Moorestown didn’t slow down in 2023.
Cooper University Health Care opened the first phase of its newest and largest outpatient campus at the Moorestown Mall last November, and a referendum regarding a 1959 law on family amusements at the mall passed, among other accomplishments for the township.
“That opens the door for a new entertainment facility there, so I think we’re really starting to see the vision for that mall come to life as a new mixed-use center for the town, so that’s been pretty exciting, and I think a pretty major accomplishment this year,” said Mayor Nicole Gillespie.
Cooper University Health Care’s Moorestown facility has been transformed into a state-of-the-art outpatient campus, according to cooperhealth.org, one that offers patients more than 26 medical specialties, a range of diagnostic services, nearly 100 exam rooms, concierge services, a cafe and other patient amenities. The facility is accessible from a main entrance facing Route 38 and an interior entrance inside the mall.
Other developments for the township include movement on a couple of infrastructure projects.
“The Main Street water main … that is a big, big project, and the engineering is complete on that,” Gillespie said. “We got some money from the federal government, and we expect that construction will be starting in the spring on that. Once that water main gets replaced, then we’ll repave.”
The mayor indicated that the goal is to start repaving Lenola Avenue to Church Street first, then the section from Church to Chester Avenue, further down to Poplar Avenue. She also said the Lenola Streetscape Project is almost complete, with a few minor tweaks needed for construction.
“The final medians and crosswalks will be done in the spring once it’s a little bit warmer, but that was another big thing to get done finally,” Gillespie noted. “ … Those were some of the big accomplishments, I think, for 2023, and they have some implications for the future as well.”
Last year’s township events were both big and small, but they all had equal importance.
“ … There was a unity event that the Moorestown Jewish Association put together and they really, I think, did a good job of trying to be inclusive and recognizing that it’s a complicated event and that people are scared and grieving on all sides,” Gillespie pointed out. “And (the Moorestown Jewish Association) really tried to bring the community together to recognize that we can wish for peace together despite the complexities and all the different perspectives on that event.”
Gillespie added that the township is hoping to get other big things done in 2024, including revitalization at Yancy Adams Park and turning the green lawn outside town hall next to the rec center into something special.
“That’s been getting a lot of use for food truck events and live music events and things like that, and we really want that to start to feel like our town green,” Gillespie explained. “We’re starting to work on some design ideas for that … We’ll probably be seeing a more permanent stage there, so we can have music events and other types of events, a little bit better lighting, and just some ways to make that a very flexible, usable and beautiful space right in the center of our town.”
It’ll be another year of events for the “welcoming” community of Moorestown, as Gillespie described it.
“It’s something that we strive to be to everybody, and I think a lot of people feel that way.”
