Rahway “Projects” to be Razed and Replaced
Submitted by Al Shipley, City Historian and Rahway Library Research Consultant
The complex of public housing buildings that cover the 6 ½ acre tract lying along Leesville Avenue and Capobianco Plaza, known to most in Rahway as the “Projects,” is scheduled to be razed before the end of the year. Built between 1951 and 1952, with additional units built in 1964 and 1991, the apartments will be replaced by modern, fully equipped family units that will be designed to meet 21st Century standards. The plans are to construct 20 new buildings with a total of 112 units, the same number of units as in the former complex.
Following the end of World War II, the Federal Government created programs to help cities construct low rent housing, encourage redevelopment projects, and promote community development. The Housing Authority of the City of Rahway was organized on October 14, 1949, to apply for the available funding with a goal of constructing affordable family public housing apartments. The Authority would be responsible for finding a suitable location, choosing the type of dwellings to be constructed, and handling the application process. Once built and occupied, the units would be turned over to the city and the Authority would become the landlord.
The city was granted funds from the U.S. Department of HUD in February 1950 and ground was broken on donated property in the Fourth Ward on January 1, 1951. The plans called for an eleven building complex containing a total of 76 units. The units would contain 3 ½ or 6 ½ rooms with rents assessed according to tenant income. The Authority chose to name the apartments after PFC Warren A. Glendinning, a Rahway resident who was killed in Italy on October 6, 1944, while attacking an enemy machine gun nest.
In June, 1952, the lease signing for the apartments began. During their meeting the previous March, the Authority resolved to follow a strict policy of nondiscrimination and non segregation with interracial integration as the standard for rental. The demand for housing was heavy. Sixteen applications were completed and accepted on the first day and 24 more applicants were notified to appear for interviews. Thirty-nine of the initial 40 applicants were veterans. The waiting list quickly reached 170. A local resident with a wife and two children, who came back from the war a disabled veteran, was the first to register for a new home.
Tribute was given to a second war veteran in January 1953 when Force Street, the street connecting Leesville Avenue with Routes 1&9, was changed to Capobianco Plaza. 2nd Lt. Frank Capobianco was an Army Air Force B 57 bomber pilot whose plane was shot down over Germany on January 11, 1944.
In 1964, thirteen years after the original complex was built, the city of Rahway approved the construction of two additional buildings which would house 12 units. The new units were named in honor of President John F. Kennedy after his assassination on November 23, 1963.
A third and final addition to the site came in 1991 when four buildings containing 24 more apartments were constructed. The new apartments were named The Ruby Scott Gardens after Ms. Scott who served on the Housing Authority for many years and was an active advocate for the residents. By this point, the complex contained 17 buildings with 112 units.
The Housing Authority was also responsible for the acquisition of funds for senior citizen housing projects. The John F. Kennedy Senior Citizen Apartments at 224 West Grand Avenue (34 units) was built in 1964. Four years later, the JFK Annex (47 units) was constructed at 250 West Grand Avenue. In 1985, a 40-room senior apartment building was constructed at 165 East Grand Avenue called the Walter Schaffhauser Towers named after the Authority’s Director who passed in 1983. The Authority’s final senior project to date was the Clifford Case Memorial Apartments (40 units) built at 337 West Milton Avenue in 1986. Case was a Rahway resident who served as a city councilman, served 10 years in the United States House of Representatives, and was a U.S. Senator for 24 years.
In recent years, Mayor Raymond Giacobbi requested that the Authority redevelop the family complex to provide modern housing for the current tenants. Through the efforts of the Mayor, City Council members, and Housing Authority members, a Union County Community Development Block Grant in the amount of 3.2 million was applied for and awarded to support the project.
The Authority is presently working on the relocation of tenants so the existing buildings can be razed over the two-phase project. Demolition is expected to begin by the end of the year. It is projected that it will take 18 months to complete the new buildings.
Courtesy photos
