Merchantville wants old rail yard to be its new engine

A triangular tract of now mostly vacant land that was the engine of Merchantville's growth in the 19th century could be the key to the borough's future.

"This is the last developable site in town," says Mayor Ted Brennan, a lawyer, a father of four, and an energetic proponent of a renewed effort to strengthen the Camden County suburb's somewhat faded heart.

"We want to build something that will stand the test of time," adds the mayor, whose father, Patrick, served in the same role from 1995 until 2006.

"We want it to be a unique gathering place," Brennan adds. "Developers already have expressed interest."

The former railroad yard lies behind the Centre Street commercial block between East Chestnut and East Park Avenues.

Containing little more than a tangle of parking lots, these two acres are a dead zone in Merchantville's charming, albeit sedate, downtown.

The borough purchased the bulk of the site, including a former bank building, for $975,000 in 2007.

The purchase followed the failure of a redevelopment proposal that was noteworthy for an over-scale parking garage and other sizable structures. A second, similar plan met the same fate in 2010.

"It always seemed too mammoth a project," says Maureen McLoone, president of the Merchantville Historical Society. Her East Chestnut Avenue home overlooks the site.

"They were trying to put too much into the space," she adds.

This month, the borough is set to take a final vote on an amended, more modest - and to my mind, better - redevelopment plan. It calls for a mix of retail, residential, and public spaces in a cluster of new buildings, as well as surface parking.

Drafted by the Ragan Design Group, of Medford, the plan envisions a central piazza with a fountain as the centerpiece of the new downtown district.

The plan also connects the site to the existing street grid, and embraces the popular walking and cycling trail residents call the Merchantville Mile.

"The piazza, the walkability, the apartments above the stores . . . [provide] a desirable way of living," says downtown property owner Ryan Middleton, the volunteer coordinator of the weekly Merchantville Farmers Market.

Although some existing commercial space is vacant or underutilized, "the limited number of buildings we have makes it hard for downtown to reach the critical mass of retail and restaurants it needs," he says.

Middleton was an active participant in the project's year-long planning process, which included what seems to have been a robust amount of public input, much of it positive.

The goal: Figuring out how best to make downtown a destination, while respecting its architecture and sense of place.

"What's going to make Merchantville different from Collingswood or Moorestown?" Mara Wexler-Wuebker, Ragan's principal planner on the project, says.

The answer, she adds, "will be creating a real draw - a cool place to hang out, to people-watch, and to eat dinner al fresco, with surrounding retail shops that have some apartments above."

With about 3,800 people living in six-tenths of a square mile, Merchantville is a small, but dense, community.

The borough was incorporated in 1874, as a genteel cluster of commercial buildings, churches, and residences quickly rose around the railroad. Commuter service to Camden started in 1867 and ended in 1969.

"Historically, Merchantville was the downtown for a large [area]," notes Katherine Swann, owner of the Station, a coffee shop and arts center in the former depot.

"You need more businesses to attract more customers, and more customers to attract more businesses. It's a catch-22," says Swann, who grew up in the borough and moved back five years ago.

She also recently moved her toy store, Duck Duck Goose, from Collingswood to Merchantville.

"I have faith in what's happening in town," Swann says.

So does the mayor, who estimates the construction cost of the project at between $8 million and $10 million.

"We would seek to negotiate a deal with a developer to pay for the infrastructure, and the public space, which may be a difficult sell," Brennan says, adding that the borough "is not averse to investing ourselves in what we believe will be a long-term return."

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