JACKSON – A volunteer advisory committee would suggest the possible uses for the Rova Farms property, which was preserved recently to prevent development in town.
The land would be recreational but officials are looking for people to brainstorm how to best use the land.
Councilman Alex Sauickie, who helped spearhead the effort to have the township purchase the property a few years back, provided an update at a recent council meeting.
“I’m happy to be sponsoring our first ordinance of the year, ordinance 01-22. It is an ordinance establishing a new sub-committee called the Rova Farms Advisory Board. When the council moved to purchase that property back in 2019. Councilman (Andrew) Kern and I were part of that council then and we recognized this was a property that meant a lot to the town and has a lot of history,” Councilman Sauickie added.
He said the purchase of that land, “certainly got a lot of positive response when we announced we were looking to preserve that land on behalf of the residents of the town. The new advisory board allows for resident participation in what that land will become.”
Sauickie explained, “as part of the ordinance I asked that it include a person with a career in education, namely a teacher within town.” It also calls for a person with a “historical perspective and experience because we believe there is a ton of history there and whatever Rova Farms becomes, we felt from the beginning that, that history needed to be maintained and explained, maybe in an educational way which is why we were looking to include a teacher in the sub-committee.”
The Going Green Committee and the Jackson Pathfinders would also have input, he said, as the town works on the recreational use for the property. The Town Administrator (Terence Wall) has played a huge role in helping to move that forward.
“I think we are all ready to make the bigger moves including demolition of the building there,” Sauickie said. That building use to be a popular nightclub where Bruce Springsteen once performed in the 1970s. The nightclub closed many years ago and the building has remained dormant. Its demolition was planned at one point but got postponed.
Sauickie said, “I think everyone is in support of including the community that lives close there and I am excited to move it forward. We will be looking for residents who are interested in joining that committee.”
