From Don Covington

Big Apple circus might set up show in Manville By PAMELA SROKA-HOLZMANN STAFF WRITER NewJersey.com World-class jugglers, aerialists, acrobats and clowns could be setting up a show by fall at the Rustic Mall site if the Big Apple Circus gets approval by the borough’s zoning board. During Wednesday’s Borough Council meeting, council members voted 3-1 in favor of a resolution that would allow the circus to bring its show to the borough. Councilman Rich Onderko voted against the resolution and Councilmen Ed Komoroski and Lou Fischer were absent from the meeting. The circus, which has been an annual event for several years at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, this fall cannot use the ballpark for its show since the Somerset Patriots baseball team will be playing games there during the time of the slated performances, municipal officials said. Representatives of the circus would like to conduct the event three or four times a week running from late September to early October. Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke said plans before the borough council showed about 400 vehicles would be parked on the Rustic Mall site during the shows, but he didn’t expect an influx of vehicles on borough streets. The next step would be for representatives of the Big Apple Circus to appear before the borough’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. To date, no application has been filed, Garwacke said. Garwacke said during the meeting circus representatives plan to utilize the site of the vacant Rustic Mall property off South Main Street. The site is slated for redevelopment by Livingston-based Garden Homes with new residential and commercial construction once the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency removes the property from a national list of contaminated properties. The EPA in 2008 completed a $250 million cleanup of more than 450,000 tons of contaminated soil at the Rustic Mall property, as well as neighboring residential properties, making up what is known as the Federal Creosote Superfund site. The Big Apple Circus was founded by American jugglers Pete Binder and Mike Christensen after performing for several years with Nouvey Cirque de Paris. The duo wanted to produce an American circus in the traditional, smaller European style as opposed to the sprawling, three-ring extravaganzas most commonly associated with Ringling Bros. The first production of the Big Apple Circus took place in 1977 in New York City.