Haddonfield BOE Meets to Approve Final Bancroft Referendum Language

The borough school board is scheduled to met Thursday in the high school library to approve the final language for a Jan. 22 bond referendum to buy the 19-acre Bancroft property on Kings Highway East.

The $12.5 million bond will be paired with at least $3.5 million in state, county and local open-space funds for the $16 million purchase. The plan is to demolish the existing buildings on the grounds, construct an artificial turf field, develop open space, including hiking trails, and acquire the property for future schools development.

The BOE slashed $4.3 million off a $16.8 million purchase and development price last month. The price was reduced by cutting $800,000 for the installation of an artificial turf field for the high-school football stadium and the addition anticipated open-space money. The high school turf was taken out of the proposal after a borough citizens group raised $600,000 toward the $1 million cost to resurface the stadium field and an adjacent one.

It reduced the cost of the project to $12.5 million, about a third of the original $32.3 million for the public purchase and development of Bancroft rolled out a year ago.