just a dedication of the lobby to Councilman Hintelman,” McConnell said via email. “The contractors are working on punch list items and we have our temporary certificate of occupancy. We should be in the last few weeks of work and I would hope by early May we have the seniors back in the building, but we do not have a firm date yet.”
Asked why the dedication ceremony was being held at the unfinished site, McConnell directed redbankgreen to Zipprich, who did not respond to an email Monday morning.
The center, on Shrewsbury Avenue overlooking the Navesink River, has been out of commission since it was damaged by a fire suppression system malfunction during an extended freeze in January, 2019.
The incident later set off bitter warfare among the members of the all-Democratic council that continues today.
The council adopted a $1.94 million repair plan for the facility in February, 2022.
Since May, 2021, the borough’s seniors have been meeting in leased space at Trinity Episcopal Church on West Front Street.
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