January 2021
www.branchburgnews.com
Branchburg Township to Purchase Silver Saddle Swim Club Mayor Tom Young’s message about the Silver Saddle Swim Club was clear at the Township Committee meeting on Nov. 23: “The township is in the process of acquiring the Silver Saddle Swim Club which did not open in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The mayor said the Limone family, which owned the facility for about 60 years, was pursued by a number of developers to put either high-density housing or singlefamily homes on the property. “The family came to members of the (Township Committee) and we met with them and worked out a deal. The family is not reopening it. They’re either going to sell it to a developer or sell it to us. We’re going to try to keep it what it is today, and probably enhance it.” At this point, the 8.6 acre property includes a 110- by 34-foot pool, a 35-foot circular kiddie pool, volleyball and basketball courts, a picnic area and a snack bar. At the meeting, the township unanimously passed ordinances 1398 and 1399, which arranged $210,000 to fund the purchase from CRL Investment Group LLC for a portion of the property commonly known as Silver Saddle Swim Club. Young further explained there are two ordinances because part of the property is considered open space and part of it is covered by general funds. Young said, “We toured the facility and we assessed how it could continue as an asset to the town. We envision swim lessons, and camps for expansion of our recreation programs with our new Recreation Director John Voli, who was formerly recreation director in Secaucus and managed an outdoor pool complex with four pools in it and also a recreation center with an indoor pool.” “We are going to look for community input regarding enhancements to the property,” he added.
Preserving Happy History, Forecasting Future Fun
Silver Saddle Swim Club, 240 Harlan School Road, as seen on Google Earth Dec. 13, 2020
In an email to The Branchburg News on Dec. 4, Township Administrator Greg Bonin provided financial details: “$210,000 is coming from the general fund and is being used to purchase the house/ land adjacent to the pool (it is all one property.) We currently plan to sell that house/land to recoup some of the funds; there is no value to us in keeping that house or its two acres. The remaining cost will be paid from the open space fund as this will be a recreational and pre-
served site for the township. “Total purchase price is $950,000 plus incidentals (environmental studies, survey, etc.) hence the total cost of $959,000. Roughly $759,000 will come out of the open space fund for the purchase and is allocated to land apart from the house and its roughly two acres. “This is a quality of life and preservation purchase for the Township. It’s not often a property like this comes available. A property
In the 1940s Silver Saddle was also a ranch that held rodeos, wild west shows, hay rides and water shows at the pool. Buster Crabbe, an olympic gold medalist in the 1932 Olympics, and later a movie star in many westerns, was a partner in the operation of the Silver Saddle Ranch. Pictured is a clown act at the ranch in the late ‘40s. –Photo courtesy of Marie Harwitt, from the 1995 Images of America book “Branchburg” by William A. Schleicher, Susan J. Winter, and Robert Bouwman. Used with permission of the authors.
Many Branchburg families enjoyed carefree summer days at Silver Saddle.
that has so much history for the township but also has a huge potential for increasing recreational opportunities for residents.” Mayor Young sent the following email to The Branchburg News on Dec. 8: ”Our decision to purchase Silver Saddle was not a decision that we made casually. One of our primary goals in the management of Branchburg is to preserve and enhance the quality of life for local residents. In the case of Silver Saddle, we were looking at the elimination of a community facility that
has been part of our town for decades. The last thing we wanted to see was 6-7 new houses and a permanent loss of a community space. We worked out a deal to acquire Silver Saddle and will endeavor to do two things (1) preserve Silver Saddle as a community pool and (2) enhance the property to make it better, more accessible, and a bigger part of our community. This action is not without risk, but we will do the best job that we can and strive to “polish this jewel” in our town. Stay tuned...”