A complicated and evolving public-private financing arrangement for the $18 million project is a major reason Moody's Investors Service last week downgraded Collingswood's creditworthiness.
While the borough isn't going broke, much less bankrupt, the unusual "super downgrade" does suggest Collingswood's innovative economic development strategies could be hazardous to its fiscal health.
No such discouraging words can be heard from longtime Mayor Jim Maley, however.
"I'm lucky enough to be mayor of this great town," he says, mic in one hand, pony bottle of H2O in the other.
Maley is working a crowd of 100 at the Scottish Rite Ballroom, a sleek public space next to a revived theater that symbolizes the new, hip Collingswood.
The audience hasn't come for a show - some seem downright alarmed by the "downgrade" headlines - but Maley is on.
Moody's move was expected, he says, but its severity - a six-point drop in the borough's credit rating - was not. The firm's analysis is "faulty"; the borough hopes to get it "fixed."
Maley is an earnest and energetic salesman, fast on his feet, quick with a quip. Every question gets a deft response.
"Ten or 12 years ago, the state put us on the 'distressed cities' list because we lost population," he says, citing a previous bout of bad publicity that was overcome by better news.
Maley is correct that, by the mid-2000s, innovative initiatives had transformed the image of the borough of 14,000.
An infusion of sophisticated new restaurants, funky shops, and special events reenergized Haddon Avenue; a popular farmer's market took off; and media coverage took on a rosy glow.
Then a truly atrocious proposal for a downtown drugstore with a giant parking lot spurred the borough to become a major player in a far more ambitious effort that produced the LumberYard.
