Demo to start at Newcomb site next month

VINELAND - Once a center of life and health and now an eyesore for its surrounding community, the site of the former Newcomb Medical Center will see much-needed demolition work early next year.

City Council last week approved a $2.5 million second generation Urban Enterprise Zone loan to redeveloper Newcomb Medical Center Alliance LLC for demolition of several parts of the now vacant Newcomb site, including the hospital itself, its South Tower and selective demo of the Cunningham Wing and emergency room.

With council’s 4-0 vote, the next step is for the Planning Board to give its site plan approval in January, and demolition will follow soon thereafter, according to city economic development director Sandy Forosisky.

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“I’m sure everybody would love to see that property developed,” Forosisky said Tuesday.

Development at the State Street campus has been stalled for many years following several project setbacks.

The 6.5-acre site has been unused for more than a decade since the hospital closed in 2004 and its operations were rolled into another regional medical center here.

The Newcomb campus at one point was designated to be a medical school, but that concept petered out.

Going forward, the new plan now calls for development of the site on a lot-by-lot basis, which will eventually feature several assisted living facilities, as well as a new facility for the Vineland EMS.

The city’s Revolving Loan Fund Second Generation Loan Committee has now given a total of $8.5 million toward the project over the years, Forosisky said.

Salvaging the facilities was not an option, officials have said, due to vandalism and overall deterioration.

“It’s just not worth saving,” Forosisky said. “It’s cost prohibitive.”

Still, knocking the eyesore down will improve the community, who have grown sick of the blighted site.

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“This project is very important to the neighborhood, which has suffered from the blight of this building,” the committee wrote in its loan proposal. “The police and neighbors want the building demolished as soon as possible.”

According to Forosisky, construction on the site is expected to occur in phases over the next five years, starting in 2016.

Daniel J. Kov; (856) 563-5262; dkov@gannettnj.com