Town Hall Plaza: Making Magic in Millburn
Written by Steve Grillo, Executive Director, Explore Millburn-Short Hills
Public open space is a frequently discussed topic in the world of Downtown New Jersey. Our transit friendly communities are still car dependent, our suburban towns are still dense by comparison to the rest of the country and our parking requirements create large surface lots with limited pedestrian spaces in downtowns. How communities (and especially Improvement Districts) create, manage and program public spaces is a critical aspect of promoting economic development and community engagement. In Millburn, the Special Improvement District (Explore Millburn-Short Hills) was confronted with a unique challenge in 2024 – abandon a purpose built “Complete Streets” pedestrian space on Main Street and replace it with a new space due to concerns over traffic and public safety. The result became known as Town Hall Plaza.
Downtown Millburn is a thriving community in southern Essex County. For decades, Millburn was a mostly White and affluent bedroom community of New York City. However, over the last 10 years (and accelerated during the pandemic), the population has changed significantly. Today, over 30% of residents are of Asian descent (mainly Chinese and Indian). The older multi-generational White community has been replaced by a diverse group of young families moving from New York City and Hudson County and also internationally.
This population change has created a need for public gathering places that are accessible for all people regardless of income, ethnicity, language, physical abilities and family structure. Additionally, new residents coming from urban areas are seeking suburban quality of life (great schools and large homes) but also want a semblance of their urban life (a vibrant and walkable Downtown with live music, special events and community activities). The Improvement District was established in August 2020 in response to both the dissolution of the previous Improvement District and the economic impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on small businesses and played and continues to play a leading role in this work.
How Did Town Hall Plaza Start?
The origin story of Town Hall Plaza began with another successful public space – the Main Street Closure. Starting in 2020 at the height of COVID, the Township began closing Main Street in Downtown for pedestrian use, outdoor dining and live music. The space became a thriving community gathering place with access to multiple restaurants, public seating and games for children. In fact, the space was awarded a Placemaking Excellent Award from Downtown New Jersey in 2022.
Main Street was originally envisioned as a pedestrian space during the 2015 implementation of a “Complete Streets” program. It was built with a concrete street to reduce heat, pedestrian scale lighting with electrical outlets, overhead lighting and more. However, after successful summer seasons in 2021, 2022 and 2023, community members began to raise concerns over traffic and emergency vehicle access. In 2024, the Township Committee decided to relocate the pedestrian space to Town Hall Plaza – a one-way street on the edge of Downtown – which was also built as part of the Complete Streets effort but was not designed as a pedestrian space.
How Did It Get Done?
Due to the increased expense of Town Hall Plaza versus Main Street, the SID did not have funds to provide services beyond some limited streetscaping and limited live music programming. In response, the Township allocated $20,000 for equipment and improvements and an additional $7,000 for increased programming beyond the original timeframe (July 4 to Labor Day) based on the project success. Explore also raised an additional $17,000 in sponsorship from local businesses for the effort.
Explore worked with the Township Administration and the Department of Public Works to upgrade electrical access, string lights across the street and purchase all-weather gazebos and outdoor chairs and tables. We also installed outdoor lighting, fans and power strips for other uses such as charging a phone or using an audio device or a screen. We designed a Mediterranean motif with outdoor carpets, throw pillows, artificial plants and more. Every Friday and Saturday night, crowds gathered and enjoyed over 30 live musical performances, multiple restaurants selling food and drinks, games for kids including a giant chess board, chalk and giant Jenga as well as an interactive public art installation. We also worked with the Township to pass a local ordinance which allowed for public consumption of alcohol in the space; this designation allowed users to purchase beer and wine from local liquor stores and enjoy during shows.
In addition to the live music, Explore hosted over a dozen community-based events with the local partners including “Cigars and Firepits” with the local cigar bar, exercise classes, kids’ art classes and more. We also hosted a “Kids Glow Crazy” party with glow sticks and a local DJ who is just nine years old. We hosted two beer garden events with Bull & Bear Brewing from Summit, two family movie nights and partnered with the Millburn Library, Millburn Seniors and Paper Mill Playhouse. We also used the space to host two business networking events at the start and end of the summer season.
How Did It Work Out?
Overall, Town Hall Plaza was a major success. The Township Committee was very impressed and extended the closure for an additional six weeks into early November. The space became a “go to” location for residents on weekends and there were dozens of “regulars” who attended on a weekly basis. There was also excellent engagement with new residents including immigrant/minority groups that Explore has been trying to develop relationships with. The economic impact of the space was less than Main Street due to its location, but many attendees felt that the area was more family friendly and accessible because of the casual dining, bring your own food and consumption allowance. We conducted surveys during a one-week period in August and found that 58% of attendees were from Millburn-Short Hills and 35% were from the surrounding communities. This is fairly like the Main Street numbers from the 2023 survey although in that survey, 19% said they came from non-surrounding towns compared to 7% this year. 32% said they came multiple times a month and over 66% of respondents got their information about Town Hall Plaza from social media or word of mouth. 65% of respondents spent $0-$50 in town when visiting Town Hall Plaza and 52% of respondents said that they visited other parts of town when using Town Hall Plaza. Overall, 89% of respondents said Town Hall Plaza was a positive addition to town.
What’s In Store for 2025?
We learned a lot about managing a public open space through the Town Hall Plaza experience. Firstly, the diversity of activities meant that various groups of people could enjoy the space. The games and public seating encouraged families with young children, the food and live music were attractive to older couples and the beer garden on select weekends attracted middle-aged parents who could enjoy a beverage while their kids played. We saw numerous multi-generational families using the space differently as well and we positioned the seating in various locations to accommodate people who were there for music or who wanted to be away from it.
As Town Hall Plaza serves as a street for 6 months out of the year, there are still the road markings and other features which detract from the visual and user experience. In 2025, Explore plans to install more features to enhance visual and infrastructure permanence including more formal stalls for vendors and food service (akin to a market experience with customer service essentials), additional lighting (and associated power upgrades) and more signage (including branded and upgraded traffic barricades). In an ideal setting, the street would be permanently closed to traffic as part of a larger redevelopment plan for the surrounding area which would connect potential mixed use developments with the Downtown core and shopping district. Also noteworthy, Millburn was accepted into the 2024 newest class of the Main Street New Jersey program. We hope to leverage the technical assistance and funding resources from this program to support more robust planning and enhanced execution of Town Hall Plaza in the coming years.
Steve Grillo is the Executive Director of Explore Millburn-Short Hills – the Special Improvement District (SID) serving a five neighborhood area in beautiful Millburn Township. He is an urban strategist with experience in Business Improvement Districts (BID), economic development, affordable housing, transportation planning, community advocacy, grant writing, industrial development and inter-governmental affairs.
