This historic property may become the site of Paterson's new community center

PATERSON — In his beat-the-clock scramble to find someplace to build a new city recreation center, Mayor Andre Sayegh is looking at the long-vacant Barbour Mansion near Eastside Park.

The mayor on Tuesday directed his tax assessor’s office to do an appraisal of the 5.5-acre property off Broadway. City tax records put the property’s value at $1.2 million.

“It’s an option,” Sayegh said in an interview Wednesday morning. “What we have to determine is whether it’s a viable option.”

The cost of buying the site will determine its viability, the mayor said. He noted that an appraisal had put the value of the abandoned Leader Dye factory site on Madison Avenue at $2.1 million, but the city ended up selling it at auction for $7.6 million.

Paterson has set aside $19 million of its American Rescue Plan pandemic relief grant for the recreation center, but the funding comes with deadlines that say the city must have contracts in place allocating it by the end of 2024 and it must be spent by the end of 2026.

Sayegh said the Barbour property's owner has expressed willingness to sell. The owner could not be reached for comment.

Funding deadlines loom: Paterson officials seek location for $19M recreation center

What's the history of the property?

Built around 1909 by one of Paterson’s industrial tycoons, the beaux-arts-style mansion has 42 rooms, 12 fireplaces and a built-in organ. After the Barbour family moved away, the building became an orphanage, and it remained one for decades.

At one point its owners wanted to open a substance abuse facility at the mansion, but opposition from residents in Paterson’s prestigious Eastside neighborhood killed that idea.

About 15 years ago, the owners at that time wanted to demolish the mansion and build single-family homes on the property, another plan that was defeated by neighborhood opposition.

The mansion made headlines last year when Paterson’s animal control officials found that squatters were using the basement as a makeshift, squalid kennel for 19 German shepherds and Dobermans.

The mansion has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, Sayegh said, acknowledging that historic preservation regulations may complicate and increase the cost of renovations.

The mayor has run into problems with other sites for a possible recreation center. Pennington Park was ruled out because of state regulations on Green Acres-funded parklands. The owners of the former YWCA building on Carroll Street say it’s not for sale. Paterson’s two representatives in the state Assembly opposed Sayegh’s idea of building the recreation center in conjunction with a new police headquarters.

Officials said the mansion could be used for programs while the recreation facilities would be built elsewhere on the grounds.

How did officials react?

Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly on Wednesday said he thought the Barbour mansion property would be an ideal location, one with easy access to major roads while also being in one of Paterson’s “safe haven” neighborhoods.

Wimberly noted that the state plans to build a new high school on the nearby Paterson Catholic property, complete with new athletic fields. The assemblyman said the recreation center and new school in some ways could operate as one coordinated location.

“This would be the perfect example of an educational and athletic complex,” he said.

City Council President Alex Mendez, who represents the 3rd Ward, where the mansion is, praised the mayor’s thoughts about putting the recreation facility there.

“I love the idea,” Mendez said. “It’s big enough where we could have an Olympic-size swimming pool and a professional track.”

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ community center may come to Broadway mansion