By JACQUELINE DURETT
Correspondent
SOUTH AMBOY — Could South Amboy be the state’s next arts hub?
Diana St. John and Susan Pellegrini are counting on it. The two have had success in Red Bank and Asbury Park, respectively, and now are teaming up to transform South Amboy into a cultural destination.
The two gave a presentation at the April 20 City Council meeting about their plans to turn 141 North Broadway into a gallery and performance space as part of their efforts to get started.
“To bring an arts district to a town is really about revitalizing a town,” Pellegrini said.
She pointed to the city’s mass transit options as being essential to creating an arts district.
Pellegrini, a former teacher at Sayreville War Memorial High School, said her students have been part of work in Asbury Park.
St. John lives in South Amboy and said she has found herself frustrated with the lack of arts opportunities in her hometown and said she is often attending events out of town.
“I would love to be able to do that where I live,” she said.
The two said they see the city as a place where arts festivals, films and shows can take place. They said they envision events taking place downtown, which would help support many city businesses, as well as at the county park at the waterfront.
Residents in attendance at the meeting, however, were skeptical, pointing to parking as a large obstacle to making the arts district a reality. Residents also said that South Amboy was unlike the towns where the two have worked before in that it is not surrounded by affluent communities with residents who would patronize the arts district.
Resident Barbara Pasternack pointed out that there aren’t many businesses in South Amboy for visitors to support if they were to attend an event.
Pellegrini pointed out that she had a similar situation in Asbury Park. She said, however, that once an arts presence was established, the businesses followed.
“That’s how things revitalize,” she said. “The arts are an economic engine.”
St. John agreed.
“It was called ‘Dead Bank,’” she said of a pre-revitalization Red Bank.
Mayor Fred Henry spoke in support of the project.
“We’re trying to do what we can,” he said at the meeting. He said he knows the city has parking challenges, but wants to try to make St. John’s and Pellegrini’s plans successful. He said the city has a lot of talented local youth, and this would be a way to get those talents in front of the public.
“The whole idea is to do something positive for the city,” he said.
At the May 9 business meeting, the council discussed mapping out an official arts district. The area they discussed would encompass much more than Broadway — it would include Bordentown Avenue and the Middle High School complex as well.
Business Administrator Camille Tooker also updated the council that the South Amboy Redevelopment Agency (SARA) is partnering with St. John and Pellegrini; in fact, SARA is subleasing office space in the duo’s Broadway location. St. John and Pellegrini, Tooker said, have a two-year lease, and if the two decide not to continue their efforts when that time is up, the city has the right to pursue another vendor to continue developing an arts program.
A resolution recognizing the arts district was anticipated for the May 18 City Council meeting.
