RED BANK: COMMUNITY RALLIES FOR FAMILY
Cesar Pacheco of Red Bank and his mother, Vicky, were reunited with their dog, Bella Thursday morning following surgery on the animal that community members helped pay for.
RED BANK: FUNDS NEEDED FOR PET SURGERY
A Red Bank teen has launched an online campaign to raise funds for his family’s dog, who needs emergency surgery.
MIDDLETOWN: GEORGE BOWDEN DIES
George Bowden, right, with Historic Preservation Commission members Charles Nickerson and Michaela Ferrigine in 2016. Below, Bowden spearheaded the borough’s centennial celebration and parade in 2009.(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
George Bowden, once dubbed “the Energizer bunny” of historic preservation in Red Bank, died at home in Middletown Sunday. He was 92 years old.
Galvanized into action in 2001, after the borough allowed the demolition of an old house on West Front Street, Bowden became a champion for old and neglected structures in town.
Not least of those was the T. Thomas Fortune House, which was resurrected from near-oblivion earlier this year, more than a decade after Bowden and others launched a campaign to save it.
MIDDLETOWN: GLADYS BOWDEN DIES
Gladys Bowden, a longtime Red Bank resident and volunteer injured in a December 15 fire at her home in Middletown, died early Saturday.
MIDDLETOWN: FUNDRAISER FOR BOWDENS
Family and friends have raised more than $12,000 to help two former Red Bank volunteers injured by a fire in their Middletown home earlier this month.
George Bowden, 91, and his wife, Gladys Bowden, 88, were both injured when their condo in the Shadow Lake Village complex in the River Plaza section of the township was heavily damaged by an electrical fire on December 15.
RED BANK: FIRE VICTIMS SEEK HELP
Owen Duncan and Mildred Johnson, below, speaking with acting Fire Marshal Tommy Welsh as firefighters battled the blaze in their home on May 27. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two Red Bank siblings who lost their lifelong home in a fire last month are seeking the public’s help as they watch their funds dwindle.
Mildred Johnson and Owen Duncan escaped their burning house on Washington Street on May 27.
RED BANK: WHERE ARE THE GARAGE PLANS?
Five developers have submitted proposals regarding the White Street municipal parking lot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Seven weeks after receiving proposals for a possible new downtown parking garage, the Red Bank council may release them this week, Councilman Mike Whelan tells redbankgreen.
But the disclosure still hinges on legal roadblocks thrown up by former Councilwoman Cindy Burnham, who sued the town over the plan immediately after she left office.
RED BANK: FUND APPEAL FOR FIRE VICTIMS
The family whose Red Bank home was destroyed by fire last week is seeking the public’s help.
RED BANK: TOUTING A ‘SIMPLE’ PARKING FIX
Downtown property owner John Bowers hired an architect to show the borough what it might build without involving a private developer. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Instead of trying to entice a private developer with high-profit-margin sweeteners like apartments and retail space, what if Red Bank addressed its downtown parking problem simply by building a “pure” garage itself?
That’s what landlord John Bowers wants to know, and he’s on a campaign to head off the borough’s White Street redevelopment effort before it leads both taxpayers and merchants over a cliff.
RED BANK: PARKING FORUM SLATED
Does downtown Red Bank need a new parking garage? If so, how big should it be, what else should it include, and who should pay for it?
Questions like those will be on the table at a town-hall style meeting slated for Monday, February 6.
RED BANK: SUIT FILED OVER GARAGE HEIGHT
Cindy Burnham, seen here at a candidate’s forum last October, during her unsuccessful council re-election campaign. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A group of Red Bank residents formed by former Councilwoman Cindy Burnham filed suit Monday to derail efforts to build a garage for at least 773 vehicles in the heart of town.
Burnham, who failed in her re-election bid as a Republican-turned-independent in November after one term, said although she supports the construction of a garage, the eight-story structure permitted under a redevelopment plan authorized by the council last week is “just too high.”