RED BANK: BASIE, PHOENIX TO MERGE

Phoenix Productions’ home at 56 Chestnut Street was painted over with a two-story mural last month. (Photo by Allan Bass. Click to enlarge.)

Press release from the Count Basie Center for the Arts

The Count Basie Center for the Arts and Red Bank-based Phoenix Productions intend to merge, allowing the community theatre company to officially become part of the organization which has hosted its productions for more than 30 years, the two nonprofits announced Tuesday.

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February 1, 2022 - 7:13 am |

RED BANK: PHOENIX HOME GETS A MURAL

The nonprofit theater company Phoenix Productions is getting a hard-to-miss new look for its Red Bank home.

The two-story, full-width mural on the facade of the performing arts center at 59 Chestnut Street was approved by the borough council in November. The building’s neighbor out back, the Monmouth Conservatory of Music, also sports a full-facade mural.

Early reviews are welcome in the comments. (Photo by Allan Bass. Click to enlarge.)

January 6, 2022 - 1:01 pm |

RED BANK: ROTARY SETS UP OPEN ‘PANTRIES’

The free, 24/7 pantries have been installed at the YMCA, above, and Lunch Break, below.

Press release from the Rotary Club of Red Bank

The Red Bank Rotary has created three “Mother’s Pantries” as freestanding pantries to distribute diapers, baby wipes and feminine hygiene products to those in need.

In partnership with Lunch Break, the Salvation Army and the Red Bank Family YMCA, these pantries will provide a limited free supply of items often needed by families. The colorfully painted, unlocked pantries are accessible 24/7 for anyone in need to use.

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November 15, 2021 - 2:30 pm |

RED BANK: JON STEWART SELLS SECOND HOME

Jon Stewart’s former homes on Alston Court, left, and Fisher Place, right, as seen from the Navesink River in 2010. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

Comedian Jon Stewart appears to have ended his time as a Red Bank dual homeowner.

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October 11, 2021 - 11:30 am |

RED BANK: GRANT BOOSTS LIBRARY WIFI

Scenes from the recent installation of enhanced wifi at the library. (Click to enlarge.)

Press release from the Red Bank Public Library

The Red Bank Public Library has been selected as one of 27 libraries and was recently awarded $10,000 of grant funding by The NJ State Library to
support the CARES ACT Mini-Grant for Public Libraries.

The grant award supplemented the cost of an improved WiFi system that is now strong enough to provide service to anyone on the library grounds, inside or outside the building.

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September 14, 2021 - 11:00 am |

RED BANK: STEWART SELLS ONE MANSION

Jon Stewart serving lunch to construction workers from a food truck at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Political commentator and comedian Jon Stewart is selling one of the two side-by-side riverfront mansions he owns in Red Bank, according to a recent filing.

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September 9, 2021 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK & FAIR HAVEN: SALE DAYS BEGIN

Shoppers found bargains, and some relief from the heat, under a sale tent on White Street as Red Bank’s 67th annual Sidewalk Sale got underway Friday.

Fair Haven is also hosting one.

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August 27, 2021 - 2:02 pm |

RED BANK: APARTMENTS ON MONMOUTH OK’D

A rendering of the Monmouth Street side of the project, with Pearl Street at right. (Image by S.O.M.E. Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Amid complaints that it’s too dense, a plan for 32 new apartments on Monmouth Street in Red Bank won zoning board approval Thursday night.

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August 20, 2021 - 7:48 am |

RED BANK: APARTMENTS, CLINIC ON AGENDA

The plan now calls for five affordable units at 120 Monmouth Street, up one, among the 32 proposed. (Image by S.O.M.E. Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a three-month break, a plan for new apartments on Monmouth Street in Red Bank may get an up-or-down vote Thursday night.

Also on the zoning board agenda: a small expansion of the Parker Family Health Center.

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August 19, 2021 - 7:38 am |

RED BANK: LIBRARY TO REVIVE YARD SALE

After five years of gathering dust, the Red Bank Townwide Yard Sale returns in September.

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July 28, 2021 - 3:30 pm |

RED BANK: CAR SHOW MARKS EVENT REVIVAL

After a year up on blocks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Doc Holiday Classic Car Show returned to Red Bank’s White Street parking lot Sunday.

With 270 vehicles on display and hundreds of car lovers admiring them, the event marked the return of large-scale public events following months of restrictions on gatherings. It was also the first in the lot since a makeover of the parking facility, which also hosts major spring-and-fall food festivals per year. One, the Guinness Oyster Festival, is scheduled to return September 26.

The car show, a scholarship fundraiser named for a late fire chief, is hosted by volunteer firefighters from the borough’s Liberty Hose company. Check out additional photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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July 12, 2021 - 6:45 am |

RED BANK: PROJECT GETS NO BOARD SUPPORT

Twenty apartments would be built above stores at 234-240 Shrewsbury Avenue under a revised plan by developer Roger Mumford. (Rendering by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A plan for 20 apartments and new retail space on Shrewsbury Avenue found no support from the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.

It’s too tall, too dense, and too out of step with where things should be going, board members told developer Roger Mumford after three hours of testimony.

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June 18, 2021 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLANS BACK ON DECK

Twenty apartments would be built above stores at 234-240 Shrewsbury Avenue under a revised plan by developer Roger Mumford. (Rendering by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Two proposed apartment buildings just blocks apart on Shrewsbury Avenue return to Red Bank zoning board for possible approval Thursday night. Read More »

June 15, 2021 - 12:30 pm |

RED BANK: APARTMENT HEARINGS DELAYED

After revisions, a plan to build a house in front of the existing four-family at 70 Locust Avenue was approved. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Much of Red Bank’s zoning board agenda was scrapped Thursday night, when hearings on plans for several large apartment projects had to be rescheduled.

But the board got some work done, approving a plan for new house single-family  house on Locust Avenue.

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May 21, 2021 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLANS NEAR VOTE

Ten apartments would be built above new stores at 273 Shrewsbury Avenue under a pending plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Two multi-use developments that would add 42 apartments to the market top a busy Red Bank zoning board agenda this week.

Also on the board’s busy to-do list Thursday night: review revised plans for new house in front of an existing one on Locust Avenue.

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May 17, 2021 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: YARD SALE MAY BE REVIVED

Stashed away in the back of a garage for the past four years, the Red Bank Townwide Yard Sale may get a dusting-off in September.

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May 14, 2021 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN DETAILED

A view of the proposed project as seen from the Pearl Street side. (Image by S.O.M.E. Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposal for 32 apartments on Monmouth Street in Red Bank met little resistance when it went to the zoning board for review Thursday night.

The only sticking point, so far: whether to incorporate a three-bedroom affordable unit into the structure or provide it offsite.

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May 7, 2021 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: NEW PLAN FOR CORNER SITE

A view of the proposed project as seen looking northwest from Monmouth and Pearl streets. Below, a 2011 view of the property, a onetime Sinclair gas station. (Image by S.O.M.E. Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A dozen years after a never-built project won approval, another developer also hopes to revive an idle Red Bank corner with apartments and stores.

The site, at Monmouth and Pearl streets, is just yards away from two other pending apartment-development proposals.

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April 28, 2021 - 4:45 pm |

RED BANK: BASIE LANDS $100K NEA GRANT

Press release from Count Basie Theatre

The Count Basie Center for the Arts has been approved for a $100,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support mindALIGNED, the organization’s collective impact initiative in the areas of professional  development for educators,  creative teaching strategies, artist residencies and arts experiences.

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February 4, 2021 - 10:00 am |

RED BANK: HOSPITAL TO OWN GARAGE

The garage, built in 1983, became the subject of a lease-purchase deal between the town and Riverview 17 years later. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

It’s a mere formality, but Riverview Medical Center is slated to become the owner of Red Bank’s only publicly-owned parking garage Friday.

At its regular meeting Wednesday night, the borough council authorized officials to sign off on a property transfer worked out when the current council president was in middle school.

The deal adds to the nonprofit hospital’s growing portfolio of real estate.

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January 28, 2021 - 7:59 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL BACKS IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

Marchers took to the streets of Red Bank in June, 2018 to protest the Trump Administration’s border policies. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A virtual parade of speakers, some near tears, pressed the Red Bank council Wednesday night to support a host of protections for undocumented immigrants.

“It is never symbolic to acknowledge the humanity of any one person,” said a young woman who identified herself as Carla, Red Bank Regional senior and officer of the school’s Dreamers organization. “Doing so is, in fact, the most radical of acts,” she said.

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January 14, 2021 - 7:59 am |

RED BANK: SIDEWALK SALE RETURNS

Unlike the 2017 event, above, this year’s Sidewalk Sale will require social distancing and face coverings. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Delayed one month by COVID-19, the 66th edition of the Red Bank Sidewalk Sale is set to kick off its three-day run Friday.

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August 28, 2020 - 5:30 am |

LITTLE SILVER: DALPRA RETIRING FROM RBR

Louis ‘Del’ DalPra on the sidelines in 2010. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Regional’s man of many caps, Louis ‘Del’ Dal Pra, is retiring.

This time, unlike his last attempt to leave a decade ago, it’s for real, he said.

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May 8, 2020 - 1:10 pm |

RED BANK: BROWN WATER EXPLAINED

Red Bank officials are looking into reports of brown tap water, but believe they know what’s causing it, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said Wednesday.

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May 6, 2020 - 12:15 pm |

RED BANK: HOLIDAY EXPRESS TO LIGHT IT UP

The Red Bank Holiday Express concert and Town Lighting is on for its 27th annual showing under what appear to be seasonally ideal conditions Friday night.

Details are below.

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November 28, 2019 - 9:00 am |