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Newark City Councilman Oscar James II, Newark Deputy Mayor Ron Salahuddin, Assemblyman Craig A. Stanley,
SCC Chief Executive Officer Scott Weiner, Sen. Ronald L. Rice, Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker

SCC, Legislators Highlight Progress in Demolishing Vacant Newark Properties

Newark, NJ (March 20, 2007) - Scott Weiner, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation, was joined by state Senator Ronald L. Rice, Assemblyman Craig A. Stanley, Assemblywoman Oadline D. Truitt, Mayor Cory A. Booker and other officials at the future University High School site to mark a turning point in efforts to improve the quality of life in cities like Newark affected by suspended projects.

Officials spoke about the On-Call Demolition Program, which is scheduled to be launched next month in New Jersey and will play a role in Newark. Under the program, the SCC will enter into contracts with at least 11 prequalified contractors, who will be eligible for future demolition and asbestos abatement work. Instead of having to wait to assemble large numbers of properties for demolition, the SCC will be able to start the process quickly after acquisition by dealing exclusively with the pool of firms.

In the summer of 2005, Rice and Stanley gathered at the University High School site to demand action by the SCC after it bought properties that cannot be built upon in the near future due to a lack of funds. Today, the legislators came to discuss the change in how new SCC management's deals with demolition and the quality-of-life improvement that results.

Under standard practice for a large school project, it has typically taken 18 to 24 months from the time the first properties are acquired until demolition, with the SCC losing a significant amount of time waiting for all or most buildings on the site to be acquired. Under On-Call Demolition, the SCC will seek bids from the pool of prequalified contractors as soon as a property or a small group of properties is acquired and vacated. The whole process will take 30 to 60 days.

"In many of our state's urban communities, abandoned buildings attract gangs, drug-pushers and worse, and the longer these buildings are up, the worse it gets," said Senator Rice, D-Newark, Co-Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Public Schools. "Assembly members Stanley and Truitt and I have been pushing for the SCC to fund the demolition of vacant homes as a way to protect the law-abiding citizens of these communities, and we're glad that they've identified funding to move in that direction. Hopefully, they will be able to provide business opportunities to local contractors as well, to both stimulate the urban economy and move forward in providing quality schools."

"This will be a welcome relief for local residents who have been most affected by this unanticipated delay in building these projects," said Assemblyman Stanley, D-Newark, fellow Co-Chair of the joint committee and chairman of the Assembly Education Committee. "We need to continue to coordinate with law enforcement and local government to ensure that these properties are secured and demolished as soon as possible."

Weiner said the initiative highlights new management's commitment to do the proper thing for neighborhoods affected by the 2005 suspension of projects throughout Abbott districts.

"I want to express my appreciation to Senator Rice and Assemblyman Stanley for their support of this program and SCC's new management," Weiner said. "It's an unfortunate legacy of past SCC management that the purchase of homes in cities like Newark has led to a void instead of a school being built. While we must await further funding before taking on additional projects, I am pleased that residents in this neighborhood and others won't have to face the problem of vacant buildings that are eyesores and public-safety threats."

The first set of homes, at the Jersey City Early Childhood Center #13 site, is scheduled to be bid out early next month.



The SCC believes the On-Call Demolition Program will create a competitive process that will drive prices down. The SCC also will save money because costs for security and maintenance of properties are reduced when there are no buildings present.

One in four On-Call Demolition Program contracts will be earmarked for small businesses.

Demolition at the University High School site is being conducted through the traditional-bid process. The demolition of 39 homes is under way, with 10 torn down so far and the rest of the work scheduled to be completed by June. The SCC has received bids for demolition of an additional 19 homes and expects to award the contract shortly. All demolition should be complete by the end of the summer.

Today's event was held at Demarest Street, in front of Hawthorne Elementary School.

The SCC owns 196 vacant buildings, having demolished 170 so far through traditional bidding. These properties are connected with 35 projects in 12 cities. 


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