Looking back: Senior housing, 1983

When Board of Education (BOE) members find it fiscally necessary to close schools, the future of the vacant school buildings present new problems. This goes back to the 1940s and earlier when one by one the many rural schoolhouses were closed. In 1946, all township elementary school students attended Hillcrest School.

In 1983, the late Gaston Roos, a former township mayor, suggested that township officials seek federal funding to convert half of the Hillcrest School building and the Maple Road School into senior citizen apartments or condominiums.

Roos, then a candidate for Third Ward Councilman urged the BOE to close schools to save money for taxpayers. He saw a need for low-cost housing or rental units for township senior citizens. The board was closing Hillcrest School and shuttering Mape Road School was considered.

Roos noted that each school building was located on about 15 acres of property. “You’ve got plenty of parking space and each school has a recreation area and a kitchen for cooking,” he told the BOE at a meeting. “Some of the classrooms are large and you could put two to three room apartments there. The buildings are brick and they’re basically sound. The only possible problem I see is putting individual plumbing in each of the units.” He said the senior citizens could operate and care for the building themselves.

Roos, aware that township officials planned to take over the Hillcrest building for an expanded recreation and community center believed the Recreation Department only needs half the building,” he continued. He suggested that officials initially look at possibly obtaining a federal grant for conversion of the Hillcrest building into senior residences and if that project was successful, doing the same with the Maple Road building should be considered.

Ross said the conversion would have to be senior housing for federal funding to apply. He pointed out that other municipalities in the state, Jersey City for example, had success fully converted vacant schools into condominiums. He suggested that money received from either selling converted rooms to seniors as condominiums or renting them as apartments could be put into a separate fund that the BOE could use to build a new school in future years if the need arose.

Roos said both Hlllcrest and Maple Road schools were on main roads serviced by the township’s public minibus could transport them to shopping areas and medical offices. Noting that there were no places available for seniors to live, he said, “They (seniors) don’t want to keep a house, but they don’t want to leave the area either. Their children are grown with families and have settled here, and seniors want to be close to them.”

Mayor Charles Slawinski, also now deceased, was also seeking election as Third Ward representative, responded with one word. “Wow!” He said he would not want to estimate what the conversion of schools into living units would cost. “We are talking about big dollars,” said Slawinski. “From what I understand, the Federal Government and the State Government don’t have money for these projects anymore. Everything is crunched out.”

Slawinski’s opinion was that it is not the responsibility of a Township Council to decide the fate of school buildings. “It’s up to the school board to dispose of them,” Slawinski, a township teacher, said. “We are going to be sitting down with the school board and negotiating to take over Hillcrest School. I’ve been looking for more room for recreation programs for years and this is a good opportunity.

A July 30, 2025, Board of Education meeting report said the Board of Education and Township Council agreed to jointly explore a feasibility study for converting the site into a recreational facility with potential for a pool and multi-use gym. The report said the study would assess Highlands restrictions, permitted use and funding options.