ANDOVER TOWNSHIP — A massive redevelopment proposal is moving forward for the old St. Paul’s Abbey along Route 206 and 350 surrounding acres, after the town, state and now Sussex County approved a wastewater treatment plan for the site.
The proposal calls for the sprawling, century-old stone monastery, vacant for decades, to be turned into a hotel and wedding venue and for about 134 townhomes and two commercial warehouses to be built on adjacent land. A former Catholic seminary on the property would be turned into a 62-bed rehabilitation center − if the developer can win final approvals.
Securing approvals for a wastewater treatment plant was a key step to advance the vision of developer Sigma Abbey LLC. A plan approved by the county commissioners last month allows for an increase from 20,000 to 50,000 gallons per day of sewage to be treated at a new, on-site facility and discharged back into the ground.
According to Andover Township Committeeman Thomas Walsh, with previous approvals by the town and state Department of Environmental Protection, Sigma Abbey can now bring its formal development plans to the town’s municipal land use board.
What’s next for old St. Paul’s Abbey?
The 25,000 square-foot former abbey is in disrepair but once was home to a thriving religious community. Benedictine monks of the German Arch Abbey of St. Ottilien founded the monastery in 1924 and expanded it over the years into a four-floor complex with dozens of small bedrooms, community spaces, chapels and a kitchen.
In the 1960s, the monks relocated to a new abbey on the eastern side of the highway. The old building was left empty and plundered over the years by vandals and thieves. But in 2012, it was listed on the state’s Register of Historic Places, and earlier this year, the nonprofit group Preservation New Jersey put the property on its list of New Jersey’s 10 most endangered historic sites.
Walsh said Sigma Abbey has taken a long-term lease on the property, which spreads across both sides of Route 206. That lease, however, does not include the new St. Paul’s Abbey, which will remain open, or the monks’ long-running Christmas tree farm along 206. “As I understand it, the Christmas tree operations will continue,” Walsh added.
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He said the developer plans to bring in an expert on historic preservation and renovations if it gets approval to turn the old abbey into a wedding site and hotel.
Plans also call for two “industrial buildings,” which are intended to be warehouses. Such projects have become popular with the growth of international shipping into the port of Newark, which has increased imports into the northeastern area. Port Newark is expanding both its on-shore facilities and deepening shipping channels to take larger cargo ships, which could make the port the second-largest cargo container facility on the East Coast.
The abbey proposal will now go to the Andover Township Land Use Board. The board’s next scheduled meeting is Aug. 6, but no agenda has yet been published.
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This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Historic Route 206 abbey eyed for hotel, housing in redevelopment plan