• Rahway is competing against 19 other communities around the nation with populations of less than 30,000 in the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice 2021. for Best Small Town Arts Scene. Polls close at noon on April 26 with winners to be announced on May 7. You can vote once per day. Vote here. At the same time, the Union County Performing Arts Center abruptly announced that it would close until September 1 for maintenance and repairs. Work will include fixing the ceiling, repainting and partial reconstruction. The Union County Board of Commissioners is expected to bid the project this month or next.

• When one poll closes, another one opens. Polls results are posted for favorite soup in Rahway while a new poll is up for favorite coffee in Rahway, sponsored by the Rahway Arts and Business Partnership. Note that two new options have been added since the favorite coffee poll was posted last week.

• Owners of two small downtown lots are interested in possibly developing the properties. One property is a vacant lot on West Main Street, next to the Cambridge Court apartments. The other is at West Cherry Street and Campbell Street, which is home to A&M Industrial Supply, next to Parking Lot F, a surface parking lot owned by the city.

• Findings of a preliminary investigation into four Esterbook Avenue properties to determine if they qualify as a “non-condemnation” area in need of redevelopment could come before the Planning Board as soon as its next meeting, scheduled for April 27. Two years ago, the Planning Board went through the same process in studying and ultimately designating the St. Mark’s Church property and adjacent lots in need of redevelopment, first when the preliminary study was initiated; then the Planning Board accepted the study and recommended it to City Council, which in turn accepted the recommendation from the Planning Board and designated the area.

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