Ridley church has sights on Barnaby’s on MacDade
“I wanted to provide an update on the Barnaby’s matter. The Certificate of Occupancy application from New Destiny Christian Center Inc. is still under review by our zoning officer. Should this application not meet our zoning regulations, it will be denied.
If it is denied, the applicant then has a right to appeal to the zoning hearing board for relief if they choose to. The earliest a meeting would be held on the matter would be March 13. Nothing on this matter will be presented to the zoning hearing board at its Feb. 13 meeting.”
— Ridley Township Board of Commissioners President
Bob Willert
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP >> A restaurant and one-time nightclub that has been a fixture on MacDade Boulevard for decades may soon become a church, according to information received by township officials.
Barnaby’s and Heritage Ballrooms are slated to become the New Destiny Christian Center if all zoning requirements are met. The proposed church facility has met with some online opposition from many residents of the community. The property is located in a C-2 (commercial) Zoning District.
“We received an application (from the church) and it is up for review by our zoning officer,” Board of Commissioners President Bob Willert said. “If we deny it, they (church officials) will go to the zoning hearing board to appeal the decision.”
Willert said it has been the commissioners desire to “spruce up” MacDade Boulevard with economic development such as retail or restaurant establishments, adding that the status of a church at the location means the township and Ridley School District would lose real estate tax revenue.
On Friday Willert posted the following statement on Facebook: “I wanted to provide an update on the Barnaby’s matter. The Certificate of Occupancy application from New Destiny Christian Center Inc. is still under review by our zoning officer. Should this application not meet our zoning regulations, it will be denied. If it is denied, the applicant then has a right to appeal to the zoning hearing board for relief if they choose to. The earliest a meeting would be held on the matter would be March 13. Nothing on this matter will be presented to the zoning hearing board at its Feb. 13 meeting.”
“It is just a simple purchase of a building,” New Destiny Christian Center Pastor David Verdecchia said on Friday. “We are a Christian church.”
The pastor declined further comment.
Calls for comment on the sale of the more than 28,000 squarefoot restaurant and adjacent ballrooms were not returned to the Daily Times by the owners.
Long before Barnaby’s and Heritage Ballrooms occupied the site, the building was known as the MacDade House and the Carnival Room. In 1968 the late Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, stopped at the MacDade House for a rally the day after Kennedy announced he was running for the Democratic nomination for president.
The Carnival Room was a popular nightclub and for a short time operated as a teenage nightclub. The banquet rooms of the establishment were known for their political dinners. The Heritage main ballroom was on the agenda for a speech by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio six years ago when he appeared at the township’s annual Republican dinner to speak on behalf of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.