The culmination of several years of discussions surrounding the 19.2-acre Bancroft property adjacent to Haddonfield Memorial High School arrives next month.
As the Tuesday, Jan. 22 bond referendum nears, One Haddonfield is campaigning in favor of the acquisition, while Haddonfield United is warning against it.
All the while, Bancroft’s CEO and President Toni Pergolin has announced what will happen to the property if the referendum fails, while showing support for approval.
“We hope voters will approve the upcoming referendum on the sale,” Pergolin said in a Nov. 28 statement. “As for Bancroft, we plan to build updated facilities at a nearby location to best meet the needs of the children and adults we serve.
“However, if the referendum does not pass, we will immediately begin the process of building new facilities on the current site, and there will be no further negotiation on a sale.”
According to Haddonfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Richard Perry, the district is cognizant of taxpayers.
In the most recent school budget, there was no tax levy increase, he said.
If the referendum is approved, the property tax increase per average household, which is currently averaging below $200 with the estimated funding currently available, would still stay in line with the 2 percent state-mandated cap allowed by districts, said Perry.
The bond referendum was recently reduced from $16.8 million to $12.5 million due to $3.5 million in anticipated open space/green acres funding from the county and state, as well as from the efforts of the Let’s Turf It committee.
The committee raised $600,000 for the high school football field.
“We truly are in a crossroads in terms of the culture and history of Haddonfield,” said Perry. “We’re either going to go right or left. There is no middle.”
In recent months, there have been several meetings to discuss the referendum in detail.
“We have listened. We listened at every meeting,” Perry said. “We’ve changed our plan 17 times because we listened to people.”
Talks will continue if the referendum passes, he said, for the future land uses.
“I think it should be the public’s choice,” he said.
The referendum is being held in January, a time residents who attended meetings last summer found disagreeable, to give time for due diligence at the property.
Perry isn’t worried, though, about the date.
“I think we’re going to have a big turnout on Jan. 22,” he said.
Those who head to the polls, he said, will be “actually casting a vote for the future of Haddonfield.”
And therefore, Perry said he wants residents to understand the facts, rather than any perceptions, of the potential purchase.
If the town decides against the acquisition, the high school will be boxed in and will be unable to grow into a campus-style school, he said.
Competitors such as Cherry Hill and Moorestown have much more space to work with, whereas in Haddonfield, it’s tough to find a parking space near the school.
That, Perry said, will become even more difficult in the future, with the possibility of increased enrollment and other town factors.
“The school system is why a lot of people move here,” he said. “Right now, numerous high schools have campuses. We don’t, and we’re the best one.”
A land lock, he said, will affect all students as well as residents.
The referendum is not a frivolous expense, he said.
“We want people to realize the urgency of this,” he said. “It will ultimately box in our high school in many ways.”
If the vote passes, there would be room to breathe for expansions, curricular, athletic and performing arts upgrades, including the potential for growth in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program, said Perry.
Nearing the 300th birthday of the borough, Perry said that sacrifices have to be made for the betterment of the town.
“It’s so much more than just buildings and land,” he said. “It’s about our future.”
“We are pieces in time,” he added. “We have a responsibility and duty to also make sacrifices.”
“What if Elizabeth Haddon didn’t come to town?” he questioned.
To organizers of One Haddonfield, the group in favor of the referendum, it’s time to progress with the plans set forth.
“If this referendum for community use is not approved in January, we are back to square one with alternate proposals. In the past some proposals have been for uses totally unacceptable to our community. I am more than ready to put the anxiety and drama of the ‘Bancroft question’ behind us and move forward,” Jack O’Malley of One Haddonfield said in a Nov. 19 statement.
Haddonfield United, a group active on Facebook and opposed to the referendum, launched on Nov. 12.
In its announcement, founder Brian Kelly said that an approval would force residents out of town.
“At least one commissioner has conceded that the purchase will drive out some less affluent residents who will no longer be able to afford the resulting property tax increases,” said Kelly in the statement.
But, according to Perry, this referendum is about more than just a tax increase.
“There are going to be issues but you can’t point to every issue in town and connect it with the Bancroft initiative,” said Perry.
