For many NJ towns, building and maintaining community centers comes at a steep price

For many NJ towns, building and maintaining community centers comes at a steep price Materials for a 13,000-square-foot public gymnasium languish in Bergenfield. The town took out a $13 million bond from the Bergen County Improvement Authority, which Baratta said will cost $30 million over 30 years, not including the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to keep the building heated, cooled, lit, and staffed. Baratta said she would have preferred that the decision to build the center was put in the hands of voters. "When I was elected, we were saddled with this community center," Baratta said. There was a file in Borough Hall with 'community center' that had one piece of paper in it. Fair Lawn's community center is bright and professional-looking, with a plush 170-seat theater, an indoor walking track and a basketball court. Smaller buildings, such as Cresskill's e working on it so it becomes less of a drain. "You can't put a price on children, or recreation," said Mayor Michael Gonnelli, on a recent tour of the center, that will unveil its latest feature this month o make money. Last year, after several years in the red, Cresskill's center ogramming without reaching out to residents. This spring, Englewood plans to begin an overhaul of its master plan, and Huttle said it would be highly responsive to community need and input. "Do I see the city of Englewood incurring a $15 million project? No. "The PAL people truly believe this'll be a very big asset to the community," said Borough Administrator Frederick McGarril. Municipal leaders, many of whom inherited these centers (and the debt that comes as well as them), tend to fall somewhere in between. Cresskill may be an exception. The $1. . For many NJ towns, building and maintaining community centers comes at a steep price Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 07/05/2012