March 18, 1983
The proverbial silk purse
The place was an eyesore.
About two city blocks’ worth of crumbling, broken-windowed, dismal, dark and forbidding abandoned structures.
Hardly what you would call an inviting downtown.
Not exactly inspiring to the local citizenry.
Certainly nothing to raise one’s spirits on a drive on Rte. 561, lake or no lake.
In fact, on a moonlit night, with shadows dancing on the waters of Gibbsboro’s Silver Lake, the ghost of a once-prosperous industry on its shores loomed dusky and spookily at the far end.
Local officials nearly despaired of anything coming of it. Some even said … almost hopefully … it might burn down someday.
Enter Roert K. Scarborough.
In a room full of people, Scarborough doesn’t stand out as an extraordinarily commanding personage. He is somewhat slight, distinguishedly gray, dressed well but not so far above everyone else that his station is flaunted.
It’s his eyes that give him away as someone unusual … someone whose imagination is limitless … someone who grasps life and ideas with the kind of dynamism that marks the movers and shakers of the world.
He doesn’t just view the world … he seems literally to pull it in through his eyes, assimilating what he seeks and seeking further.
Scarborough was just what Gibbsboro desperately needed at the time.
And Gibbsboro gave Scarborough another opportunity to leave this mark.
It was a perfect match, yielding the much-heralded Paint Works Corporate Center where once stood a scarred and unsightly ruin.
On Wednesday, the Camden County Economic Development Committee held a small luncheon to salute Robert Scarborough, to publicly recognize what he has done for this end of the county.
Freeholder-Director Joe Roberts point out that Scarborough’s vision will eventually employ far more than the old paint factory and is serving as a much-needed spur to the economic health of the county as a whole.
Gibbsboro Mayor John E. White, one of those who hoped against hope that someone, somehow would rescue his town from the spectre of the Sherwin-Williams plant, was almost speechless with pleasure as he pointed to the rebirth Scarborough’s project has given the tiny municipality.
It was Scarborough’s project manager, Joe Whittaker, who told the story of The Paint Works. Whittaker, taken with the history of John Lucas’s paint factory, has carefully researched the background of the site and has had a hand in its preservation whenever possible. He spoke of the project (as it is casually called by those responsible for it) with warmth and affection. His pride in the product is evident. Rightly so.
The Pain Works is proof positive that something good and productive and worthwhile can be generated from apparent blight.
All it takes is know-how, money and, above all, vision.
Robert Scarborough has all three. Thus, he could embark on so ambitious a project in the midst of what many termed a depression economy. His reputation already established as a brilliant developer whose work is distinctive and classy, Scarborough could afford a project like The Paint Works probably more than just about anyone else.
That he did it … that he looked at that pitiful blight in beautiful, downtown Gibbsboro and saw potential … that is what set Scarborough apart from the usual.
And he isn’t finished yet.
Although the existing buildings are 70% leased and new companies are being signed for the remainder of the space, Scarborough is already envisioning expansion. He has drawings for a bank on the boards … at the corner entrance of his extraordinarily beautiful complex.
He has plans to construct an outstanding restaurant on the shores of Silver Lake … right next to the distinctive red brick chimneys that were part of the original Lucas factory.
He has an option to buy the remaining land from the chimneys to Rte. 561 and he and Whittaker talk with quiet excitement about bringing in more class corporate development along that stretch of quiet, wooded land.
All around us are pieces of evidence that point to the business acumen and foresight of Bob Scarborough.
The Paint Works, though, is especially dramatic.
It is the epitome of the American Dream. It is also the final proof that not all of our proverbs are true.
Thanks to Bob Scarborough, we now know it is possible to make that silk purse out of the sow’s ear.
In the case of The Paint Works, it is also possible to witness the rebirth of an entire town through the vision of one person.
For Gibbsboro, watching its center turn from ugly duckling to gorgeous swan, can hardly lag behind. It must take another look at the stately and beautiful Victorian structures on its streets and make very effort to preserve that quaint charm it possesses. It will play host to people from many walks of life once The Paint Works is fully constructed and employed. The town has already put out the welcome mat for Scarborough and his project … seeing, wisely, that The Paint Works would revitalize the community.
Possibly, there is one ingredient that Gibbsboro had no way of calculating as it speculated on the result of Scarborough’s project.
Pride.
It was there in the voice of Mayor White. It shines on the faces of residents who talk about the new complex in their midst.
It shows in the attitude of the young, who, according to Scarborough, “must hear the right things talked about over the dinner table” because of the enthusiasm they show to the people at the center.
Not every town can have a Robert Scarborough. But every town can do something in its own way to generate the kind of pride Gibbsboro demonstrates.
You know, in some cases, especially with someone like Scarborough, a rapid advancement in cloning would be welcome.
Think what two of him … or three of him … or more would be able to accomplish.
For now, Camden County is grateful for the one it already has.
And Gibbsboro will bear his stamp for the rest of its history.
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